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"Karen Miller pens her second tie-in novel to the Clone Wars animated series, the first in a pair of books. Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent to investigate rumours that the Separatists are developing a bio-weapon on a small backwater planet, but things don't go according to plan.
"Miller's style is very dialogue driven, with many, many things being presented and explained through characters' interactions. Sadly, the dialogue is often quite clumsy and, indeed, reminiscent of the television series that is spawns from. Characters' emotions and opinions are often inappropriately over-accentuated, leading to very inconsistent characterisations. There are also several plot elements that do not sit well, such as a big fuss being made about Jedi going under-cover and how Jedi are not spies, and yet we know that Anakin has already done it before in School of Fear. There are several other such contradictions within the prose.
"Miller uses a painfully large number of colloquialisms and Earth-related phrases which seem very out of place in the Star Wars universe. She also flogs the phrase "I have a bad feeling about this" to within a inch of its life - it turns up several times, as well as in several different variations. I also didn't get on very well with new character Taria Damsin - she's (supposedly) stunningly attractive, wildly bohemian, terminally ill yet stoically cheerful and generally rather amazing. Oh, and she and Obi-Wan apparently have a very deep and intimate relationship (how intimate is never elaborated upon) despite the fact that she's never appeared in any other Star Wars media before. All I could think was: why not use an already established character who could have been expanded upon? Why throw us this rather unrealistic and uninspiring character instead?
"It has its good points, though. For example, I enjoyed how Bail Organa was written, and General Durd makes an entertaining enough villain. And you do get the sense that she really has tried hard to produce a good Star Wars book - I, personally, don't think she's quite managed it, which is a shame.
"The plot is very similar to that of Hard Contact, but unfortunately the execution is nowhere near as impressive, providing an uneven and inconsistent read, although by the cliff-hanger ending there are sufficient loose ends that you can't help but want to read the sequel in spite of all of its flaws."