The Fifth Column: An Intergalactic Scifi Adventure

A primarily female band of special op. Sarkonian soldiers are working to undermine the Union, when Delgado's boyfriend appears to be abandoned on a mission. Delgado didn't see this and attacks the leader when she won't open the door or attempt to rescue him. She is to be court martial led but her dad steps in to demote her sentence to solitary confinement and she decides to abandon everyone on the next mission. However her friend Sophie knows something is up and also gets involved with things going Pear-shaped on the next mission. The two friends then flee and find out how bad the Sarkonian Empire really is.....An entertaining read featuring action, combat, intrigue, surprises and dangerous tech...

Was expecting more of the reaper story, this took me by surprise. Well done!! More great characters and fight scenes.

The danger of spinoffs in books or television is that the spinoff will be of much less value than the original. This is expansion of the Renegade Star universe avoids that pitfall with a strong first book. The book set a brisk pace, even as it established new characters, and held my interest throughout the entire book. If you like the Renegade Star books, you will like this new entry to that universe.

It started a little slow with Eva and Sophia, giving background information but it didn't take long to change that. I've read other books by Chaney and I haven't been disappointed yet.

New series and I found it very entertaining. Our protagonists are strong women out save the universe. It was good.

Forgive me when I say I'm hesitant reading books with female leads as combat specialists. Call it sexist if you want, but people tend to overdue it as if they are over-compensating.I said all that to say that this is a great read and a good story. Truly enjoyed it. I'm already a big fan of Chaney's work and this only affirms my belief in his skill at writing. If recommend it to others.

This looked good in the blurb and it has potential but falls short.First. And this is all me. I cannot stand how "smirk" has become the go to word. It seems to indicate laziness or apathy on the author's or editor's parts. Especially when it's used so many times in a book.Second. The whole book just read...slow. And not in a good, savor it kind of way. It starts out as Mean Girls in space and morphs into a vague shapeless mess that staggers on.I didn't get a good feel on the fight sequences either. Overly staged maybe?Characterization is marginal with the result being giggly girl and the "conflicted heroine." Not to mention the helpful AI.It isn't bad. But it's not good either. I don't think I'll read any more.

Putting out books at a frantic pace you would think at some point quality would suffer. Lucky for us it hasn't. Well paced and written.

I picked this up almost by accident, which turned out to be a fortuitous one. Having read the Renegade and Reaper books, tripping over another in the Union/Empire series turned out far better than expected. This is another excellent book to add to the series. Very much worth a look. Highly recommended.

Wow! I must say I’m totally impressed with this new series! Molly Lerma and Chaney have done a wonderful job co-writing! Another glimpse from the Renegade universe, this one from the Sarkonian Empire’s point of view and from two fantastic and inspirational protagonists, who realize the corruption and evilness of the inner circle government and the atrocities committed for their own benefit. The girls follow their own instincts, like future Robyns, to help humanity against the terrible experiments committed by their empire. I’m definitely going to follow this series!

This is real sci-fi. Here you have a young woman who was taken forcibly from her parents at the age of six. Although she didn’t see them die we can assume that was their fate by reading between the lines. Because she fought against impossible odds, the mission leader took her to be raised by an army officer who needed a child in order to progress up the ranks. She had her identity wiped out and became Eva Delgado. It was not a happy home and she soon learned to obey and to be a good, loyal Sarkonian. When she was old enough she was sent to the academy where she met Sophia who went on to become a medic. They soon became good friends with Sophie helping Eva with her maths and Eva helping Sophie with her combat skills. The Sarkonian Empire doesn’t one across as benevolent and everything starts to unravel for Eva when the team leader leaves one of their own to die. When she is ordered to kill a child on a later mission, that is the final straw and she and Sophie, with the help of their ship’s AI, become rebels. They know that their enemy, the Union, are as bad as the Sarkons so they decide to take jobs that undermines these two whenever they can.The story is good, if a bit light on detail, and it’s a relaxing read. It has introduced me to two new authors and I will be checking out the other books to see just how good they are. This will definitely appeal to younger readers and anyone who likes Robin Hood type heroes.

Quite entertaining and quirky look forward to see how the characters develop.would hope at some point they tie in with earth inhabitants

Molly has come in with a fantastic first novel, and a fantastic first entry in the series!