Persephone Station by Stina Leicht #BookReview

Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation tenaciously wants to exploit.

Rosie—owner of Monk’s Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner, caters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drank at Monk’s back bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who sought to employ them.

Angel—ex-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing is asked to perform a job for Rosie. What this job reveals will effect Persephone and put Angel and her squad up against an army. Despite the odds, they are rearing for a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation. For Angel, she knows that once honor is lost, there is no regaining it. That doesn’t mean she can’t damned well try.

Title: Persephone Station| Author: Stina Leicht | Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press | Pub. Date: 5 January 2021 | Pages: 512 | ISBN: 978-1534414587 | Genre: Science Ficrion | Language: English  Source: NetGalley | Unstarred Review

Persephone Station Review

This female character driven science fiction novel has the potential to deliver an action packed adventure but fails to deliver. The characters hold a lot of promise, and I love that this is a book where women are center stage, but the pacing slowed in the middle of the story, and the payoff took too long to achieve.

I believe the fatal flaw of this story lied in how the villain was presented to the audience. We start with an introduction to Vissia, the villain of the story, and we’re immediately drawn into this woman’s vengeance. Then, she disappears from the pages. While the characters talk about her, and the threat of her reappearing is always present, we don’t get to experience her on the page until far too late in the story, and by that time, a reader’s attention might be lost.

I thought this novel might be the first in a series, and perhaps that’s why Vissia didn’t have as big of a role as it seemed she deserved, but this is a stand alone novel. There was simply too much exposition and backstory when I hoped for action. The characters have a lot of internal dialogue which was distracting, and while the building of the story world was fascinating, there was simply too much of it. It took a bit too long to get to the motivation for the villain’s nefarious actions. Sadly, this book simply didn’t work for me.

You can find this book at many retailers via clicking on the appropriate link on Goodreads (buying direct from retailers is a good way to support indie authors); however, in the spirit of supporting literacy programs, we would like to point out that you may be able to purchase this book through BetterWorldBooks.