The novel poses a thorny question-if you have done what is unquestionably a very bad thing (and no mistake, the revelation of Eva’s past on Garilia shows what she and her father got up to is definitely a horrible set of actions, no matter what mitigating factors exist), can you go forward from that? How do you tell people, today, about something looming so large in your past that it threatens to overwhelm the present? How will you handle their reactions? How can you live with yourself for withholding that past? The central story of Prime Deceptions (and the titular reference) is to Eva’s activities on Garilia years ago. And, in addition, the scientist might yet give the science organization The Forge (including Eva’s sister) the chance to build and activate something truly dangerous.Īll of this is the matter of Prime Deceptions, the sequel to Chilling Effect, by Valerie Valdes.įor all of its interstellar Gates, the worldbuilding on the planet Garilia, and the various plot lines, where the novel shines is in the personal story of Eva, and her connections with the crew. The sins of Eva might yet break the small found family she has built on the La Sirena Negra.

But what Eva doesn’t expect in taking a mission to find a missing scientist is a trip back to a dark and painful place in her past, the planet of Garilia. More than that, though, a crew’s got to eat and a ship always needs fuel. When last we left Captain Innocente and her crew, Eva had gained a co-Captain to her enterprise (Pink), a relationship with another crew member, and a continuing problem with the crime syndicate of The Fridge.

Prime deceptions by valerie valdes