The Cold Between: A Central Corps Novel
Paperback | Kindle Edition
Written by Elizabeth Bonesteel
Harper-Voyager
Release Date: March 8th, 2016

Commander Elena Shaw is the perfect engineer – she can actually hear the ships singing. She is not so perfect when it comes to choosing her men. Her breakup with Danny Lancaster was ugly, more so because they could not avoid each other on the ship. Her ex-best friend, Captain Greg Foster, completely cut her off, humiliating her in the process, and she doesn’t know why. And now, when she decides to have a one night stand… Danny shows up dead, and her lover is the only suspect. That Trey is a suspicious foreigner, former PSI, only increases everyone’s surety. But Elena knows she is his alibi and cannot allow him to rot for a crime he did not commit. What ensues is a fast-paced, complex, romance/mystery where danger leaps from every corner, and conspiracies surrounding a years ago mystery threaten to resurface.

This is the debut novel of Elizabeth Bonesteel, The Cold Between: A Central Corps Novel.

More below.

I was not prepared to like this book. I usually do not go for “space mysteries,” ones that have no true supernatural elements, unless the Millennium Falcon or Serenity is being piloted by a scruffy-looking nerfherder space cowboy. I decided to give it a chance after perusing the prologue and the 1st few pages of chapter one.

The characters are the true prizes of this novel. When I wanted to skim over fictional technical talk of space travel, these characters and their tangled emotions and heroics and complications, pulled me back in. Elena is vulnerable, yet strong, while Trey is wise and kind, knowing just what Elena needs, but who can be violent when necessary. Jessica is a sexy hacker, and every space mystery needs one of those. And Greg, the mysterious closed off captain, who shields himself from love.

My only criticisms would be there’s almost too much action, and that I was not surprised by who the culprit(s) turned out to be. All in all though, it was a definite page-turner, with a consistent and fast-paced plot, and extraordinary characters.

The next book in the series, Remnants of Trust: A Central Corps Novel by Elizabeth Bonesteel will be released November 8th, 2016.

Book synopsis:

From debut author Elizabeth Bonesteel, The Cold Between is the start to a stellar military science fiction series that combines hints of mystery and romance with action and adventure in the tradition of Elizabeth Moon, Linnea Sinclair, and Lois McMaster Bujold.

When her crewmate, Danny, is murdered on the colony of Volhynia, Central Corps chief engineer, Commander Elena Shaw, is shocked to learn the main suspect is her lover, Treiko Zajec. She knows Trey is innocent””he was with her when Danny was killed. So who is the real killer and why are the cops framing an innocent man?

Retracing Danny’s last hours, they discover that his death may be tied to a mystery from the past: the explosion of a Central Corps starship at a wormhole near Volhynia. For twenty-five years, the Central Gov has been lying about the tragedy, even willing to go to war with the outlaw PSI to protect their secrets.

With the authorities closing in, Elena and Trey head to the wormhole, certain they’ll find answers on the other side. But the truth that awaits them is far more terrifying than they ever imagined . . . a conspiracy deep within Central Gov that threatens all of human civilization throughout the inhabited reaches of the galaxy””and beyond.