Title: The Salarian Desert Game

Author: J.A. Mclachlan

Publisher: EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing

Pub. Date: 12 April 2016

Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, suspense, adventure

Kia is a young girl, a talented interpreter asked to go undercover for a mysterious and powerful agency, but the timing means she has an undercover agenda of her own that may get her killed. To complicate matters, there is also the deadly desert game, the outcast civilization that she did not even know existed, much less that they were after her, and the reality of a planet that may kill her before she can succeed at any of the tasks she has taken on. How can she rescue anybody, when she is in need of rescue herself most of the time?

This is a well written science fiction adventure played out across several interesting worlds and vastly different civilizations. Kia is flawed but likable, has hidden depths, and is clever but short-sighted so that she pays the price over and over. Her good friends and better enemies are irreplaceable, and the hard-won successes are tempered with harsh realities and heartbreak moments that the reader can feel. All in all, another good book to pass the weekend.

I received a review copy from the publisher through Librarything in exchange for an honest review.