WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

Look, this book is for the most part a par-for-the-course, satisfactory sci-fi. Normally I'd give something like this three or even four stars.

If not for the drop-dead-gorgeous sex-kitten secret agent whose name is even literally "Kitten" . At first she just seemed mildly off-putting and even seemed to have the germ of a fun character somewhere when you looked past the absurd level of sexualisation piled upon her by the author.

But then came the super-gross scene where she publicly trades sex with the teenage Flinx for her freedom. I actually had to put the book down and pace the room for a while. This is where the book goes from being a product of its times to just being completely appalling.

But I soldiered on, and things seemed rather better until the conclusion, which involved an actual non-consensual spanking scene. Alas, I was in the break room at work so was unable to repeat the whole throw-and-pace reaction for fear of alarming my colleagues.

I'm at a loss as to what happened here, as the previous books I'd read in this series didn't include anything near this egregious. Where I'd previously been enjoying the creative world-building I'm now feeling soured on the whole series. I'm just kind of sad. ( )

This one always seemed to break characterization for me, but I did enjoy significant portions of it.

My biggest frustration - series wide, not just this book - is that things don't remain consistent: Antidotes that do or do not exist, for example. ( )

This is my first real hiccup when reading the series in chronological order, but fortunately, it's not too bad. We still get huge action and stakes and uneasy alien alliances and a close up of the really big bad we've been teased with for the first eleven books.

But here's the funny bit: Pip and Flinx are minor characters!

It's not bad in absolute terms, just bad if you're wanting a real Flinx adventure where he's center stage.

Enter a really nasty and lethal drug, piece-of-work dealers, super-spies who are aliens, privateers, questionable alliances with nasty reptiles, and a ton of action. On its own, I'd just classify this as a Humanx novel with a short but important cameo. It's very golden-age SF. :) Light, fun, fast.

Sometimes, that's exactly what we need. :) ( )

In their fifth outing, Flinx and Pip, his minidrag, are late arrivals into a plot involving two Church investigators and an unsuspected being capable of absorbing the energy of all life down to the cellular level. It's as compelling as all of Foster's Flinx adventures. Lots of gangsters and AAhn and twists and turns, only lacking in more of Flinx and Pip. ( )

Fun mix of mystery, intrigue and monsters!

A great story, stating Pip and Flinx, though almost in an offstage way. It's read this long ago, and enjoyed it all over again. Foster's humanx commonwealth is a great invention that deserves to be better known! ( )