Book Review: A Peace Divided by Tanya Huff

A Peace Divided
Author: Tanya Huff
Series: Peacekeeper (Book 2)
Publication: DAW (June 6, 2017)

Description: Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr had been the very model of a Confederation Marine. No one who’d ever served with her could imagine any circumstance that would see her walking away from the Corps.

But that was before Torin learned the truth about the war the Confederation was fighting…before she’d been declared dead and had spent time in a prison that shouldn’t exist…before she’d learned about the “plastic” beings who were really behind the war between the Confederation and the Others. That was when Torin left the military for good.

Yet she couldn’t walk away from preserving and protecting everything the Confederation represented. Instead, ex-Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr drew together an elite corps of friends and allies—some ex-Marines, some civilians with unique skills—and together they prepared to take on covert missions that the Justice Department and the Corps could not—or would not—officially touch. But after their first major mission, it became obvious that covert operations were not going to be enough.

Although the war is over, the fight goes on and the Justice Department finds its regular Wardens unable to deal with violence and the people trained to use it. Ex-Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr has a solution: Strike Teams made up of ex-military personnel, small enough to maneuver quickly, able to work together if necessary. Justice has no choice but to implement her idea and Torin puts her team of independent contractors back into uniform. It isn’t war, it is policing, but it often looks much the same.

When the scientists doing a preliminary archaeological dig on a Class Two planet are taken hostage, Torin’s team is sent to free them. The problem of innocents in the line of fire is further complicated by the fact that the mercenaries holding them are a mix of Confederation and Primacy forces, and are looking for a weapon able to destroy the plastic aliens who’d started and maintained the war.

If Torin weren’t already torn by wanting that weapon in play, she also has to contend with the politics of peace that have added members of the Primacy—former enemies—to her team. Before they confront the mercenaries, Torin will have to sift through shifting loyalties as she discovers that the line between “us” and “them” is anything but straight.

My Thoughts: In this episode Warden Torin Kerr and her team have to rescue a bunch of scientists exploring a planet which might have evidence about the plastics that manipulated both the Confederation and the Primacy into an intergalactic war. Rumor has it, a weapon against the plastic has been found.

The scientists have been captured by mercenaries who want the weapon. They are two factions. The first is a war veteran broken by the war who will do anything to keep his ship flying and his people safe. The second faction has been hired by the mastermind to find the weapon. This faction is very willing to use violence and intimidation to force the scientists to find a weapon that may not even exist.

The Wardens aren't going on the rescue alone. They have been given "help" from the Primacy. The war is over but the two sides are just learning how to work together and neither side trusts the other. Luckily, a number of the being on the Primacy team are known to Torin because they all escaped from a prison together.

The viewpoint shifts from that of one of the scientists to Torin and her team so that we can see events from both sides. I liked that the scientist who is a Niln is trying to understand the invaders who are from the Younger Races. I liked her relationship with one of the young human mercenaries.

This was an exciting space opera. Torin and her newly integrated team need to rescue the hostages but keep getting sidetracked by the potential presence of the plastic. Torin would very much like revenge for all the millions of life the war caused. She is still haunted by her many dead.

Favorite Quote:

Would Gunny realize it was a trap? Better question, would that stop her?

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.