This story revisits Rada, but describes it as seen from a foreigner’s perspective – very bright and beautiful compared to the drab, utilitarian (and war torn) Uley, Claire’s home planet.

Silver Shark is 98 pages (ARC length) compared to the 48 paged Silent Blade, so it’s no surprise that the world building felt more involved. In my opinion they may be read in any order, although yes, the couple from Silent Blade does make a cameo in Silver Shark, but I don’t think that a couple getting together in a romance counts as a spoiler. In other words, you don’t need to have knowledge of the world building of one of the novella’s to understand and appreciate the other. My Thoughts: Rada, the world in which most of Silver Shark takes place, is also the same world that Silent Blade was set, but while Silent Blade dealt with hired assassins, and physical abilities, Silver Shark is more about telepathic ability and hidden identity.

In other words, she has landed in the midst of pyschers, and her boss, Venturo Escana, head of the Enscana kinsmen family and Grade A pyscher, is the lion in this proverbial den. Her mind hidden behind layers of protection, Claire is just a mousy secretary on the planet Rada, but hiding her true ability could be a problem, because her first job interview is for a position with Guardian Inc, which is a company that specializes in “Extrasensory Security Protocols and Biocybernetic Safety”. They are incredible weapons, and when her side loses the war, aware that her abilities make her a dangerous tool no one wants alive, she hides herself in the civilian population and is shipped off as a refugee. They can infiltrate enemy networks, take data, and kill telepathically. Claire’s team uses their mind to connect to biological computer networks. For 300 years her people on the Western Continent have been fighting a war against the Eastern Continent. The Premise: Captain Claire Shannon is the leader of a team of psychers on the planet Uley. This review is based on an eARC that I requested and received from Ilona Andrews. Silver Shark is the second novella set in the Kinsmen universe (the first is Silent Blade, which was published by Samhain, but each book can be read out of order), which is being self-published by the authors. My book reading has taken a little detour into contemporary YA this month (three reviews in the genre forthcoming), but never fear, I’m not abandoning my love of speculative fiction.

Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews