Rath's Gambit

The Janus Group, Book 2

By: Piers Platt

Narrated by: James Fouhey

Rath just assassinated a senator, and completed his final mission for the Janus Group. Now every Interstellar Police officer on Alberon is searching for him. If they don't find him, one of his fellow contractors certainly will...and the most feared criminal organization in the galaxy has severe punishments for employees who break the rules. Rath's only hope is to find the rogue contractor who helped him escape a company deathtrap after his final mission. United, the two assassins might just get free from the Janus Group and get what they're owed. But first they'll need to survive.

©2015 Piers Platt (P)2015 Piers Platt

Good book, but very short.

Compelling and well written story.
That said, that this series is made up of five books, seems like the result of the author/publisher doing a profit maximizing analysis.

Was on sale for $10 so worth it

This Book is short and splitting the story like this is like how movies these days split the third book of a trilogy into two movies. The story is good and the performance is about as good as it gets on Audible so I think it was worth the $10, but I do not plan to pay more than this for any of the next four installations.

Didn't get my money's worth

Not enough happened in the book to make it seem like a full novel. The ending wasn't much of a cliff-hanger more lie the end of a chapter and a setup for the next book.

Otherwise the story was pretty good great concept - just some motivations and devices that don't seem too likely.

Too short.

I love the story but feel the author is cutting the books up to sell more.

Shorter than book one, equally compelling

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. Book one (Rath's Deception) was a gripping and thrilling novel. I had to find out what happened next. Like many mystery/thriller novels, you're left wanting more, more, more. This is a great addition to The Janus Group series, one that doesn't fall short of a new, enticing story as a stand alone book.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the depth that this novel takes readers into the underlying elements of the story. To go into detail here would spoil the read, but Platt answers the necessary questions that were left from book one, and gives readers new thought provoking scenarios looking forward into book three.

Have you listened to any of James Fouhey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my second listen to Fouhey's performances. I enjoyed this novel more than book one, but this is preferenced by any lack of character performances that changed between the two novels in the series thus far. I think this is a testament to Fouhey's ability to keep characters unique, and as a listener, it allows me to immerse into a novel far easier with the continuity.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Exposure comes at a high price.

Any additional comments?

I was a large fan of the first novel, and now I am a fan of The Janus Group series. I look forward to book three's availability.

Rath still hasn't figured things out yet

Rath's Gambit, Book 2 of Piers Platt's The Janus Group picks up immediately where Book 1 finished. Rath must first remove his hemabots and turn off the automatic feed from his implants. He then embarks upon hooking up with contractor 339, but she fails to show. In desperation, Rath teams up with the disgraced and now fired detective Bousoran that assists in sleuthing out her location. In parallel, agent 339 has been sentenced to a prison camp out in the territories after a botched theft attempt. When Rath manages to bust her out of prison, they end up in the clutches of the Janus Group. The power structure behind the Janus Group is also revealed.

The sci-fi elements are in line with Book 1 with FTL spaceships and the nearly magic forge backpacks that can make almost anything needed if the plans are available. The writing is rather crude and the characters are becoming a bit rigid and formulaic with Rath the remorseful, 339 the cold blooded killer, and Bousoran the boy scout, but the story is compelling and engaging.

The narration is quite well done with an excellent range of voices, although delivery is a tad on the slow side.

Too short!

I'll admit I'm now invested in the story to the point I want to find out what happens to the characters.

But...a couple of notes first:

1) This second installment (Rath's Gambit) seemed much shorter than the first. I haven't compared the runtimes, so if they are similar it may be due to the plot being faster paced. Compared to the first book, which spanned over a decade, this one runs its course in weeks of plot time, so the action is more compressed.

Either way, it felt as if the story was cut in the middle, leaving me a bit surprised and disappointed.

2) Some of the plot points / events in the timeline seem disjointed, as if they should have occurred before reading other chapters...perhaps it's a plot device by the author, but in some instances it's not entirely clear why it's used. For example, in some cases it takes one character weeks to travel from one planet to the next, where others seem to make the journey extremely quickly.

One other thing that bugs me - and since this is sci-fi maybe it shouldn't, but the instant, flawless communication and interplanetary transmission of video and audio signals, even in remote places with seemingly no infrastructure or way to beam such a signal, sorta bugs me.

But it's Piers Platt's world and I'm just living in it.

Those grumbles aside, the story remains compelling. I'm buying the third book because I want to find out what happens to Rath and others.

Good Sci Fi Potboiler Story

Good story. Well narrated.

It's a little cheesy spreading the story out over 6 volumes meaning you'll be in for over $70 for the whole series.

If you like this kind of thing, it will be the kind of thing you like. I'm probably on board for the whole series. Especially since Platt seems to have a knack for creating good cliffhanger endings.

The book is to short for the price

For a top-rated assassin he makes too many mistakes.
But otherwise it's a good “book” will probably buy the next one in the series.

great read

super solid sci-fi. the narrator hits the mark 95% of the time, missing the occasional voice inflection. besides that I loved it!