USS Washington: The Black Ship

USS Hamilton, Book 9

By: Mark Wayne McGinnis

Narrated by: Jimmy Moreland

In the dying embers of an interstellar war, newly appointed Fleet Commander Galvin Quintos stands as humanity's last hope, staring down the maw of oblivion. Entrusted with the technological marvel, Omninought-Class warship, USS Washington, Quintos embarks on a campaign to engage the merciless Grish Empire's three formidable armadas—Prowess, Torrent, and Pinnacle.

Outnumbered and outgunned, Quintos leads the battered vessels of Alpha Fleet in a desperate bid to avert Earth’s Armageddon. But in the heart of galactic conflict, Chaplain Halman Trent, a cunning predator disguised in piety, preys upon the vulnerable, especially the alluring Petty Officer Aubrey Laramie. With whispers of comfort, he exploits her inner turmoil and fuels her darkest desires. All too soon, Trent's influence expands, casting a dark shadow over the entire ship and crew.

Things go from bad to worse; in a devastating technological catastrophe, a merciless twist of fate may have doomed XO Gail Pristy to her final gasps, ruthlessly stripping away any chance she has to survive. Will Quintos find the strength to confront his deepest emotions while knowing it’s a fight that’s come too late?

Forced to split forces, it’s time to bring the fight to the enemy's doorstep, zero hour has arrived for Quintos and his crew. Orders from EUNF: Breach the impenetrable 50 Star Gun bulwarks guarding the Grish star system—a defensive gauntlet that has thwarted every allied force before them. There's no sugar-coating it; this is a suicide run that cannot be survived but may just buy precious time for Alpha Fleet light-years away.

©2024 Mark Wayne McGinnis (P)2024 Mark Wayne McGinnis

"Order captain QWintos?"

my experience listening to this book is that it's a 5/10. a story happens, people do things and plot points come up, but I didn't feel gripped or like I was in the moment with some of the other books (book 7 with Lincoln was peak). I'm not sure why we got another different narrator considering I feel the first 1 was excellent and the 2nd was commendable, but jaring and this 3rd narrator is sadly subpar with some of the enunciation. It's of my educated opinion that the time travel plot point was scrapped when a lot of people did a outcry. I'm hoping that this book was only so meh, because the storyline or details had to be reworked so we had this one just as a band-aid to redirect the story.

What Did You Do?! !!

Seriously?! This guy is HORRIBLE! you completely ruined your series! I want a refund! Do not buy this until they re-record, completely ruined these great characters with an awful imposter.

The mis pronunciation of the names of all the main characters.

It's great that they got Optimis Prime to narrate the book, but maybe rwad a couple chapters of the previous books so as to not butcher every name of the main characters.

Thin storyline, painful narration

this was by far the most disappointing book of the series, made worse by narration that didn't seem to fit the characters.

Yet another narrator. Yet another ghost written story.

apparently, Galvin is now a complete blithering idiot. He has no clue of anything. The author seems to think that throwing unexpected unnecessary things at the audience is the way to write the story. It makes no sense. If this continues, I’m disconnecting from this series 1st. You need to go back to the first narrator. You need to stop with either the ghost writing, AI writing, or figure out what the characters originally were. Seriously! The decisions being made by characters. Have zero sense at all. Military lease speaking none of the stupid shit would’ve made it past the orders given to the Admiralty. Sending a fleet commander’s vessel out to investigate something before he takes command of a fleet would never in a Bajillion years happen. Come on can we get back to the original make sense stuff?