STARS, HIDE YOUR FIRES

The bigger the potential payout, the bigger the risk in this genre-bending debut.

Cassie’s life on Sarn, a dusty, arid minor moon of the planet Danae, is less than glamorous. She works with her nonbinary friend Jax, executing a two-part routine they’ve perfected to swipe jewels and trinkets from tourists. The well-rehearsed con earns Cassie enough to care for her ailing father—but just barely. When an unlucky mark tells Cassie the location of the upcoming Ascension Ball, which will be attended by the most influential people in the galaxy and where a new emperor will be crowned, she realizes that her pickpocketing skills could net her enough valuables to retire from her life of crime forever. As if enigmatic, intriguing Amaris (an attractive girl who is clearly hiding something) isn’t distraction enough at the ball, finding herself pinned in the crosshairs of the hunt for a murder suspect is far from the heist Cassie expected to pull off. Descriptive worldbuilding, inventive and gender-inclusive slang and symbolism, a vividly drawn cast, and fast-paced banter are joined by nonstop action and twisty revelations as Cassie finds herself ever more deeply embroiled in a world she knows little about. Cassie is cued White; the cast of characters varies in appearance, and race holds no significance in this world.

A high-stakes murder-mystery science-fiction thrill ride; great fun.