REVIEW: Embustero

Title: Embustero

Author: Scott Cleveland

Genre: science fiction

Price: $2.99 (ebook) $11.25 (paperback)

Publisher: CreateSpace

ISBN: 978-1480074729

Point of Sale: Amazon  

Reviewed by: Chris Gerrib

Embustero is the second novel in Scott Cleveland’s Pale Boundaries universe.  It starts very much right after the events of the first novel.  Fortunately for this reader (who reviewed the book years ago) everything you need to know about the previous book is provided.

In essence, Terson Reilly, the protagonist, has discovered that Nivia, the world he’s living on, has a well-hidden secret colony on a supposedly-uninhabited continent.  This colony is governed by a mafia-like organization, who besides hiding it are using it as a base for their various criminal enterprises.  In the first book, Reilly learned too much, and so an attempt was made to kill him.  It failed.

In this book we have two plots that are largely moving independently of each other.  Reilly, having escaped with his life, is trying to make a go of things with his rescuers, who have secrets of their own, while back on Nivia the mafia is dealing with various problems caused by Reilly and other local unrest.  There’s a bit less action in this book than in Pale Boundaries, but more mystery and intrigue, so overall it’s a wash.

In reading my previous review, I noted that Cleveland did several things in his writing that I didn’t approve of.  I note with pleasure that in Embustero Cleveland “fixed” those problems.  Overall, I found Embustero well worth the read, and I look forward to his next novel.

8/10