The Rigel Redemption by Robin C.M. Duncan

Book Review

Nadya Mercik

Have you been waiting? I certainly have the latest news on the Quirk and Moth front. And, reporting from the fields, this pair of detectives does not let you down. You are, as usual, up for a bunch of cool, mission-impossible-style adventures, some very personal stuff and Bad guys with capital ‘B’. So don’t miss it!

The novel picks up from the previous books and interim novellas. Having had a few confrontations with C-Corp and its founder, Joshua Simister, our detective duo was left a bit shattered by everything that had happened. The situation does not improve when the non-binary assassin Beatrix Potter, who has promised to kill Quirk, returns. Only this time, they are there to hire Quirk for a mission on behalf of The Rigel Corporation. The UN Secretary for Technology, who is travelling to Mars with his daughter, is in danger from the notorious Joshua Simister, who looks to monopolise the NLS drive and all the space travel. Moth’s family, who are the head of the Rigel Corporation, is ready to oppose that. The new capo di tutti capi Mario Manfredi engages Moth in the mission alongside Quirk, the assassin with his floating allegiances and Quirk’s ghost-in-the-tech son Nick. At first, the mission seemed to go successfully. Until the team gradually discovers how deep Simister’s conspiracy runs and how many of them are in danger.

The story weaves seamlessly between mind-boggling, fast-speed chases and shootings, and the family drama. There is no respite between stopping a huge conspiracy and sorting out the complicated family relationships and past traumas. Secrets threaten to ruin the relationship that has been building between Moth and Quirk while her family tries to bring her back into the Rigel corporation. It is difficult to believe that only six months have passed since Moth and Quirck got together in the first book and how Moth has matured since then. Her signature language is still annoying the people around her, but she has grown both as a detective and as a person. And, in this book, she goes through more trauma, but she meets it all head-on.

I loved how Robin C. M. Duncan portrayed the female characters and how much agency he gave them. Quirk is one of the protagonists, but you can see how the women around him are driving the story and impact who Quirk is becoming. There is a deep appreciation in Quirk’s eyes of the power of women and their presence in his life.

A lot of previous arcs get rounded in this novel, and new avenues open for our heroes. But Quirk and Moth will return, says the author, and it is a balm to my heart. I want to keep reading about their adventures, see how these strong personalities co-exist without exploding, and how they reconcile their conflicts. Besides, the gun of the conspiracy was fired, and some bullets of the round were caught, but I am curious about where those few escapees were going to go.