A review by starwarrior91
Best Defense by David Mack

4.0

Both continuing story threads from book one and expanding the narrative, Best Defense finds Kirk and crew on the front lines of political intrigue as Captain Una strives to save lost comrades from a strange alternate universe. Una’s story was probably my least favorite part. Since she was in a universe that has basically nothing in it I’m glad it was left as the side plot here. Was not expecting the major lore connections with regards to the Organian peace treaty and the characters involved. Loved seeing Sarek and Amanda and especially Gorkon, even if his presumed death derailing peace seemed very derivative of Star Trek 6. As a non canon book I can just sit back and enjoy the story without worrying about those kinds of details though. Joanna McCoy was a great addition to the story as well. I can’t recall if I knew that McCoy had an estranged daughter or not, but I’m so glad they included her, especially since she was in the series bible for TOS and therefore was always part of McCoy’s story. The Romulans were the MVPs of this story however. Our Tal Shiar operative was a great villain as was the perfect wild card in this book.

Chocked full of Star Trek references and still feeling very true to the world of The Original Series, Best Defense makes for a great part two of this 50th anniversary trilogy.