Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

From Goodreads: 

Humanity has colonized the solar system—Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond—but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for—and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations—and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

My Take:

There has been a lot of audiobook listening this month. Today I'll touch on the more than 20 hours of Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey. 

This series starter has great characters and a full-steam-ahead plot line. Miller, a cop on a space station,was my favorite character. He had the feel of a classic private investigator struggling with personal demons and the need to do what's right. Then there's Holden who is almost naively hopeful throughout. 

I really enjoyed this book. There was a good balance of action, character building, and consideration given to the volatile political environment brewing between the three groups. There was lots of language, but the story made me laugh out loud as well as fear for humanity. It didn't end with a cliff hanger, but it leaves the door wide open for more great story. 

I give Leviathan Wakes 4.5 stars and an R rating for language. There is no nudity or on page intimacy.

1-5 scale and what it means:

1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad

2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing

3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive

3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love

4: Solid mind candy / worth reading

4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read

5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure

Movie Ratings in relation to my review:

Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no intimacy on or off "screen"

PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, intimacy is all closed door

PG-13--some language (swear words not related to intimacy), more talk about intimacy, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but intimacy is closed door.

PG-14—somewhere between PG-13 and R. Not erotica, but at least a paragraph of on-screen intimacy

R--swearing (F-bomb, on “screen” intimacy, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the intimacy and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always