Review: Dakiti by EJ Fisch
Blurb:
The distant world of Haphez is located on the edge of populated space. The planet's native superhuman race is feared and respected by neighboring civilizations. Their military and police forces are unmatched.
Lieutenant Aroska Tarbic is an agent with the revered Haphezian Special Police. He’s lost a lot in a short period of time; the other members of his squad were killed in a tragic accident, and his younger brother was wrongfully convicted and executed for a crime he didn’t commit. Just when Aroska thinks he’s starting to piece his life back together, he’s assigned to a joint task force with a special operations team. It seems like a unique opportunity, at least until he learns his new commander is none other than Ziva Payvan, HSP’s finest operative...and the assassin who killed his brother.
Ziva is good at her job, a business that requires her to ignore her feelings and carry out her missions without question. She’s confident in her own abilities to complete the assignment, but Aroska is a wildcard. When their team stumbles across a young human during a routine investigation, they soon realize the situation isn't what it seems. The boy has unwittingly uncovered a sinister plot, one that could put the entire Haphezian race in jeopardy. Now the lines between friend and foe have become blurred, and no one can be trusted. United by the imminent threat, Ziva and Aroska must set their differences aside long enough to save their people...and maybe even each other.
Review:
Every once in a while a cover and a blurb will suck me right in, encouraging me to read a book immediately. This is exactly what happened with the book Dakiti by E.J. Fisch. A mixup of sci fi and thriller in a unique universe with lots of history that comes bleeding off of all of the pages. I was interested in reading as the main characters are not human, but an alien species that is similar, but different. It was fun to see them interacting with humans while discovering the differences between the different races. Dakiti has a very interesting setup between two main characters that have some serious issues between them. The history is something that leads to a dynamic mystery that plays with the characters in an understandable way. I was very excited with each page, discovering more of the universe laid bare before the reader.
The best part of the novel for me was the characters and all the side characters that were involved with mystery and other aspects of the story. The main character of Ziva Pavyan is layered in intrigue and just “get out of my way” attitude that made her a very memorable character. I find it refreshing to find main characters that are unique and different, with Ziva, an alien who is the best at what she does. There are moments where it is very obvious how ruthless and cold she can be, but there are times when a softer side is the one that is shown. I really liked these moments and made her a lot more relatable to the reader. The slow burn romance is something that a lot of readers will connect with and make it more of a highlight than what I felt like it truly was. It is subtle and feels very natural to what the story represents and a lot of readers will not be overwhelmed. The world or in this case universe, is very interesting and shows that it is very deep and complex. There is only a little bit that is shown in this first novel, leaving the door open to showcasing more of it in the future novels. I am looking forward to discovering a lot more about it and seeing how the politics play out with everything that happens in the novel.
This novel is one that starts a new series off with a bang, in every literal sense of the word. It is a great debut with characters that all readers will be cheering for every step of the way. EJ Fisch is most definitely an author to keep your eye on as she will keep the pages turning for the readers that choose to immerse themselves in the universe of Ziva Pavyan. I really liked that the main characters of the story were both non-human working to discover a mystery. I feel that it is a risk to showcase characters in this way as we as readers tend to humanize everything. I wish that more authors would take this risk as it leads to very dynamic and different situations. I am one of those who is most definitely looking forward to continuing this series. Based on this first one, I have high hopes for the rest of the series!!
Thank you for taking the time to read my review. As always, happy reading and Stay Great!!!
