Riker is sent to the planet Besidia to investigate the apparent theft of a valuable artifact by an old friend. He's helped in this by one of the locals, and together they track down the lost seal, the lost friend, and a trade conspiracy. It's a well put together mystery, and I enjoyed it. If it were not for the subplot, I'd have rated this three stars, but unfortunately that secondary story - Data playing baseball - is hands down the most boring subplot I've read in all of Star Trek. It interrupted the interesting story far too often, and it was interminable. I actually groaned out loud - several times - when I turned a page and there it was again, bogging up the book and slowing down the pace like a quicksand of ultimate dullness. Sometimes good writers can elicit interest from an uninspiring subject but I can tell you that is not the case here.

I can only think that the sort of pedantic detail that characterised this tedium comes from an author who really, really loves baseball. And, you know, I'm generally all for authors going on about their hobbies in their work, but from my own perspective this was a darling that needed to be taken out back and shot. Baseball is boring as shit. And I can't help but think that Friedman is aware of this on some level, given how clear it's made in the story that, in this timeline, baseball is pretty much a dead sport that no-one plays any more. And do you know why? Because it's boring as shit.