Relic thief teams up with an alien to scour the galaxy, and maybe even the entire universe, for a powerful item that holds the key to the survival of an alien species. Seems like an absurd plot but the author does an excellent job of fleshing out the background to make it seem plausible. The only negative is that the ending felt rushed to get to the conclusion that left some questions unanswered. I no longer expect perfection for a book to get a perfect score but simply ask myself “did I really enjoy reading it?”  and give the score that reflects my answer to the question. Sure there were some imperfections in the story but there was never a point where this felt like a chore to read. Imaginative and thoroughly entertaining.