A good trek standalone novel. Fleshes out the Tarsus IV incident, and has a brief glimpse of a young Jim Kirk, but otherwise pretty much stands on its own, without as much of the "here's some fun hints at how we're trying to bridge the DIS and TOS aesthetics" that the prior DIS novel ([b:Desperate Hours|32841842|Desperate Hours (Star Trek Discovery #1)|David Mack|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501879827s/32841842.jpg|53444300][b:Desperate Hours|32841842|Desperate Hours (Star Trek Discovery #1)|David Mack|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501879827s/32841842.jpg|53444300]) incorporated. Also perhaps of note by virtue of being the first book I can remember reading with what I can only describe as a "post-credits scene", which I found somewhat odd.