The Bookwyrm's Review of Hell Hath No FUry (Black Sun Book 3) by David Dixon
A terrifying figure known as The Pale Man has emerged from Carla's past to offer Snake and the boss a sadistic choice: find Carla and bring her to him or lose the Black Sun 490 forever. Snake and the boss have had their squabbles before, but this time they're playing for keeps. The boss can't bear to lose the ship, and Snake won't turn Carla over to The Pale Man, no matter the cost. When a bar fight between the two ends with pistols and blades drawn, they part ways, and it's a race to see who can get to Carla first.
But they aren't the only ones involved.
On the boss's side, a UNF covert ops team with a penchant for pulling triggers first and asking questions later, and in Snake's corner, a religious cult that holds the clues he needs to reach Carla. Both sides are racing to find her and it will come down to who is willing to shoot first. Snake and the boss may have quick trigger fingers, but will they be able to pull them when they're staring down the sights at each other?
In the end, it's Carla's shocking secret that will set them all on course for a violent conclusion that may not leave anybody standing in... Hell Hath No Fury.
Review
When you get to the third book in a trilogy, its always interesting to see what the author does to close the story arc out. In the case of Hell Hath No Fury, David Dixon decided to up the stakes in every way, With new settings, some new characters and all new threats, Snake, Boss and Carla find themselves in a situation unlike any they've ever faced, against enemies much greater than they could have ever expected.
The world building is excellent as always. In this case, the story is mostly on a remote space station that has all the shady elements you'd expect. Any place that caters to what amounts to space trucking and dealing with all those elements is always going to have some sketchy elements, and the author really steers into that. Bringing in the elements of a secret government organization run by a mythological figure like the Pale Man that are such a shadowy hand behind what happens in the galaxy really ramps up the scale of threat. With the confined nature of the space station, it gives the action of the story a real sense of tension and immediacy that just sucks the reader in.
The characters are excellent, just as they were in the first two books. The byplay between Snake and Boss is just fantastic. They are such different type characters, with Snake's roguish charm and deadly menace at times playing so well against Bosses grandiose plans and bumbling methods. Watching the difference how they succeed or fail in interactions with the opposite sex is played for laughs, because Snake is the epitome of successful with the ladies, while Boss is a miserable failure at meeting women. They work together well, though, although in this case, that's broken when Snake's girlfriend Carla is what comes between them when the Pale Man puts the bounty on her head. And this is where Carla comes in. We finally get to see more of her backstory, and the secrets she has in her past come back to drive a good part of the story, and really round out her character. This all leads to the thrilling rush to the conclusion, and a satisfying conclusion of this arc is completed as the characters come together at the end of the book.
It's great to see these kind of roguish characters having thrill packed adventures, all with comedy and character growth. The story arc for these characters has taken them from damn near penniless drifters basically scraping by with their ship, to a much more successful and satisfying, if surprising, conclusion. You even get the feeling that Boss might even find a girl at some point. If you are into space opera with a bit of an edge, but still has humor and action, this series is for you, and you will enjoy this one as much as I did.
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