This is the third in a trilogy. Circuit, the first in the trilogy was shortlisted for Prometheus Award, so when I saw two of the three books on sale somewhere I bought them--then left them on the shelves for years in hopes of finding the middle book. In vain, so I decided to finally read the first one. I liked it--not enough to buy the middle book used from a third party vender online--but enough to keep the book on my shelves and to skip to this third and last book.

I do like the premise of the trilogy: a legal thriller in space. It's circa 2045 and Cabot Huntington has been appointed to head the newly created 15th Circuit--with jurisdiction over the American held colonies on the Moon, Mars, and the Asteroids. The first book was set on a Moon Colony, the second on Mars, and this one on the Asteroid belt. You could tell especially in the first book with its emphasis on legal matters that Snodgrass had a legal background, and in fact on her website it states she attended New Mexico School of Law and focused on Constitutional law, jurisprudence, and legal history. I did appreciate the solidness of the legal background, although this book was more action-oriented. The political backdrop did strike me as rather too cold war era in thrust--the books were published from 1986 to 1988, and failed to anticipate the demise of the Soviet Union. Goodness knows Snodgrass was not alone in that, and in the time between now and the time of the novel one could assume it was revived--or simply that this takes place in an alternate timeline. That bothered me less than in the first book, maybe because I had grown fond of the characters and more willing to overlook what I didn't like in the first book. This can be read as a standalone, enough background was given I didn't feel lost not having read the middle book, but I also liked it enough this will keep a spot on my scarce bookshelf space and if I spot the missing book in a used bookstore I'll certainly buy it. It's entertaining and I got a kick of the mix of genre of space opera and legal thriller. ( )