As a long time Halo fan getting the newest novel was something I was always going to do, so I avoided any information about the book until release. Upon receiving the book I was pleasantly surprised to see the story was following Spartan-104 or Fred, which is great not only as a recurring character but also because of his imminent inclusion in the Halo game universe with Halo 5 Guardians just around the corner!
So we start off a year after the events of Halo 3 (and 3 years before Halo 4) on the Planet Gao where a small town's underground thermal spa resort has recently begun healing locals of their ailments and diseases. Weird right- Well this obviously attracts the interest of the UNSC (The United Nation Space Command.) But Gao being and independant sovereign planet with past Insurrectionist ties, it isnt very easy for either side to get along. Not long after their examination starts, bodies of civilians start turning up in the caves, murdered brutally and violently with all evidence pointing towards the Spartans assigned to the science team. Enter a special homicide detective with claustrophobia and there's your premise!
All in all it was a pleasant read, the characters were interesting with plenty of nods to the other novels provided you've read Ghosts of Onyx which I thought was very nice considering this is Troy Denning's first time writing a Halo novel. The action segments are decent and character intetactions memorable. I recommend this book only to those who have some pady experience with the novels though and not to first time readers of the franchise. But still a 4/5. Solid, I really enjoyed it.
