No Safe Haven - Carmen Webster Buxton

Title: No Safe Haven
Author: Carmen Webster Buxton
Genre: Sci-Fi
Published: 2011
Formats: Ebook

Available at:
Amazon
Amazon UK
Smashwords

"No Safe Haven" is the sequel to "The Sixth Discipline" which I have previously reviewed here. I would advise everyone to read "The Sixth Discipline" first as "No Safe Haven" does refer back to various incidents from that book and therefore the reader needs to have some understanding of what went on before.

The story starts the equivalent of nine earth years after the events of the first novel and once again the main plotline follows the lives of Ran-Del, Francesca and their family. I will try not to spoil the story here, but basically one of Ran-Del and Francesca's children get kidnapped and you get to follow both the parent's reaction and what is happening to the child himself. It is through this plot that we also get to find out more about the third faction on the planet Haven known as "The Horde" who were mentioned but never really seen in the first novel.

In addition, another plotline of the novel is dedicated to a secondary character from the first novel known as Freddie Leong. These sections detail his various attempts to deal with his drug addiction and rather dysfunctional family. Whilst there is a tie up between this plotline and the Ran-Del one it is very minor and at times the book feels like you are actually reading two separate stories set in the same Universe. I have no issue as it was all very enjoyable but I am curious to know if it could have been even better had both stories been split into their own novels.

I will admit that it was the Feddie Leong sections of the book that really had me hooked. The suspense, political intrigue and excitement around this plotline had me unable to put the book down for very long. The other plotlines were enjoyable as well and I was specifically happy to see that the major open plotline from the first book was closed down to a rather satisfactory ending. I did note that there was an interesting emphasis on family relationships throughout the novel. This included the good, bad and downright strange aspects of family life and I think it added very well to the character aspects of the novel.

Overall, I probably enjoyed this book slightly more than the prequel although it was also a great read. I think that the greater emphasis on some of the adventure, intrigue and suspense compared to the romance elements was probably why I preferred this one though. All I can really say thought is that if you have read "The Sixth Discipline" then make sure you pick this up as you won't be disappointed.