Cover Artist: Steven D. Anderson

A new threat to the Jedi has become apparent, in the form of a seemingly Force-sensitive assassin droid, and Obi-Wan Kenobi and Kit Fisto are dispatched to Ord Cestus. Their mission is to convince the manufacturers of this new droid to cease production, and they will achieve their objective by any means possible. Each of them commands a different branch of persuasion, Kit Fisto takes a group of clone troopers with the intent of organizing an underground resistance, and Obi-Wan takes a barrister named Doolb Snoil to persuade the company to stop through legal methods.

This was a fairly involving story, with many twists and turns. Almost from the very start of the negotiations, the Jedi are being maneuvered into a failing position, but never obviously enough to spark an investigation. Everytime they accomplish something positive, events twist around on them to completely overthrow their progress. It isn't until the very end that they realize how badly they've been outmaneuvered.

I enjoyed Steven Barnes writing style, and I caught on pretty quickly to how he was referencing his earlier work in this story. The name of one of his characters, Doolb Snoil, is simply the name of one of his books reversed: Lion's Blood. A minor thing like this didn't bother me in the slightest, and I really enjoyed this book.