Rating: 
Summary: Good installment in the Shatner Star Trek series
Review: "Captain's Peril" is seventh is the excellent Star Trek novel series by William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, a series that began with "Ashes of Eden" and centers - at least in part - around the premise that Kirk did not meet his final end as portrayed in the movie "Star Trek: Generations," but rather he was resurrected, events surrounding this of which are detailed in the second novel in the series, "The Return." This novel, as are all the others with the exception of the bulk of "Ashes of Eden" takes place contemporaneously with the events of the Star Trek universe at large, with each successive novel in the series incorporating events portrayed in the various television series and movies (several throwaway lines in this novel hint at events depicted in the currently on-going series "Enterprise" with references to Archer and T'Pol). Having said that though, it is not necessary for one to have read the preceding novels in this series, though they may shed some light on a few brief references to what has gone before. In previous novels of the series James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, and others have dealt with issues ranging from conspiracies within Starfleet to the Borg to villains from the alternate universe first depicted The Original Series episode "Mirror, Mirror." This one starts off with (aside from a prologue set during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor) with Picard and Kirk taking a vacation to Bajor. The two friends sought to combine their mutual interests, the vacation starting out with some orbital skydiving, which would take the pair to a Bajoran archaeological dig along the shores of an inland sea in the desert, the researchers there investigating a sunken ancient city, one that was covered by waters released thanks to Cardassian efforts (depicted in the prologue). The vacation does not go off as planned; first they almost die during the orbital skydiving thanks to faulty equipment, leaving them miles away from their landing zone next to the dig and without hope to be rescued before possibly dying of thirst or exposure. To pass the time Kirk describes to Picard events he faced very early as captain of the Enterprise, less than six months into its first five year mission. This story is told throughout the course of the novel and I found it quite engaging, showing how Kirk and Spock became friends, how Kirk grew into the role of captain, and what the Enterprise was like in the transitional period between Pike and Kirk having command of the ship. The story tied into a surprising degree with events in the story and was capped at the end of the book by a riveting and chilling epilogue, one which begs to be followed up by the authors in future works. Kirk and Picard are rescued by one of the archaeologists, but they find that he wasn't out looking for them; he was out seeking a murderer! One of the foremost scientists at the camp had been murdered and no one there knows who did it or why. Much of the novel details Picard's and Kirk's efforts to solve this crime and bring the murderer to justice. The camp is completely cut off from the outside world, with no communications, miles from nowhere in the desert wilderness, Kirk and Picard lacking any weapons or access to sophisticated technology, many in the camp openly hostile to their presence, several with ample motive and opportunity to have committed the murder; the two captains have their work cut out for them. I found the murder investigation a bit less riveting than Kirk's tale of his early days as captain. While by no means bad - it was interesting in that it had a lot to do with Bajoran history and particularly Bajoran religion - I found it at times confusing. Matters weren't helped much by the fact I had trouble sometimes keeping track of the various archaeologists and others at the camp. This is not to say that they were all alike, as some were quite distinct, but enough were similar and there names sort of ended up blending together for me. I still liked it, just didn't find it as effective as the second plot line, the one set in the past. A good book, it didn't have quite the epic scope as earlier books in this series and I sort of liked that (though the plotline relayed through Kirk's tale has much broader implications in the future if the authors chose to explore it). All in all though a very good read, one I would recommend (though there were other books in the series that were better); certainly I would read it if you liked others in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story but intro into another
Review: A good story. Kirk and Picard vacation together on Bajor first planning to arrive by doing a plantary orbital skydive and then assist with an archaeological dig in progress. Problems already start on the dive down and get worse as the leader of the dig is killed before their arrival and of course Kirk and Picard get in the middle of everything risking their lives. But during the quiet periods Kirk tells Picard of his first major assignment and of the start of his and Spock's freindship (about 40% of the book). The main story gets resolved well but the story Kirk tells does not because I think it is the intro to his next book coming out. For those that have not followed the original Star Trek from the begining and throughout. Kirk is still around in the new Start Trek time frame because he disappeared in some kind of time thread and was thought dead for around 75 years and was brought back by Picard in the movie and latered seemingly died but was returned to life (a book by Shatner). Spock (an ambassador at large) is still alive since Vulcans have very long life spans; McCoy is a very old admiral having had 100 plus repacements and grafts; Scotty is still around having locked himself in a perpetual loop on his ship's transporter when his ship was trapped and he was much later released by Gordie on the Star Trek Next Generation.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic novel!
Review: Bill Shatner is one of the greatest Trek authors to date. His unique and singular ability to capture the essence of Star Trek is, no doubt, due to his legendary involvement with the franchise from the very beginning. This novel is no exception. The action is intense, the plot aggressive and engulfing, the characters alive and true. This was my first Trek novel by Shatner, but I will definitely read the others.
Rating:
Summary: A murder-mystery/trip to the past with Kirk...
Review: I happen to have enjoyed 'Captain's Peril' quite a bit. While it failed to be as gripping or as all-out entertaining as Shatner/Reeves-Stevens' last outing in 'Preserver', I still found it to be different, and entertaining overall. Within 'Captain's Peril' are two separate stories that aren't as connected as the authors would like us believe. Still, I enjoyed both tales. The story begins as Kirk has strong-armed Picard into taking a joint archaeolgical-vacation on the planet Bajor. It starts off with a perilous Orbital Skydive where one of the 'Suits' rented by Quark on DS9 seems to be a shade past its warranty and fails on Kirk. His quick thinking, combined with Picards resourcefulness saves him, but in the process it uncovers the memory of Kirk on the original Enterprise just shortly after he took over as captain. Spock has requested a transfer, forcing Kirk to think that his 1st officer thinks of him as incompetant. Soon an emergency call from Starfleet forces them to the Mandylion Rift for a very interesting 'Challenge'. Before anything ever happens of course, the action returns us back to the present where Kirk & Picard find themselves trapped in the Bajoran desert, wondering if they will survive long enough to find the ancient dig they were originally expecting to visit. To make a long story short, they make it (was there ANY doubt?) and stumble quickly upon a murder. The stage is now set for both captains to solve this incident, meeting opposition at every turn, and interrupted by Kirk's memory of his original 5-year mission and some interesting conversations with Spock, who is busy trying to figure out Kirk (and humans in general). Personally I found the background story from years past to be more entertaining than the murder/mystery in the Bajoran desert involving a possible Cardassian/Lost Bajoran Orb cover-up. I found myself wondering what exactly was going to happen next to Kirk and crew in the Mandylion Rift and the 'Challenge' facing them than who the murderer was. Although I also enjoyed a very interesting debate between Kirk & Picard over the merits of the Prime Directive. Overall I liked the story, but felt that jumping in between the two stories ultimately distracted me from the entire tale as a whole--BUT I enjoyed it enough to look forward to 'Captain's Blood' which is mentioned at the end of the story along with a teaser of just what may be in store for us in the next chapter of the saga of James T. Kirk in the world of Next Generation Star Trek. Not bad--but not great, either.
Rating:
Summary: Solid effort
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I just finished it last night. The interaction between Picard and Kirk really show up well in this book while they try and work through a murder mystery, debate the prime directive, and talk about an early mission of Kirks. That early mission is probably the most entertaining part for me, I simply enjoy Kirk best as the Captain, leading his ship, engaging danger pLus this had the early interaction between Spock and him, as they debate back and forth trying to deal with eachothers differences. The murder mystery on Bajor, the Planet Kird and Picard are vacationing on, is a solid entry, but not as entertaining as the old mission in the book and it is that old mission which sets up what is up coming in this trilogy. I am certainly looking forward to reading the next in line. Shatner's Trek books are some of the best Trek reads you are ever going to find. His second, The Return, would have made a better choice for a Trek movie than the last two stinkers they released.
Rating:
Summary: Kirk is only human. (In case you didn't know)
Review: The Captain's Peril is the third of William Shatner's novels I have read. I first read Dark Victory. I was disapointed that it ended and I had to get The Preservers to finish the story. I enjoyed them and went out looking for the books that Shatner had written. I found The Captain's Peril. I started it and couldn't put it down. It was good to see that Kirk and Picard could get together and not always be saving everyone. I found they were seen as normal, not as superman. This story is written by William Shatner, so it centers around James T. Kirk. Picard is a his side kick. I was surprized that the story took place over just a few days, but kept my attention thru the entire story. Now I'm getting all of the rest of William Shatner's books. If they are as good as this, I will be eagerly waiting for new novel to continue the life of James T. Kirk.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable.
Review: The first three "Shatnerverse" novels were met by Star Trek fans with a rare kind of anticipation. After all, what could be better than the story of Kirk told from the man who had brought him to life for over 30 years? It was a must-have for any Trek fan. And the thing is--those first three books really delivered on the promise. The original Shatner trilogy is one of the better multi-novel sequences out there. However, after a rather lackluster trilogy, Shatner (and the Reeves-Stevens) return with the start of another trilogy. Honestly, after how poorly wrapped up the Mirror Universe trilogy was, I wasn't anticipating the start of a new saga in the Shatnerverse. However, I still had some hope for the Captain's Peril to be a good Trek book. After all, Pocket's track record this year has been fairly impressive. But "The Captain's Peril" seems more like it was written to meet a quota--it's a new calendar year, so we need a new Trek book by Shatner and the Reeves-Stevens. The story sees Picard and Kirk taking a vacation of Bajor where they will orbital skydive and then go on an archaelogical expedition. Of course, things go awry from Kirk and Picard almost perishing while skydiving to then finding things amiss at the Bajoran archelogical dig. Before you know it, Kirk is up to his ears in a murder mystery and looking into the past of Bajor. Meanwhile, we are given a story of one of Kirk's early missions--set before "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Of the two plots, the early story is the most compelling since it tries to delve into the early relationship Kirk had with his crew and filling the shoes of the then-legend Christopher Pike. However, the problem with both plots is they are rather heavy-handed at time. They are also predictable as all get out. The deep, dark secret at the end of the Bajoran plotline is spelled out in the first few pages of the book. Add to it an abrupt stop to the story mid-way through for Picard and Kirk to debate the merits of the Prime Directive (Kirk sees it as being an obstacle to really exploring) and it adds up to a less than satifsying read. One thing that the early Shatnerverse novels did was take chances. The idea of bringing Kirk by using Borg nanotechnology was intriguing and revoluationary. However, in The Captain's Peril the attempted risks in intriguing storytelling are underminded by the reader knowing certain things can't stay the way they unfold in the book. There must be a giant reset button at the end and while it's not as groan-inducing as it could be, it does serve to take you out of the narrative flow. Overall, this isn't the weakest of the Shatnerverse novels, but neither is it the best. It's content to do well for about 300+ pages, setting up the storyline for the next novel. In a lot of ways, the Shatner novels have gone from something to really look forward to, to just your standard Trek novels.
Rating:
Summary: Not Bad But Not Great
Review: The setting of this most recent Shatner Trek novel is on Bajor. Picard and Kirk are orbital skydiving and just recreating while on shore leave when they discover a possible murder and some sort of conspiracy. I have vague memories of the details since it took me about 3 months to get through this, having to give it back to the library and such. It starts off pretty well with the Cardassion battle but then as the book progresses it goes down hill. It seemed that Shatner delved a little to much into the conversations and chattering between Kirk and Picard instead of focusing on interesting and engaging plot and storylines. Still, it was ok, I guess. Shatner is supposedly making this into a trilogy. If that's the case, I hope it improves with books 2 and 3.
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best Kirk Books
Review: This book is getting panned in certain quarters, but I think that's a result of certain readers (i.e. the Trek phanboi contingent) not having their very rigid expectations met . This is not a "Big Cosmic Struggle" (tm) Trek novel -- it's a murder mystery starring Kirk and Picard, set on Bajor. It's definitely more character-driven than many current Trek novels, and the Reeves-Stevenses (Judy, I think, was the main author on this one) give a fair amount of insight into the workings of Kirk's mind, something I found interesting. More than that, the characterization of Kirk as an older man (i.e. as the older Bill Shatner, who's decidedly more philosophical these days) rang true for me. It's still Kirk, but it's a Kirk who has learned to leaven his impulsive, pro-active nature with a certain amount of conscious consideration. Picard is well-drawn also, and the book's two authors (two-point-five? I'm led to understand that Shatner contributes/discusses plot ideas, and that the Reeves-Stevenses `make it so') have finally made me begin to believe a Kirk-Picard friendship is plausible. Why? Because the two captains *don't* see eye-to-eye; they are very different men, and they know it. Their friendship seems to come out of the fact that they are peers for one another -- they are, in effect, the only two who have an innate understanding of what it means to be considered "living legends", and who know the reality of carrying the burden of such status. Another thing I liked? This novel is essentially self-contained. Oh sure, the groundwork is set for the next book, but this story is not a cliffhanger. You get a complete tale for your money, even as you know there's something brewing for the next volume. And, surpringly, Bajor worked for me as a setting. I always wanted to like Deep Space Nine better than I did -- but I just had real problems with the erratic writing quality on the show. This book made the planet Bajor "real" to me in ways the show rarely did. I don't know why -- I just got a sense with this novel of how interesting the setting could be if handled well. It made me interested in Bajor and the Bajoran people for the first time in a long time. So, there you have it, a non-spoiler review. If you're the kind who buys Trek novels only for galaxy-shaking plots of peril, then you probably won't like this book. However, if you can appreciate a well-written Trek mystery, featuring strong characterization of James T. Kirk, then I recommend Captain's Peril to you.
Rating:
Summary: Woop! Forget Something?
Review: This novel is average at best. The ending of the main story is interesting, but the secondary "flashback" story is simply dropped. It is odd when you read something for a couple of hundred pages and then it just disappears. Very strange...like something is missing. I can't say much more without needlessly giving away too much information.
The character of Picard is treated poorly. He comes off as a somewhat scared, play by the rules flunky to Kirk's "damn the torpedo" persona. Both characters are represented poorly. This continues the later Shatner novel characterizations which is unfortunate since the first novels were so good.
On the positive, the main story is vaguely interesting if you are willing to put up with yet another "murder mystery" Trek novel.
In the end, the novel was an ok read but nothing to right a review about...oh wait, too late.
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