Rating: 
Summary: Good, but...
Review: I am primarily a Trek Next Generation fan, although I do like the original series as well. I found this book to be a good read, although I must concur with many of the reasons that other people have found it somewhat displeasing. It often focuses too much on Kirk and his reflections about love and growing older, and although I know people change as they age, I don't really think it stays too true to the Kirk character that we all knew before these books. All the female characters play secondary, even weak roles, including (for the most part) Teilani, which is especially dumb since she is a half Klingon half Romulan who can certainly take care of herself. There are only a couple scenes where you see her in action, and it is still secondary. Also, there were many times when the book got too...I don't know, perhaps technical is the word for it. I found myself wanting to skip ahead but afraid if I did I would miss something. Did anyone else notice that Shatner dedicated the book to Nimoy (who played Spock), DeForrest (who played Bones) and DeForrest's wife, but not Doohan, who played Scottie? It seemed kind of like a snub to me, especially since I recently read about some animosity between the two. At any rate, I would recommend the book if you are a TOS fan or a TNG fan. It's not a great work of literature, but it is an enjoyable read and for the most part will not let you down. I am looking forward to reading Dark Victory and Preserver.
Rating:
Summary: Looking into the Mirror Uinverse
Review: Building upon themes and stories from the Original Star Trek Series can be risky or very interesting. In this case, Shatner has broken all expectations and done it again! I always thought the "Mirror-Mirror" story was complete and nearly impossible to follow-up, much less into a major novel. But, again, the wisdom of Shatner prevails. Perhaps not as gripping as The Return, Spectre dives deep into the charcters of Kirk and Telani and, again, boldly manages to tell a fantastic and original Star Trek story!
Rating:
Summary: Not Shatner's best so far, but very good
Review: Dark Victory is SO much better, but then, most "#1 of 3" books seem a little incomplete (read my review on Dark Victory so more on that). This book, as all of Shatner's past books, capture the characters well. You can tell that both Shatner & the Reeves-Stevens have a great deal of affection for their characters. His Kirk is definitely fleshed out more here than the show or movies were ever able to in their limited scopes. He's older & wiser, and not as eager to "save the universe" as he used to be, but still steps up to the plate when he needs to. I'll have to argee with some other reviews that Kirk seems to be TOO reckless based on how protective of his crew he's been in the past, but Kirk was always breaking regulations & acting before thinking, RIGHT? Anyway, this is a good read, and the cliffhanger at the end... well, be glad that book 2 (Dark Victory) is already available. When I read it, I had to wait an eternity for the next book!
Rating: 
Summary: William Shatner at his best
Review: Some say Willam Shatner can't act, but he sure can write. Shatner really knows his character Kirk and that makes him the ideal writer for these Star Trek Mirror universe books. Becouse Shatners perfect understanding of the character Kirk he can start the action almost directly whitout kim having to "build" the characters. And thanks to the co-authors it all fits in the Star Trek univers as we know it.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit of a disappointment after the first trilogy
Review: After the first trilogy of books by the Shatner/Reeves-Stevens team, I had some hope for this new series. What I believe Shatner is good at is bringing in a writer (or team in this case) and really working with them to come up with a good story. Sometime it works (especially with AVENGER), other times it doesn't. Unfortunately, the downside this time around in the hokey manner the Reeves-Stevens handle romance and relationships (if you don't believe me, take a look at their work in the same area in FEDERATION). I say unfortunately, as a bit of the plot in SPECTRE deals directly with this concept, and whenever it does, the writing becomes much too dependent on cliches. Still, it wasn't enough to condemn the book! Fast read and I'll certainly be picking up DARK VICTORY to read more of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Hardly Ghosts...
Review: First off, once again someone is claiming, falsely, to get information on the Trek books from Michael Jan Friedman. Second - The Reeves-Stevens and William Shatner are a solid team and will continue to be so. Third - it's hard to call writers "Ghosts" when their names appear on the title page and on the cover flaps.:) John Ordover Executive Editor Star Trek Fiction Pocket Books
Rating:
Summary: Shatner does it again.
Review: Along with the help of Judith and Garfied Reeves-Sevens, Kirk is set on a journey of self-discovery; one that propelles him to meet the visitors of an alternate universe he hadn't been to in along time. He feels it's his duty to set things right, but along the way he learns of a hidden conspiracy in the Federation! Shatner has created another masterpiece, and I urge you to read it if you haven't already.
Rating:
Summary: A shame that it wasn't really written by Shatner...
Review: This was a very good sequel as well as a good book. It's just a shame that Shatner had a ghost writer and is taking all the credit. What's even worse (and I got this from Michael Jan Friedman at a convention when he was asked about books coming from the company) is that Shatner only read up to The Return and used a synopsis for when he went on tour, not mentioning the ghost author at all. The ghost authors are none other than Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens. And apparently, after the next book to finish up the trilogy, they're calling it quits because they're fed up with Shatner. So to all you people that think this is a Shatner ego-trip, think again! Also, in regards to Diane Duane's book "Dark Mirror," any real trekkie who's watched DS9 knows that the Federation doesn't exist in the 24th century. This trilogy of books is more accurate and conforms to the timeline much more so than Diane Duane's book, with completely contradicts the Star Trek timeline. But to be fair, her book was written some time before that fact was established. Don't believe me? Look it up in the Star Trek Encylopedia. =) But I digress. Spectre is a great book, and I look forward to the rest of the books.
Rating:
Summary: Shatner at his apex
Review: Great book..! I thought that it would be another foray into the Captain "I am the Man" Kirk character that the world has come to know. Instead, this book is almost like a passing of the torches to Picard, as Kirk relates to being older and how much times have changed. However, we are also shown how valuable the original crew still is and how their tactics are more action-oriented than Picard's generation. I really expected Shatner to portray Kirk as being the man who single-handedly takes over the world as a weaker Picard looks on. Not so. Its a great book and i suggest that you read it!
Rating:
Summary: Shatner or Kirk, who is this character?
Review: Another Trek novel. Yes, I just can't get enough of these. They are kind of like the Bud Lite of SF, they go down easy and after you have read about five of them you don't notice the bad taste they sometimes leave in their wake. Well, I am a Star Trek fan and after reading Shatner's Get A Life book I do find myself with a bit of affection for the potbellied former Captain of the Enterprise. Unfortunately while this book has good pacing and has a bevy of interesting characters, I often didn't feel like I was seeing Kirk portrayed properly. It feels like Shatner is exploring his own feelings about age and love more and more with the Kirk character. There are endless scenes in the book where we find Kirk mooning over his love for Teilani, the exotic Klingon, Romulan hybrid that Kirk fell in love with in past books. In fact much of what motivates Kirk in the book is his endless love for this woman. That's all fine and dandy, but really, that isn't the Kirk that we have known up till now. In the The Return and Avenger, Kirk wasn't this dreamy eyed, (granted in one of those he was the brainwashed pawn) this book takes this to a whole new level. That said and done it was probably the main thing that irked me about the book, that and the ending. The beginning of the novel finds Kirk trying to settle down with Teilani, but she convinces him that he needs to go out and explore some more and find out whether he really wants to settle down with her or not. Of course, Kirk agrees to this and goes off to a few Starfleet functions to shoot the breeze with his old comrades in arms. While he is attending said functions he is kidnapped by mysterious forces. Cut to the Enterprise-E where Picard seems to have found the Voyager, the ship thought lost in the Delta Quadrant, or is it? The story gets a bit twisted and convoluted from there. It brings back the Mirror Universe plot-line which was first explored in the original Star Trek television show. Later the idea was further explored on episodes of Deep Space Nine and in other books including Dark Mirror by Diane Duane. While the ideas are a rehash, the plot is engaging and fast moving. Picard and his crew seem thrown in and aren't used very effectively, but then again what would you expect when Shatner writes a Star Trek novel? Of course Kirk gets top billing. There are quite a few characters that make a return in this novel including Spock, Scotty and Mccoy. Talk about the geriatric patrol. Amazingly, through luck, good breeding or just plain stubbornness they have all been able to survive into the time of the Next Generation. While the plot moves along there are a lot of melodramatic moments from Kirk either reminiscing about how good it is to be back with his crew or about his love for Teilani. The book is fast paced with a lot of action, it did keep me turning the pages, but the Kirk melodrama and some cookie cutter characters (read Next Generation) thrown into the mix bring the book down a few notches. Also just an FYI the ending is a "to be continued" one. So if you were thinking about picking this up in paperback, you might want to wait until the sequel Dark Victory is out so you can get the whole story. 3 out of 5 Bias: +1 if you are a rabid Star Trek fan. -1 if you hate Kirk or Shatner.
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