3.5 stars! This book would have been a 4.5 stars rating if it wasn't for the first 150 pages, which were suuuuper boring. I was actually thinking to dnf that book because nothing happend, when things got a bit out of hand and suddenly everything seemed to happen at the same time. Oh, and two scenes in those 150, where the officers act SO ridiculously dumb that it physically hurt me didn't help my overall rating for this book. Besides that, however, this book kinda blow my mind. Not by its plot but by its characters. Marcus, for one, wasn't as annoying as in the previous books (which means he was still pretty annoying). Francis Ackerman Jr. has been my favorite character from the very beginning of this series and I didn't know that it was possible but after finishing this novel I love him even more. I actually think he's one of the most interesting characters I've read about in quite a while. Oh, and than there is Thomas White. I have no words for how disgusting this character is. Interesting, but rather disgusting. I am actually really looking forward to read the next Shepard-Book as soon as I can get my hands on it.