I expected a lot more from this book. The idea, a Jedi-turned-P.I. after escaping the Purges and finding work in the slimey underbelly of Coruscant's lower levels, sounds great--a nice treat and reprieve from the same ol' same ol' Jedis always doing awesome stuff and saving an oblivious galaxy we always get.

Not only did the blurb on the back cover deceive me, the cover art did as well. It's completely noir-influenced. What else was I supposed to expect except Raymond Chandler and Star Wars all into one?

Instead, I find out Jax Pavan (the P.I. protagonist) isn't even a P.I. . Did the editor even read the book? He's a bounty hunter. The two are completely different things. Not only is he a bounty hunter (who we never get to see in action), but he's being hunted by every other character mentioned in the book, all of whom have extremely famous over lords, masters, bosses, rivals, cousins, fathers, hairstylists, etc...I think you get the picture.

The secret of Jax's sudden tantalizing allure is this: his Jedi Master Even Piell has unexpectedly, but plot-wise, thankfully, died with an unfinished mission under his belt that he absolutely must get Jax to complete. So when Nick Rostu appears (also escaping the Purges--it's more common than you think) with a gnarly new scar on his cheek to save the day with his band of underworld ruffians, who better to pass the message along to than him? Now, it's up to Jax to find the stolen Death Star information to help the Rebellion overthrow the Empire or many Bothans will have died in vain. Wait--wrong storyline. Jax must now hunt down a droid gone missing, a droid with information vital to the survival of a secret organization called Whiplash, striking out against the burgeoning Empire from the most bottom of the bottom. I think that time I got it right.

Oh, and remember Den Dhur and his C-3PO doppleganger I-5YQ from the Medstar duology? Last we left them, or, last they left us, Dhur was on his way to make sure I-5 accomplished his former master's dying wish (note to self: when I die, make sure all the slave, electronic, fleshy, or otherwise, are not left with my dirty laundry missions): to take care of his son, gasp Jax Pavan.

And just to make the pot a little sweeter, throw in Darth Vader and a random new underling, Haninum Tyk Rhinann, who has a new assignment. That's right, you guessed it: to find Jax Pavan for some "unfinished" business Vader has with him. We need to have some major bad guy after Jax's hide, otherwise it'd be boring. He has to be in absolute danger with his fate complicatedly intertwined with that of the galaxy at large for it to be Star Wars.

I forgot to mention. Xizor's in it too--some unrelated subplot with a rival Black Sun member who's vying for the same job opportunity we all know Xizor winds up with. Yeah. That's not predictable.

So with all this chasing and searching going on, Jax boots Nick off the case and runs into Laranth Tarak, another mutilated Twi'lek, albeit proud of her distinctive concavities and not ruled in the least bit by vanity. Laranth, as we learn, is part of some marginalized Jedi group called the Teepo Paladins--in particular, the Gray Paladins, a more militaristic subset of the Teepos. The Paladins use uncivilized blasters and out of a fear this preference indicated Dark Side tendencies, the group was ostracized from the Jedi Order. They espoused independence from heavy Force-reliance and in this day and age, where Jedis are hunted down by any indication of the use of the Force, it's the Grays that are now surviving marvelously. Coincidentally, it was the Grays who founded Whiplash, and with her help, Jax proceeds to the very Hutt who robbed him of his bounty when we first met him and then squealed on him, sending stormtroopers (since when did they become storm- and not clonetroopers?) to his front door with orders to kill. My, what a tiny, close-knit web we weave.

As it turns out, Vader has beef with more than Jax Pavan. Are you really surprised? Nick is captured on the pretense of murdering a "high-ranking representative of the Empire," but really since it's Rhinann who's sent the hired help, it's information Vader wants and not just Pavan himself. Everyone's hot on Jax's trail and it seems they'll do just about anything to get to him. Even if it means turning him against his friend.

In the meanwhile, the Xizor plot finally begins to make sense. Kaird (that's the guy after Xizor's in-the-pocket job) is ordered to kill Xizor who has been sent to get his hands on the information vital to the survival of the rebellion so Black Sun can have favor with the Empire. In other words, his mission: find Jax Pavan (well, really, find this mysterious droid, but I'm sure it's all related).

Now that everyone mentioned in this book that could possibly be after Jax is, I won't ruin the end. Suffice to say, you'll have to buy it (or borrow it) and read it to find out what doesn't get resolved in book one. Or make predictions. I'm not sure how hard it is to outguess Star Wars.

Reaves is also incredibly critical of humans in Jedi Twilight through Rhinann, an Elomin who takes no pains to disguise his hatred. This is all too sophisticated form what I'm used to in a Star Wars book. At least someone finally realizes the galaxy's made up of more species than just humans. Why this has never really ever been explored further is beyond me. It doesn't make sense for everything to be auto-set with humans in mind. He also uses this too heavy focus on humans to shift views of how the characters think of droids. Well familiar with R2 and 3PO, the rest of us are yawning.

Overall, the book was okay. I mean, I liked it, sure. I'll definitely be picking up the remaining two. I'm just disappointed they didn't really do a Jedi detective story completely unrelated to any major or well known characters. That would have been cool.