The Salvation Gambit, Emily Skrutskie
The Salvation Gambit, Emily Skrutskie
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The Salvation Gambit

Author: Emily Skrutskie

Narrator: Jaclyn Kelso

Unabridged: 10 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/26/2023


Synopsis

A hotheaded hacker must outwit the AI at the heart of a rogue warship–turned–penal colony if she and her crew of con women want to escape with their lives in this electrifying sci-fi thriller from the acclaimed author of Bonds of Brass.

“Fleet-footed, quick-witted, and beguiling, The Salvation Gambit is a good old-fashioned tale of high adventure.”—Emery Robin, author of The Stars Undying

Murdock has always believed in Hark, the woman who shaped her from a petty thief and lowlife hacker into a promising con artist. Hark is everything Murdock aspires to be, from her slick fashion sense to her unfailing ability to plan under pressure. Together with Bea, a fearless driver who never walks away from a bet, and Fitz, Murdock’s infuriatingly mercurial rival who can sweet-talk the galaxy into spinning around her finger, they form a foursome with a reputation for daring heists, massive payoffs, and never, ever getting caught.

Well, until now.

Getting caught is one thing. Getting tithed to a sentient warship that’s styled itself into a punitive god is a problem this team has never faced before. Aboard the Justice is a world stitched together from the galaxy’s sinners—some fighting for survival, some struggling to build a civilized society, and some sacrificing everything to worship the AI at the heart of the ship.

The Justice’s all-seeing eyes are fixed on its newest acquisitions, Murdock in particular. It has use for a hacker—if it can wrest her devotion away from Hark. And Murdock’s faith is already fractured. To escape the Justice’s madness, they need a plan, and Hark might not be up to the task.

If Hark—brilliant, unflappable Hark—can’t plot a way out, Murdock will have to use every last trick she’s learned to outwit the Justice, resist its temptation, and get her crew out alive.

About Emily Skrutskie

Emily Skrutskie is six feet tall. She was born in Massachusetts, raised in Virginia, and forged in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado. She holds a BA in performing and media arts from Cornell University, where she studied an outrageous and demanding combination of film, computer science, and game design.

She is the author of The Abyss Surrounds Us series, Hullmetal Girls, and the Bloodright Trilogy, starting with Bonds of Brass. She lives and writes in Los Angeles.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Pooja on May 27, 2024

After a job gone wrong, Murdock and her gang of con artists are tithed to a sentient warship that’s styled itself into a punitive god. Escaping the ship would be hard enough - but when the Justice takes a personal interest in Murdock, the stakes only get higher. I have been slowing dipping my toes in......more

Goodreads review by Lauren on December 02, 2023

In a distant future, on a planet far, far away, we meet Hark and her crew on an "off day." Not only have these conartists been caught , but they are now being turned over to a ship called the Justice.  An old warship that collects each world's most heinous criminals. Quickly, it becomes clear that t......more

Goodreads review by Nicole on June 17, 2023

How do I review another immediately-beloved Emily Skrutskie book without just simply shrieking wordlessly and clutching it to my chest? This is her seventh novel and the seventh book of hers that I deeply, deeply love. Skrutskie's character work is immaculate, and her way of weaving foreshadowing bu......more

Goodreads review by LibraryCat on August 05, 2023

Queers?? In space?? Uh, sign me up. I loved this book, loved the characters, and more than anything, loved the unique world and premise that the Salvation Gambit takes place in. The society and culture that has developed on the Justice, an abandoned ship from a long gone empire, makes me wish for mo......more

Goodreads review by Mike on November 20, 2023

This book is about what happens when a megalomaniacal centuries-old sentient prison ship comes on too strong. We’ve all been there. The protagonist of this is a hacker named Murdock. She was keeping herself alive by scrounging and petty crimes on a run-down space station when she got noticed and recr......more


Quotes

“Fleet-footed, quick-witted, and beguiling, The Salvation Gambit is a good old-fashioned tale of high adventure, whose seductive villain I won't forget in a hurry.”—Emery Robin, author of The Stars Undying

“Fast-paced and tightly plotted, The Salvation Gambit grabs you from the first page and takes you for a ride that’ll leave you electrified. Emily Skrutskie’s roguish characters are easy to fall for and even easier to follow in a warship-turned-world that keeps the twists coming.”—Linden A. Lewis, author of The First Sister trilogy