Sixteenth Watch

Written by Myke Cole

Narrated by Mia Barron

Coast Guard Captain Jane Oliver must lead her newly acquired troops to prevent the first lunar war in history …

Having served as a Search-and-Rescuewoman for thirty years, Captain Jane Oliver is ready for a peaceful
retirement. But when tragedy strikes, Oliver’s plans are shattered, and she finds herself thrust into a role she’s
not prepared for.

Suddenly at the helm of the Coast Guard’s elite SAR-1 lunar unit, Oliver is the only one who can prevent
all-out war on the surface of the Moon, a conflict that will surely consume the Earth as well …

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980006374

Myke Cole

Following a long career in the military, intelligence, and law enforcement, Myke Cole is a fire/rescue responder in NY's Hudson Valley. He is a freelance historian and writer, and has published ten novels with publishers including Penguin Random House and Macmillan in addition to his history books for Osprey. Myke's short work has appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, The Daily Beast, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, McSweeney's, and Slate. He's starred on TV shows on CBS and Discovery, and has featured on NPR.

Reviews for Sixteenth Watch

[Brian Willis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this. Coast Guard in space was an interesting concept.

[Jessica Jones · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm torn about this one... I'd read some other reviews which say it picks up after the first third, and sure enough: I hit exactly 33% and it started to click. Before that, however, it was quite hard going at times - I found it very hard to be invested in the book, and I can't quite put my finger on why. Was it the extensive military background detail (so many acronyms!)? My own dislike of action sequences? (I realise the irony of this, as someone who reads a fair amount of military sci-fi).
That said: The characterisation is brilliant - each character, even those who don't feature heavily, feels fully fleshed out. The dialogue is very zingy, and this also helps to create a clear image of each character in your mind.
This was a fun read, but there was some time and effort required to reach that fun. I was also taken by surprise by how open ended the conclusion was - I think if I'd had a bit more resolution, I might have rated more highly.

[reading_fox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Too much mil-SF and not enough coast-guard I think. It's not quite clear how much the US CGfolks face this dilemma, but the CG I know is very much the fourth rescue service rather than the 5th arm of the military, and so the emphasis always seemed slightly wrong. TBC

[andreas6wpv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining, fast paced space 'cop vs military' novel. Action packed, funny at times, absolutely well made, well written. 4 stars for this part.The story, on the other hand: hitting nearly all the cliches one can expect from this kind of story. No depth, flat characters matching old stereotypes, predictable storyline by someone clearly fascinated by authority. 1 star for this part. In short: quite entertaining pulp fiction.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A blog post by Myke Cole interested me enough to purchase and read this novel about the Coast Guard in outer space. I've read some military science fiction but much of it seems to be a transfer of ground combat to alien worlds or naval battles in outer space. Cole thought a lot about the Coast Guard, which is the often unrecognized fifth branch of the U.S. military, whose responsibilities include search-and-rescue, law enforcement and interdiction of smugglers and other bad guys. How many Coast Guard novels have you read? This one is a page turner and fortunately, the first of a trilogy; set in lunar space and on the moon itself, its characters are both stereotypical and interestingly different individuals.

[ladycato · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.In Sixteenth Watch, Myke Cole has created a compelling, action-packed work of military sci-fi where United States settlers face off against Chinese interests on the moon--and the United States Navy and Coast Guard likewise face off, escalating an already hot situation into one that could go nuclear.I trust Cole to get the military aspects right; I know the guy, and he knows his stuff. As a former Navy wife, I have some familiarity with the subject matter myself. The rivalry he writes about within the ranks here is absolutely plausible, on earth and the moon, and ratchets up the tension to a major degree. This is one of those books that is almost impossible to put down. You NEED to find out what happens next.This isn't a thriller full of vapid action, though. At its heart are incredible, vivid characters that I came to care about. The protagonist is Jane Oliver, a Coast Guard veteran of decades who loses her sailor husband during an initial lunar flare-up between the US and China. Instead of taking a quiet retirement, she is invited back to the moon for a rather unusual challenge: to prepare an elite squad of Coasties for a reality game show that the Marines have dominated for years. This has not only impacted recruitment efforts on Earth, but also gives the Navy more power in the struggle for military dominance on the moon. Navy commanders are too keen on war, to Jane's thinking; the Coast Guard, carrying out a role on the moon similar to what they do on the ocean, is largely about deescalating tension and saving lives. It's awesome to see the Coast Guard be in the spotlight in a space setting because the role that they play (even without a literal coast to guard) makes absolute sense.The reality show angle adds to the originality of the book, and again, I know Cole knows what he's talking about, as he is a reality show veteran himself. The stakes around the show feel realistic in this near-future setting, but hanging over everything is that threat of war with China.This is a darn good book, and I hope it's the first in the series because I'd love to read more about these characters and this world.