What do you think?
Rate this book
Kris Longknife #10.5
Kris Longknife's Bloodhound
It’s dangerous to get too close to one of those damn Longknife. So Senior Chief Agent in Charge Foile volunteers to get too damn close to the whole family of Longknifes. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Kris Longknife feared the survival of the entire human race might hang on what her Grampa Al did next – but she couldn’t figure out what he was up to. After a career in the Wardhaven Bureau of Investigations, Foile was good at finding out what others wanted to keep hidden.
Exactly why he found himself volunteering, he’d never know, but soon he was spending his annual leave digging into what the powerful Longknife family wanted hidden and up to his neck in trouble of every kind.
Exactly why he found himself volunteering, he’d never know, but soon he was spending his annual leave digging into what the powerful Longknife family wanted hidden and up to his neck in trouble of every kind.
65 pages, ebook
First published September 6, 2013
24 people are currently reading
313 people want to read
About the author
Mike Shepherd
78 books564 followersA pseudonym used by Mike Moscoe.
Mike was born in the Philadelphia Navy Yard Hospital -- and left that town at the age of three days for reasons he does not presently recall. But they had to draft him to get him back there. He missed very little of the rest of the country. Growing up Navy, he lived about everywhere you could park an aircraft carrier.
Mike was one of those college students who didn't have to worry about finding a job after graduation. In 1968, his Uncle Sam made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Two days into boot camp, the Army was wondering if they might not have been a bit hasty. Mike ended the day in the Intensive Care Unit of the local Army hospital. Despite most of Mike’s personal war stories being limited to "How I flunked boot camp," he can still write a rollicking good military SF yarns.
Mike didn’t survive all that long as a cab driver (he got lost) or bartender (he made the drinks too strong) but he figured he could at least work for the Navy Department as a budget analyst. Until he spent the whole day trying to balance the barracks accounts for paint. Finally, about quitting time, a grinning senior analyst took him aside and let him in on the secret. They'd hidden the money for refitting a battleship in that little account. Slowly it dawned on Mike that there were a few things about the Navy that even a kid who grew up in it would never understand.
Over the next twenty years, Mike branched out into other genres, including instruction memos, policies, performance standards and even a few labor contracts. All of those, you may notice, lack a certain something. Dialogue ... those things in quotes. In `87, Mike’s big break came. He landed on a two year special project to build a digital map showing where the trees, rivers, roads, Spotted Owls and other critters were in western Oregon. The list went on and on with no end in sight and two years became ten.
Since there was no writing involved in his new day job, Mike had to do something to get the words out. He signed up for a writing class at Clark Community College and proudly turned in a story ... Star Wars shoots down the second coming of Christ.
Two years later, Analog bought "Summer Hopes, Winter Dreams" for the March, 1991 issue. Four years later he sold his first novel. In the ten years since then, Mike’s turned in twelve novels and is researching the next three.
Mike's love for Science Fiction started when he picked up "Rocket Ship Galileo" in the fifth grade, and then proceeded to read every book in the library with a rocket sticker on its spine.
Mike digs for his stories among people and change. Through his interest in history, he has traces the transformations that make us what we are today. Science launches us forward into an ever changing universe. Once upon a time, the only changes in peoples lives came with the turning of the seasons and the growing wrinkles on their brows. Today, science drives most of the changes in our daily lives. Still, we can't avoid the pressure of our own awakening hormones or hardening arteries. Mike is happiest when his stories are speeding across thin ice, balanced on the edge of two sharp blades, one anciently human, the other as new as tomorrow's research.
Trained in International Relations and history, salary administration and bargaining, theology and counseling, Mike is having a ball writing about Kris Longknife ... coming of age while the world her grand parents built threatens to crash down around her ears. These are books I think you’ll love ... and my granddaughter and grandsons too!
Mike lives in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife Ellen, his mother-in-law and any visiting grandkids. He enjoys reading, writing, watching grand-children for story ideas and upgrading his computer -- all are never ending.
Mike was born in the Philadelphia Navy Yard Hospital -- and left that town at the age of three days for reasons he does not presently recall. But they had to draft him to get him back there. He missed very little of the rest of the country. Growing up Navy, he lived about everywhere you could park an aircraft carrier.
Mike was one of those college students who didn't have to worry about finding a job after graduation. In 1968, his Uncle Sam made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Two days into boot camp, the Army was wondering if they might not have been a bit hasty. Mike ended the day in the Intensive Care Unit of the local Army hospital. Despite most of Mike’s personal war stories being limited to "How I flunked boot camp," he can still write a rollicking good military SF yarns.
Mike didn’t survive all that long as a cab driver (he got lost) or bartender (he made the drinks too strong) but he figured he could at least work for the Navy Department as a budget analyst. Until he spent the whole day trying to balance the barracks accounts for paint. Finally, about quitting time, a grinning senior analyst took him aside and let him in on the secret. They'd hidden the money for refitting a battleship in that little account. Slowly it dawned on Mike that there were a few things about the Navy that even a kid who grew up in it would never understand.
Over the next twenty years, Mike branched out into other genres, including instruction memos, policies, performance standards and even a few labor contracts. All of those, you may notice, lack a certain something. Dialogue ... those things in quotes. In `87, Mike’s big break came. He landed on a two year special project to build a digital map showing where the trees, rivers, roads, Spotted Owls and other critters were in western Oregon. The list went on and on with no end in sight and two years became ten.
Since there was no writing involved in his new day job, Mike had to do something to get the words out. He signed up for a writing class at Clark Community College and proudly turned in a story ... Star Wars shoots down the second coming of Christ.
Two years later, Analog bought "Summer Hopes, Winter Dreams" for the March, 1991 issue. Four years later he sold his first novel. In the ten years since then, Mike’s turned in twelve novels and is researching the next three.
Mike's love for Science Fiction started when he picked up "Rocket Ship Galileo" in the fifth grade, and then proceeded to read every book in the library with a rocket sticker on its spine.
Mike digs for his stories among people and change. Through his interest in history, he has traces the transformations that make us what we are today. Science launches us forward into an ever changing universe. Once upon a time, the only changes in peoples lives came with the turning of the seasons and the growing wrinkles on their brows. Today, science drives most of the changes in our daily lives. Still, we can't avoid the pressure of our own awakening hormones or hardening arteries. Mike is happiest when his stories are speeding across thin ice, balanced on the edge of two sharp blades, one anciently human, the other as new as tomorrow's research.
Trained in International Relations and history, salary administration and bargaining, theology and counseling, Mike is having a ball writing about Kris Longknife ... coming of age while the world her grand parents built threatens to crash down around her ears. These are books I think you’ll love ... and my granddaughter and grandsons too!
Mike lives in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife Ellen, his mother-in-law and any visiting grandkids. He enjoys reading, writing, watching grand-children for story ideas and upgrading his computer -- all are never ending.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 12, 2019
Like the previous novella, this one was much better than the first novella (Training Daze). This one gives you a look at some of things going on during the last chapters of Furious, and is a complete story from a new POV. Like it.
May 2, 2015
This is a companion novella #10.5 and is set at the same time as “Furious” #10. The brief story follows the efforts of Senior Agent in Charge Foile of the Wardhaven Bureau of Investigation. Agent Foile is assisting Kris in her efforts to stop her grandfather’s trade flotilla. In book #10 “Furious” agent Foile was the head agent trying to capture Kris. This story sort of provides the information as to why Wardhaven Navy helped fund Kris’s new ship. This story provides some background about Grandfather Al and filler information about the Flotilla.
This trend in authors publishing novella inserted into their ongoing series is becoming very popular. Some of the novellas do provide some interesting background information but the information could have been added to the story if it is important. I have not made up my mind if reading these novellas maybe helpful to me as a reader in obtaining a broader view of the story or just a waste of time and money. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Dina Pearlman narrated the story.
This trend in authors publishing novella inserted into their ongoing series is becoming very popular. Some of the novellas do provide some interesting background information but the information could have been added to the story if it is important. I have not made up my mind if reading these novellas maybe helpful to me as a reader in obtaining a broader view of the story or just a waste of time and money. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Dina Pearlman narrated the story.
February 24, 2023
3 stars.
Feb 2023 - re-listened.
____________
May 2021
A short novella from the POV of the agent trying to capture Kris while she's running from the law in Furious and his investigations into what Kris's Grandpa Al is doing behind the scenes. Grandpa Al is cast as the villain in this piece without ever coming on scene, which I find very interesting and wonder if there's something else going on that we're still not privy to?
I'm also glad that all the technical stuff about the merchant ships were not included in the previous book. But overall, it's a very short story from the POV of a secondary character that only marginally contribute to the main series.
Feb 2023 - re-listened.
____________
May 2021
A short novella from the POV of the agent trying to capture Kris while she's running from the law in Furious and his investigations into what Kris's Grandpa Al is doing behind the scenes. Grandpa Al is cast as the villain in this piece without ever coming on scene, which I find very interesting and wonder if there's something else going on that we're still not privy to?
I'm also glad that all the technical stuff about the merchant ships were not included in the previous book. But overall, it's a very short story from the POV of a secondary character that only marginally contribute to the main series.
March 3, 2014
Initially I was disappointed to step away from the cliffhanger ending of Furious Kris Longknife 10 but came to enjoy the insight into Taylor Foile's nvestigation. It is a short, sweet but not necessary entry to the series - be warned before you pay almost £2 for this that only 52% of the kindle version is the short story - the rest is a preview of Defender Kris Longknife 11
October 6, 2017
I feel guilty that Goodreads has no way of separating novelas from full-length novels. This was a good filler between the books, detailing a lot of the back room political and police wrangling that went on behind Furious. It does not add a whole lot and I can see why the publisher cut it from the book, as most of it is superfluous to the main story.
As a fan of noir fiction (which I find too few to be worth reading), I enjoy a good cop yarn every now and then. I enjoyed reading about the police chase behind Kris. I enjoyed learning of the attempts made to track Kris and why their efforts failed.
As a fan of noir fiction (which I find too few to be worth reading), I enjoy a good cop yarn every now and then. I enjoyed reading about the police chase behind Kris. I enjoyed learning of the attempts made to track Kris and why their efforts failed.
July 24, 2014
This was just as much "filler" as the last short story in this series. Nothing compared to the main stories in the series. Not worth my time.
June 23, 2019
Author Mike Shepherd brings us another tale in the Kris Longknife universe. This time Kris is being held captive and awaiting trial aboard an enemy ship but she knows that her great-grandfather and King of the US has his hands all over the proceeding only because he wants to use her method of traveling faster and further than they had before to sell the aliens copies of the major works of the US. Now it is up to Taylor one of the best investigators to track down who, where and why everything is happening and he starts off with Kris herself before going to her grandfather Trouble and down the line. This is a great short novella within the Kris Longknife universe and I highly recommend it to all science fiction fans.
March 17, 2025
A nice addition to the canon
In this story we get to see more about Wardhaven Bureau of Investigations Senior Chief Agent in Charge Taylor Foile after Kris has surrendered herself to be judged for the result of her Voyage of Discovery.
This is what was happening in the background after she spoke to him & gave him the idea of speaking to her brother Honovi and Grandpa Trouble. While he seemed like a good, stand-up guy during his pursuit of Kris & friends in this story we meet an honorable man who is dedicated to his duty while also being devoted to his wife and children. I enjoyed the tale & do find the story fleshes out details in the Longknife saga.
In this story we get to see more about Wardhaven Bureau of Investigations Senior Chief Agent in Charge Taylor Foile after Kris has surrendered herself to be judged for the result of her Voyage of Discovery.
This is what was happening in the background after she spoke to him & gave him the idea of speaking to her brother Honovi and Grandpa Trouble. While he seemed like a good, stand-up guy during his pursuit of Kris & friends in this story we meet an honorable man who is dedicated to his duty while also being devoted to his wife and children. I enjoyed the tale & do find the story fleshes out details in the Longknife saga.
August 5, 2022
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
This is a short novella that retells situations from the Kris Longknife novel Furious from the perspective of Investigator Foile. It is a complete story and gives more information on Kris' flotilla as well as setting grandfather Al up as a possible villain. Foile is given a lot of character development as he tries to puzzle out the Longknife riddles - all the while running a department, getting rebuffed by the politics, and taking care of his wife/family.This isn't necessary to read to understand anything in the Longknife series and is best for those who want to read more in the Longknife universe while waiting for the next novel to be published. As an strange sidenote, the cover image is of Kris when she was young and at ball, according to the author.
January 29, 2021
Senior Chief Agent in Charge Foile provides a pleasant divergence in the Kris Longknife saga, providing more details on Kris' dastardly grampa, who's revealed as an iconic rogue capitalist.
October 7, 2013
This ”companion novella” to the Kris Longknife saga is set at the same time as Furious and follows the efforts of Special Agent Foile to assist Kris Longknife in her efforts to stop her grandfather’s trade flotilla.
Fine reading assuming have read the Kris Longknife books up to this point.
Note: Shepherd has previously written about our heroine’s great-grandfather Raymond under his real name, Mike Moscoe.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1677
Fine reading assuming have read the Kris Longknife books up to this point.
Note: Shepherd has previously written about our heroine’s great-grandfather Raymond under his real name, Mike Moscoe.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1677
December 17, 2013
Unreadable, i have bought it and it is the first Mike Shepherd book i am sorry i spend money on.
It is formatted in a way that makes it near impossible to read, with a sentence per page, and if you are lucky 2.
Also does it conflict with the storyline in Furious, not a big problem, but if this is what you get from wading trough the first chapter.. Also my thumb started hurting from page turning, no idea what he was thinking, but i would appreciate a readable copy..
It is formatted in a way that makes it near impossible to read, with a sentence per page, and if you are lucky 2.
Also does it conflict with the storyline in Furious, not a big problem, but if this is what you get from wading trough the first chapter.. Also my thumb started hurting from page turning, no idea what he was thinking, but i would appreciate a readable copy..
August 26, 2014
A short side-story in the Kris Longknife saga. Nothing particularly special, except as how it fits in the puzzle. However, if I'm right, these side stories (including the Vicky sequence) may combine to quite the climax in the story arc.
June 11, 2014
I experienced the same problems as other readers: lots of typos, and a display of one paragraph per page on my e-reader. The display was OK on my android app.
Apart from the above annoyances, I enjoyed this side story, and would have given it 3 stars.
Apart from the above annoyances, I enjoyed this side story, and would have given it 3 stars.
January 19, 2016
A good short story about how the got information in the 10th book, worth the read. It was nice getting to look at a character what was a nice addition to the last book and im glad it showed how they got some of the information that was a key point.
October 17, 2016
Novella
While Kris is on trials for her life, Agent Foile tries to figure out where the shipping fleet is assembling... so he can tell Kris in order to stop the merchants from leading the hostile alien spheres directly back to human space.
While Kris is on trials for her life, Agent Foile tries to figure out where the shipping fleet is assembling... so he can tell Kris in order to stop the merchants from leading the hostile alien spheres directly back to human space.
September 13, 2013
A fun & quick read spin off in the Longknife Universe!
October 4, 2013
Just a quick read but a nice fill piece between two books.
April 17, 2017
Lots of typos, and the book is finished at 57% SERIOUSLY! - the rest is publicity flannel. Good story, but poor presentation.
November 12, 2015
A good story
I have enjoyed the Kris Longknife series immensely. Mike's writing seems to get better as the series progresses. This is a good read!
I have enjoyed the Kris Longknife series immensely. Mike's writing seems to get better as the series progresses. This is a good read!
October 5, 2013
Really good short I hope will fill some of the gap between the last and next book
January 24, 2016
Short. Predictable. Disappointing.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews