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Bob and Nikki #23

Can You Take a Juke?

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Bob thought BSR might be able to do some business with Homm and his people. Turns out he was wrong, but their ancestors had left knowledge the company could use. Watch the crew try to recover the knowledge, without getting mixed up in their troubles. Of course, Bob picks up another apprentice for Scotti along the way.

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 20, 2022

154 people are currently reading
100 people want to read

About the author

Jerry Boyd

67 books287 followers
I’m a house husband. I keep things together while my wonderful wife makes our living. I’ve worked as a machinist, short order cook, electronics assembly tech, and several other jobs. My hobbies include vehicle maintenance, (I’ve had the transmission out of my truck. Twice) free flight airplanes, electronics, and shooting.
I was born and raised in the Ozarks, and now live in Mid-Missouri.

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5 stars
1,018 (69%)
4 stars
338 (23%)
3 stars
87 (5%)
2 stars
13 (<1%)
1 star
6 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
Profile Image for James Jones.
58 reviews2 followers
March 4, 2022
Probably the best book yet in the series!

Its been fun watching Jerry's skills as a writer mature. He's always had0 great stories, but certain things, especially his dialogue, were very rough.
He has finally mastered realistic dialogue, which helps complement the story so much.


Fantastic job Jerry, keep em coming, brother!
423 reviews3 followers
February 25, 2022
still a good series

This series will keep you wanting more and more. It is a nice relaxing and entertaining series. Each book tells the story like a chapter does in a novel, with enough action and suspense to keep you wanting more. It is so entertaining that I’m thinking of binge reading the whole series again. I hope you enjoy this series as much as I do.
Profile Image for Art.
2,431 reviews16 followers
July 17, 2024
Enter a new character. From a new species. Thank goodness she is not representative of them. A good time! Lots of fun!
564 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2022
Too darn funny and wise (crackin)

No matter how hard you try you will smile maybe even laugh while you read this. If you've gotten through 22 previous books of Bob and Nikki, then you know what I'm saying. If you're starting with this book, you have such a delicious and fun time ahead of you. Start with book number 1 see how fast you get to back to book 23!
17 reviews1 follower
March 19, 2022
Still fun and light hearted enough to make me chuckle in pubic !

Ok. I've read some of the reviews that this isn't "mature" sci-fi . But, isn't the whole idea of reading SF, is to enjoy what you got into, and then wonder where and what the author could conjure out of their imagination, or science ?!
I 've bought them all, and still don't want to know there's an end... just hoping it's not a "crushed butterfly" as a closing act !
15 reviews
March 12, 2022
Another great story

Although the start of the story took longer for me to catch on due since the last book, I found this story to be a great continuation of the Bob and Niki storyline.

Just like all the previous books I just couldn’t put the book down and was surprised when the ending came. I love the story telling and cannot wait for the next book.
43 reviews1 follower
February 23, 2022
Another awesome book!

Another awesome book in the bob and Nikki universe! I am awed by your ability to keep putting out such great work month after month and after a major medical issue so very glad that the doctor was able to fix your eye! I hope all my fellow readers feel the same and i am sure they all are thankful of the good doctors ability!
36 reviews
February 25, 2022
Damn fun story!!

I re-read the entire series and realized again just how good Mr. Boyd is at spinning a story. I’d make a point of reiterating that, but I don’t have anywhere enough hair to cover it..

This episode is double fun for some reason. Maybe grumpy old AIs and Bob’s mother are the perfect sideshow for getting to know Juke?
8 reviews
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February 28, 2022
Another GREAT Bob and Nikki story!

The crew keeps getting bigger and the Universe keeps getting smaller! Fun and excitement without a lot of shooting but that probably won't last! If you haven't read the rest of the series I recommend you start at the beginning. It won't cost a pocket full of BOBS but it will be hours of entertainment!
Profile Image for Philip.
420 reviews4 followers
March 1, 2022
Crazy as usual

Bob's ear got licked by Snitz... And the rest is history.

Dang, it's book 23 already, and I'm still glued to this series. The writing style might be not your cup of coffee, but the story is crazy enough to to glue you to your Kindle, all along the sleepless night..
Profile Image for Matt Cory.
191 reviews
March 2, 2022
Always wonderful

This makes my 23rd Bob & Nikki novel, and as long as Mr Boyd keeps writing them, I’ll keep reading them!

Some new characters came aboard in this novel, but you don’t know how they’ll shape up till the next book. However, new horizons await Bob, Nikki, and the crew in the meantime that look to be fun and interesting!

Here’s to #24!
Profile Image for Cameron .
202 reviews2 followers
April 19, 2022
Go Bawb (Bob)

Ovee the course of reading a book series, characters become friends and their authors your hidden hero. Jerry Boyd has yet again given me a respite from the hectic in life in his latest.Bob and Nikki series book...it is fun sci-fi with a twist and once in a while a good fun turn.
52 reviews
February 24, 2022
Awesome!

Another fun and interesting book. I really enjoy how each book keeps getting better and better. As soon as I finish reading the new book I am excited for the next one to come out. I find myself checking to see if it's out yet.
2 reviews
February 28, 2022
fast paced with laugh out louds

Thoroughly enjoyable. Love reading this series and keeping up with Bob and all the gang. Make a great movie. Music and action. What more could you ask for?
449 reviews3 followers
March 1, 2022
Keep reading this series !

Liked the suspension of disbelief, and not happy there not some way to get a mate for Stnitz, puppies are so cute. Take him to the pound on an alien planet find him a super smart almost talking , mate to rescue.
29 reviews
March 7, 2022
Great as always

Thanks for another great story! Please don’t stop now. We all can use more positive things in our lives today.
1 review1 follower
April 6, 2022
Easy to read,fun story

Lots of great references and humor, great characters! I would recommend this to teen and above, lots of imagination used to write these books!
Profile Image for Beau.
311 reviews7 followers
April 9, 2024
I just finished book 45, and came back to the early 20's to refresh my memory about Juke and her people. There is something unique about them. First, most of the other species that we meet are evolved from something kind of familiar - Roos, Squirrels, Meerkats, Monkeys. The people on Earth are believed to be from the humans in the Commonwealth. But not Zoom.

Zoom is described as "an alien" in the cast of characters. Her people are described as "looking like humans." I wondered about this, and came back to books 22 and 23 to learn more. And then it got pretty confusing. This book is pivotal in the direction of the series to come, and raises some great questions. It goes like this ...

Veronica found a planet that looked interesting. When the fleet tried to go check it out, Gene wouldn't go to FTL. We learned that Gene knew those coordinates from the Commonwealth Navy, and he had done some things he wished he hadn't. This genocide was carried out at the instruction of an Admiral who appears to be a Squirrel, who had the Navy destroy at least 4 systems on the other side of Commonwealth space from the Squirrel Empire. The motivation for this isn't known, but it was rough on the ship AI's and bots that we know and love.

When they get to the system, they learn that the people there were already moving away toward a new home, using sublight "generation ships" for looooong voyages to new homes. Most of them had already left, and the last one was in the outer reaches of the system, and when Gene showed up they went dark.

These people are the meerkat descendents, and the BS fleet finds the generation ships - including ones headed for Charlie's Planet and Earth - and re-route them using FTL to one of their target planets that was not already occupied. So that's ONE race.

The reason that the meerkats were leaving was because they were seeing FTL flashes coming from the direction of Juke's people (the "Juke's-people"). They apparently feared an invasion, the neighborhood was going to the dogs, and they were gonna book it before things went badly. Of course they didn't expect the Commonwealth Navy to come destroy all life in their system, either, but by happenstance they were mostly shipped out when Gene came along and followed painful commands to do the deed. So the Juke's-people are the SECOND race.

While looking over this Meerkat system, the fleet finds two probes, and turns them off. They expected it would bring someone to check on it, and that's how Juke and her Uncle Homm came to meet the BS Fleet.

In this process, we learn that Homm (Juke's uncle) is looking for an ancient site used by the Juke's-people, hoping to get rich. We learn that Juke's people are not united into a star kingdom or anything - they're all warlords in different systems. Apparently they saw the work of the Commonwealth (thousands of years before the present) and had a civil war over how to respond to it. Their culture was lots, and they had only become space-faring recently. Little better than pirates. So why not have the BS fleet check out this ancient site before the pirates do, right?

They find an AI at this site, and it gives them puzzles and tests. They return to the Meerkat system to work on the puzzles and tests and discover another probe. So while working on THAT AI, they find a vessel that turns out to be ANOTHER AI from a different species, that Juke knows about from independent study, who are even more ancient than the ancient Juke's-people. This mysterious group is the THIRD race.

So now we have two AI's with potential knowledge to give Frank and Scotti for improving the fleet. We have THREE races to learn about. We have pirates we could turn in for a bounty if there was a government that could pay bounties. And we don't understand why the Commonwealth attacked them, what happened to the Ancient Juke's-people, and who the third race is yet.

This is not just another series of days in the black, where Schnitz licks Bob's ear to start each day, where each day starts and ends with a trip to the grass room and a conversation with Reverend Bailey, and a lot of puns and meals in between. There's substance to the larger world being built here. That's what makes Bob and Nikki books special. It's not just the characters that we love.

Those are my questions as I'm 63% through re-reading the book. I'll be back if I ever find the answers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Carolyn Bragg.
397 reviews8 followers
April 13, 2022
Bob's Saucer Repair began soon after he found a stranded alien woman (very human-like) in his driveway. More aliens were stranded on earth than one would imagine--faulty parts or sabotage? Bob talks his military medic into joining his team, and they rescue and recover saucers for adventure and profit. Plus the bounty on criminals.

The author believes in minimal descriptions, so if your imagination won't fill in the blanks, your experience will have a LOT of empty green-screen.

Warning: He also includes crude content and language and some swearing. A lot more in the early part of the series (less now), but he is obviously making a point with persistence, which is like a childish tantrum in my opinion. And possibly setting his series apart from E. M. Foner, who writes the EarthCent Ambassador series (without war, violence, or potty humor).

If you don't mind the content and language, the books are entertaining. It's too bad that I can't recommend them to friends and family, or you. The content and language is mild, I admit, but unnecessary and on purpose.

Maybe it's partially the attitude of purposeful disrespect for readers that bothers me. If it is, I own it. No writer is better than his/her readers.

3/5 Stars
-1 Star Lack of action, even in simulation.
-1 Star Content and language.

I read this book via Kindle Unlimited, so it was a rental. The review was voluntary.

Quote:
"“Machiavelli, Bob?” “He said that if you go in hard, and then ease up, you look reasonable. If you go in easy, and have to toughen up later, people resent you for it, and won’t respect you."

#HumorousSciFi #PottyHumor #Swearing #CrudeContent #BobsSaucerRepair #BobAndNikki #BobAndNikkiBook23
Profile Image for Larry.
39 reviews1 follower
March 15, 2022
And the hits just keep on coming!

I have read in some of the reviews about the characters having the "same old tired routines". If these people have a social life and they really listen they might find that people around them also use the same puns, quips, gags, jokes, and light hearted banter all the time. It is how people get comfortable with each other.
Jerry has breathed life into his characters and filled them out real nicely. He gives them substance through his writing.
Each book brings us a different adventure. This time Jerry brings to a close the story from book 22 and moves us into the start of a new mystery and adventure for Bob, Nikki, and the fleet.
New characters are added - the good, the bad, and the silly :-) It is fun and entertaining to read this series and see the fantastic evolution of the story.
Profile Image for james c. casterline.
9 reviews
March 20, 2022
not the best but still enjoyed it

I have been reading these delightful books for a little more than a year, first catching up the first few then reading as they are published. I will continue to read them. I found this one a little confusing and even checked to make sure I had read the previous one which I had. The cast of characters has grown so large that I have trouble keeping up. The brief biographies in the introduction help. I personally would enjoy further on the civilizations discovered and the characters who have joined the fleet.

Writing is difficult. Mine was all on technical matters but I know some of what is involved in starting with a blank piece of paper and putting something on it people want to read. I appreciate the effort.
Profile Image for Garry Whitmore.
294 reviews4 followers
February 27, 2022
The saga continues with the best volume for a while. We are back in the deep black solving problems, which is at the core of the volume and sorting out the bad guys. We are meeting new folks along the way as well.

What I love about this series along with the humour, characters, and the combination of hillbilly wisdom and sci-fi is the way it tends away from the high levels of cosmic battles, fleet actions, and planetary destruction you see a lot elsewhere. When these are encountered, the characters react with realistic disgust and sadness. They are deeply bothered and emotionally affected by the mass destruction and death other stories seem to revel in.

Looking forward to how the story continues with even greater enthusiasm.
Profile Image for Stephen Woerner.
7 reviews3 followers
March 20, 2022
Boyd’s books are line bbq lays chips, you can’t read just one

This whole series of books are like Girl Scout cookies. There is no possible way you can read just one. The 23rd installment of the series keeps the fun rolling! The overarching story keeps developing, the jokes keep dropping, and the characters continue to stay fun and enjoyable! I wouldn’t recommend starting with book #23, but if you are up to date, you won’t regret reading this one!
Profile Image for Steve.
220 reviews
March 5, 2022
I thought is was a bit slow getting started and a small review wouldn't have hurt but Jerry Boyd neither takes recommendations from his Beta Readers nor his readers. Basically, he writes the way he does, like it or don't read it. I've been with him since book one and I'm still here. It was a good addition to the storyline, even if the First Chapter is a bit long!
Profile Image for Russell Fletcher.
113 reviews5 followers
March 7, 2022
May be my first one star rating in the series.

The beginning of the book feels like the first part was chopped off and starts off with a couple of new characters that are not even in the cast of characters. Many of the people in the cast of characters are not even in this book. Most books are 4 and 5 star but not this one. The last quarter of the book is the best part.
105 reviews2 followers
March 9, 2022
Getting Ahead

I have enjoyed each of Bob and Nikki Books. Can You Take a Juke was a nice addition in how Bob works. I have enjoyed figuring out all the insights of each of the miner plots inside the main plot. Keep them coming. Look forwards to seeing how they rescue the Bots in the Commonwealth.
327 reviews2 followers
January 20, 2023
Another nicely written book in this highly entertaining series. In this one we meet a new character named Juke, who comes from a mysterious new race, but it seems she will fit in nicely with the crew from Bob's Saucer Repair. This series is really a lot of fun. Go to book one, Bob's Saucer Repair and join the journey.
448 reviews
August 1, 2023
Another wonderful book about this exciting group!

This series just keeps getting better and better with each new book. It's amazing to me how much fun it is to read each new book in this series! I know there are many, many others who share my feedings about this series, and I'm happy to become a part of that large group.
10 reviews1 follower
September 13, 2023
Great feel good escapist read.

I love a easy to read story line, with one or 2 strong protagonists. His allusions to Heinlein and old inside jokes is entertaining. And last but not least, it'll take me a good long while to work through the series. I love not having to worry about what I'm reading next.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews

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