Review- Last Flight of the Ark- by D.L. Jackson

Last Flight of the Ark
by D.L. Jackson
March 2010
Sci-fi/ Paranormal/ f/f/m- ménage
Novel- 45-80K
Ebook- Liquid Silver Books

Buy it Liquid Silver

Evolution never happened so fast.

Twelve hours outside of Terra II, Colonel Kaleb Titan, a molecular geneticist and commander of the Ark, faces a life or death choice that could change the fate of mankind.

The Genesis I, aka the Ark, travels with a hold full of wildlife and three crew members. When a wolf bite and genetically-altering gamma radiation transform Kaleb, he notices his senses have been heightened, his libido has gone haywire and he can’t keep his hands off his crew. Worse yet, they don't seem inclined to stop him.

When their sister ship, the Genesis II arrives early, Kaleb’s problems compound. As soon as the command crew of the Genesis II boards, one whiff tells Kaleb they’re not from Earth or who they appear to be.

When he discovers that they’ve kept the Genesis II’s crew of over two thousand alive, he begins to believe their reasons may be far more ominous than anyone could have imagined. However, he also discovers what’s holding them back. The hijackers seem to be allergic to canines.

Now they're forced to employ biological warfare against their own, but will it be enough to save humanity?
History is about to repeat and only one species will survive.

Contains: Menage (M/F/F), Lesbian sex (F/F), intercom sex

I wanted to like this book, I really did. There are so few f/f/m ménages out there that I wanted this to be really good. And for the most part it was fairly entertaining. However, right from the get-go there were some things that pushed my buttons and I’ll say they probably colored my whole view of the book.

The blurb is pretty accurate so on with my take.

Right in the beginning we are introduced to all three main characters. They are the only three manning a ship bringing in animals to start a new earth colony called Terra II. They've been stuck together for 8 months on this journey and of course all of three of them are harboring major hots for each other.

What bothered me straight away was how Kaleb muses about the two women. He’s either complaining about them in his mind calling them bitchy and hormonal females, or he’s thinking about how stacked they are with the double D boobs and cute ass cheeks that keep making him horny. And he is in his 50’s. It felt more like he was a teenage boy. And I’m really put off when men talk like that about women. You know, better behave or they’ll nag, nag you to death those bitches! Ugh. So this put me off right away.

I will say that it did change over the course of the book after they all get together. In fact, he has to put up with them running over him at times and disobeying orders to do what I thought were some TSTL things. But there was still this overall quality in the writing that came across more as a young boy getting a hold of a Playboy mag in the way that Kaleb thinks often.

Next up in what didn’t work for me was the flow of the writing. The story was disjointed in the telling and I was often confused as to what was actually going on. It jumps around in a way that I often had to go back and see if I missed something and after a while I couldn’t be bothered. There are gaps and things got glossed over for convenience I thought. And again, there was a certain quality about it that felt a bit cheesy in the way the characters act, think and speak.

What worked for me was that after the characters do get their freak on with each other, there is a cohesiveness about them and the way they relate that was very appealing. Both Jessica and Melissa were lovers before they got on the ship, with Melissa only being into women. However, they both have it bad for Kaleb and decide that neither one will be with him without the other, all unbeknownst to Kaleb.

Kaleb of course, being a full blooded teenage boy in a 50 year old’s body, has been salivating over the girls since they left earth. I will give Kaleb credit though for being a gentleman and not sexually harassing the women with lots of sexual innuendo since they were doing whatever they could to try and get his attention in the sexual arena, including wearing very skimpy clothing.

They are all quite juicy together and there were some interesting moments of jealousy when one of the women are with him without the other. But by the end it’s clear they are a threesome and that’s the way it’s going to be.

About the premise of the story, I really liked it. I thought it was pretty creative and unique in that it mixed the shape shifting paranormal genre with sci-fi. I am pretty tired of the whole fated sexual/romantic attraction thing that is caused by the animal nature in a shifter, but it worked here for me because of the intricate sci-fi element and the fact that the three characters were hot for each other before the “mutation” happens. The mutation just becomes the impetus for all three to finally let loose their pent up sexual energy with each other.

The author also focused a lot on the story and less on non-stop sex, which is something I liked. I picked this book up for the f/f/m ménage element, but also because f/f and f/f/m are usually contemporaries and it’s nice to read something a bit different for a change. So not making this about a menage with an added sci-fi element, but this being sci-fi with a menage, added to my enjoyment.

So, I have mixed feelings about the book. I think if the story telling was a bit more cohesive and the characters were a bit less horn-doggy, this would have been a hit for me. As it stands, it was entertaining and fairly easy to read even if I did roll my eyes here and there and got lost in confusion.

Heat level: 4- f/f, f/f/m, m/f. Some nicely written graphic sex, but not overbearing to the story.

Grade C+