This grabbed my attention with a pretty straightforward scifi plot.  Dalton is a down-on-his-luck has-been hero with a crappy apartment, a crappy girlfriend and no job.  So when he's approached at his local dive bar by a mouthy woman with a job offer, he figures "what the heck?".  He soon finds himself with Neera, the woman who recruited him, and their boss Boreau, a giant snail, on a spaceship.

The Earth has been visited several times by this alien race representing a galactic confederation called Unity.  Unity's purpose is to find that rare sentient life and bring it into a single benevolent brotherhood.  Or so they say…

As the story opens, Dalton has been working for Boreau for a few years; both he and Neera are hoping for a successful employment period that will end with each of them returning to Earth as billionaires. Not everyone that Unity has employed has ever returned; hazards of the job, Dalton supposes.  They are assigned to a planet with a sentient insectoid race in order to convince the Minarchs to join Unity.  They find they are in competition with another galactic confederation called The Assembly; which has the same sales pitch.  Boreau assures them The Assembly are a crowd of liars who are there to plunder the planet, and murder them.  While Neera and Dalton land to make initial contact, they meet their counterpart from The Assembly, a 'stickman' that Dalton promptly names Breaker.  During this introduction, the three and the Assessor from the Minarchs are witness to the orbital explosions of both ships, Unity and The Assembly, destroying each other.  The three negotiators are alone until, and unless, their confederation sends another ship to look for them.

Since all three are confident their absence will be noted and rescue sent, their mission to recruit the Minarchs is still on the table.  The Assessor takes both Dalton and Breaker into their city and gives them quarters.  Neera chooses to remain on their ship - along with all the nastiest weapons that Boreau sent with them.  She figures its best if she's outside the city and able to rescue Dalton should the stickman decide to murder him.  Dalton isn't exactly reassured; the stickman is pretty formidable.

Dalton's interviews with the local authorities which includes First-Among-Equals (read: Queen), her Prefect and her Counselor do not gain him much.  Both Prefect and Counselor would be ever so much happier should First-Among-Equals choose to kill him.  Unfortunately, that is not her intention.  Her intention is to make Dalton her Fourth Consort.  This has nothing to do with mating, not just because they wouldn't 'fit' together but because Dalton has political leverage for her.  Now the story turns into a murder mystery as Dalton tries to figure out who is trying to murder him; and he's almost sure it isn't the stickman.  Surprisingly, the stickman, Breaker, is a better companion and source of information than anyone else.  Against his will, Dalton starts to regard Breaker in a friendly way; which confuses and frightens Neera.

While Neera is certain that Unity will, eventually, come looking for them it won't just be for a rescue.  Unity will expect their success, and probably the death of the Assembly negotiator.  So while she continues to exhort Dalton to kill Breaker, he isn't so sure that is the correct route for their mission.  Neera is frustrated beyond belief.  But Dalton is sure the key to cracking the Minarchs cooperation lies in understanding the political machinations; and for that, he thinks he still needs Breaker.

Not a bad plot as plots go.  The author had a clever resolution and I appreciated the ending. However, there was much left unresolved; such as the actual intentions of both Unity and The Assembly.  And the whole book was written as simply as possible; almost as if the author hoped it might be optioned for a film.  I hadn't mentioned that the author did have an earlier book picked up for a feature film titled "Mickey17", so it seems possible.  The gentle reader should not expect an epic or even a thought-provoking story; this is pretty simple escapism.  The plot was solid, the characters were adequate, and the ending acceptable.  The writing was very professional and the dialogue was very good.  All-in-all, it was an enjoyable little story.   ~~  Catherine Book