As might be expected by anyone familiar with Peter David's later writing, this book, one of his earlier efforts in the Star Trek universe, is one of the best of the series. It is a perfect example of his style, which is very distinctive: high action, high emotional drama, but always told with a tongue-in-cheek wit that keeps the reader from feeling that he takes his stories TOO seriously. Even though it is an early effort, and in some ways his writing matured over the years, I would still rate this not only as one of the best "Trek" stories, (as many of his stories could be said to be) but also one of his best.