I am an unashamed Star Trek fan, I like it in all its incarnations (okay well maybe except for Voyager – that show for me had too few good moments). I miss getting my new fix of the shows and was disappointed when Enterprise was cancelled at just the moment when I felt the franchise was gaining momentum again.

A couple of things about the ending were also a little bit of a downer too. The best character in the series, for me, was Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker. When he was killed towards the end of the final season I felt his death was a pointless and sad end to the character. Thankfully I am not alone with this belief and so in the books we get to re-write this part of Trek history (or rather the authors do, I have the pleasure of reading their work).

Trip did not die, okay this might sound like a bit of a revelation but I am not going to be giving anything away, it's mentioned on the back of the book. Section 31, with the assistance of Captain Archer, Malcolm and Dr Phlox, fake Trip's death so he can drop off the radar and undertake some undercover work.

The Romulans are on the verge of creating a new generation of warp drive, one that will give them a tremendous tactical advantage over their enemies. The only problem Starfleet has is that no one on Earth even knows what a Romulan looks like, never mind how to infiltrate their society.

These two authors have a tremendous feel for Star Trek lore, and bring this to their books. The characters feel like the Trek show characters, the story fits the mood of the show wonderfully. The book reads like it could have made a quite superb two-part episode, the kind that you'd see aired through the Sweeps periods.

There is one other thing that is interesting about this book. In later series Section 31 is a rather shady untrustworthy organisation. Okay, their intention are to help promote the best interests of the human race, but they are a exist very much in the darker regions of the grey.

But in this book Section 31 is, although still secretive, a little more palatable. But I suppose this might just be relative to the Black and White background to this tale – the Romulans at this point in Trek history are very much a mysterious enemy, and shady though Section 31 is, they are still humans working for the benefit of mankind. Having Trip Tucker as an operative can't hurt either.

I may not have any new episodes of the television series to look forward to anymore (at least not in the short term) but thanks to the ongoing book series I can still look forward to high quality Star Trek stories.

Synopsis
As revealed in LAST FULL MEASURE Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker was not killed in an explosion, but rather, his death was staged. With the assistance of Captain Archer and Doctor Phlox, Trip is swept up by the shadowy organization that was employing his best friend, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, and sent deep under cover. After discovering that the Romulans have a new warp drive, faster than any vessel, Starfleet sends Trip to determine if this will be a threat to the new fragile alliance.