Bea Reviews Catalyst by Jody Wallace

Series: Cat Ship #1, Obsidian Rim #8
Publisher: Meankitty Publishing
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: August 13th, 2019
Buying Links: Amazon* | Angus & Robertson | iBooks | Kobo | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Dance teacher Wil Tango, adopted by a cat who needs to make use of his opposable thumbs, knows all too well the primary rule of their arrangement: never reveal the cat is a genius. Their clever scheme to win all the jackpots on Gizem Station works until a bigwig gets suspicious, and he finds himself stuffed in a stasis box and shipped to Garbage Planet. At least he’s got the cat for company.

Sulari Abfall, scrapyard picker extraordinaire, thinks she’s scored when she earns access to the latest offload from Gizem Station. Their trash is her treasure, and the profits from her recycling program should provide more than enough to upgrade her clunky garbage scow into a clunky tow ship, a huge step up in trash hierarchy. When she’s drawn to a hazardous waste container, she finds more than she ever bargained for. A naked man. And a sentient cat.

But unsealing the stasis pod sends an interspace signal back to Gizem Station—and the vengeful VIP who thought Wil was dead. It will take all the wits of a lovely garbage scow captain, a down on his luck dance instructor, and a brave orange feline to defeat a gang intent on mayhem, murder, and a galactic catnapping that could change the course of the future for the entire Obsidian Rim.

My Thoughts:

I was lured in by the promise of a talking cat but stayed for the story. I follow the author on Twitter and when she talked about the book it sounded interesting. She put out a call for reviewers and I happily replied. "Catalyst" reminded me of science fiction stories I read growing up - brave and daring main characters who are also underdogs, action and adventure and intrigue and romance, oh my!

"Catalyst" was a fun romp. The beginning was a little slow but then it picked up the pace and didn't stop. I loved that the people Wil encounters on Garbage Planet, who are generally brash and quite physical, recognized him as a dancer, and accorded him due respect for skills and his strengths. The people on Garbage do hard, dirty, often dangerous work but they valued dance and the arts and were fans of Wil's. Science fiction often ignores or minimizes the arts so this was a very nice change. It helped that Wil wasn't a prima donna and that he respected the work and skills of the residents on Garbage Planet.

Respect also played into Wil and Su's romance. Their emotions built quickly but they still moved slow, taking their time, and checking in with each other, talking about their expectations, hopes, and desires. There's no Big Misunderstanding, no secrets, just a temporary difference in ideas about the future. I really liked that. One thing I did miss was sexual tension; it never really grabbed me. I felt their interest but at times it was tepid; they could have maybe used a wee bit more conflict between them. Still, I was rooting for them to get together.

And then there's Pumpkin, the talking cat. Ooo, he could be an annoying little brat. Just like a real cat. :D I had so many questions about him. Wallace teased us, dribbling out information, and then WHAM! that ending! It wasn't exactly a cliffhanger, the major plot points were tied up, but the ending was an attention grabber for sure.

"Catalyst" was fast, fun, and engaging. Once I got into it, I whipped through it, reading right till the end. I've already started bugging Ms. Wallace about book two.