Before analysing a book it's certainly good to give a short summary:

In fact there are two stories told at the same time. The frame story is the one where Captain Kirk and Captain Picard go skydiving. Everything starts with skydiving over Bajor Captain Kirk gets problems and can't hold the course anymore and Picard tries to follow him in order to help. Then both land in the middle of nowhere in a desert on Bajor.

Of course they don't want to sit there waiting for a rescue team and start walking. While they march through the desert Kirk tells Picard a story, a mission that he was on with his old Enterprise.

After some time a Bajoran finds them by incident and brings them to a camp of archaeologists, the camp they had indeed planned to visit. They give them the possibility to rest and help Kirk with his knee that he injured when he crash-landed.

But in the camp there is something that doesn't seem to be right. First suspicious fact is that it seems to be illogical that one of them drives into the desert alone in order to find the person who killed Professor Nilan. So it's no wonder that Corrin Tal is the first suspect on the list. In the camp there is as well the cook, Lara, whose daughter is sick.
Kirk and Picard at once start trying to find out what really happened. First of all they find out that the communications equipment is broke and offer to try repairing it. But when Picard wants to see Nilan's body Corrin Tal shows that he has big interest in not letting him do so. Nilan died when he tried to place a power cell into a converter for recharging and was transtated because the cell was sabotaged.

After Nilan's burial Kirk and Picard meet Professor Aku Sale, with whom Picard had been corresponding for a few years. With him are Dr. Rowhn I'deer who worked with Nilan for some time and Sedge Nirra who helped fund the dig. Within a conversation Rowhn says she thinks Corrin Tal is Nilan's murderer but the others think it was an accident.

The next day Kirk and Picard go with the scientist. They use a boat to get on the Inland Sea going to the buoys marking the walls and roads below. There Kirk gets a lecture in Bajoran religious beliefs. So he learns about B'ath b'Etel who wanted to keep a Tear of the Prophets for himself. B'ath h'Ram returned it to the Temple but the Bajoran people were denied this Tear. That's because a sin against the Prophets brings harm to yourself and all members of the community.
Sedge Nirra explains to the Captains that the dig in the Inland Sea delivered tabulations and bills that will help getting an idea about life at that place as it was many years ago. He tells them as well that Avden Lara blamed Professor Nilan for the state of her daughter who suffered of a rare disease. Then suddenly there is a disruptor beam hitting Sedge's chest. Kirk and Picard save their lives jumping from the boat into the water. In the water there is something pulling them down. While Kirk can reach the surface Picard seems to be drowning.

Two men from the camp come to rescue Kirk who convinces them of searching for Picard. But both men never come back. No one believes Kirk when he tells them of the disruptor beam. Kirk gets the idea that there is a secret being kept from him. So in the end he asks Corrin Tal to join him for a dive.

They find a cave in the Sea and Picard who is still alive. Some big creature had taken him to this cave, a place where there is enough air to breath. Corrin then turns out to be one of the bad guys and is later shot by Kirk. Then suddenly Corrin's body is beamed out of the cave and Sedge Nirra appears, alive. Sedge then explains everything: He is a Cardassian and Corrin Tal was working for him during the occupation. Nilan had to die because he tried to hide an Orb from Sedge that he had located in Bar'trila.


In the series of novels by William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens Captain's Peril is special. Not just in the choice of its setting, but in its way of storytelling as well. How many books do you know that tell two stories in one? I don't know any other book that does. And here it's done very well. What kind of stories do we have? We have a usual Original Series story, the one that Kirk is telling. The point of view in those parts of the book switches from Kirk's to the watching position within a few sentences.

As you can see by reading the short summary of the book the main story is some kind of crime story. Our two heroes land in a desert and run into a big riddle. Who is the murderer? Why and how was the Professor murdered? Or is he really dead? All those questions have an answer and you won't get them till the end. Of course Kirk and Picard run from one dangerous situation into the next and always get out of it. So far this book is a usual Star Trek novel.

The unusual part of the book is certainly the integration of the Mandolyon Rift story. There Kirk has the order to find a ship and make the first contact. Of course Starfleet wants to be faster than other planets and so there is a race for that ship. In the end they find out that the commander of that alien ship wants them fighting with the other ships, till one of them is destroyed! How far should they go? That's the question.

I think that connection of two stories makes the book special. It's a new way of storytelling and everyone should have a look at that. When I noticed that beside the prologue/epilogue that usually are the framestory giving some kind of setting or an additional suggestion there was another inbound story I was a bit confused. But after rereading I think the stories really fit together and became one with each other. (Where did I hear that before? )

When I was reading the book I saw me asking myself where I would put the story. Deep Space Nine because the main part happens on Bajor? Maybe. But who are the main characters? Kirk and Picard. That would make it a Next Generation or Original Series one, wouldn't it?

After thinking about it a bit longer I think I would place it somewhere between The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. At least the timeline would fit. Kirk was revived after Generations by the Borg in the novel The Return. So we are in the 24th century now. Kirk has a son and a new friend, Picard. Picard and Deep Space Nine I would put into one time. While the Enterprise-D was exploring space, Deep Space Nine existed and the next series told the story of that station.

In this novel we have as well the mission of the original crew. That is an Original Series plot without question. But we can't call a book about cooking a joke book just because of one joke every 10 pages.

But if you go and watch for the book in a bookstore or at Amazon, where do we find it? Right: The Original Series. Might be because they want to have all Shatner books together, or they see the name and say "Well that must be Original Series, it's written by William Shatner!"

You can get this novel as audio book as well (on tape or CD).