The Dark Veil

What a ride! The way these Picard books fill in the narrative of the TV show is great. I enjoyed reading novels 20-25 years ago, but those were stand alone stories that didn't and couldn't add depth to the story on the screen, for the most part. Where The Last Best Hope was a direct tie-in, this one is a bit farther removed, as Riker and Troi are not central to the Picard storyline. It does carry the tone and overall direction of the story of the Picard series. I think if it didn't, it would be quite disappointing.

What I liked about this book:
- The story. Swallow creates a fantastic mystery and uses the mystery of the Romulan culture to his advantage in the mystery.
- The characters. There isn't much you can do with Riker and Troi except represent them in a way that is true to their presentation on the show. This he does. However, I liked the main Romulan characters. Swallow continues to show nuance in the Romulan culture, rather than displaying them as a one dimensional, militaristic culture.
- Not all the questions get answered. Just like the show, there are some questions that don't get answered, leaving room for me to contemplate the possibilities.