Here's an interesting fact: the entire time I was reading this novella, I was under the impression that it was something like book four in a series of novels all starring the same protagonist, Esther. It definitely feels like there should be one novel directly preceeding this story (it would feature Kai's original rescue, of course), and at least one more before that (featuring whatever the hell happened with Esther's husband that led to cutting comments about how she sacrificed/abandoned him (!)), and maybe one before THAT (say, something about how Esther and her husband got together with their team? something like that).
Of course, now that I'm looking around the internet for those books, I realize that none of those books exist. So I was thinking that this book does REALLY well at being a sequel, such that I was able to read it on the bus and follow the story while taking in the worldbuilding and backstory and so on. Now I don't know what to think!
The Keeper's Six is certainly a lot of fun, fast-paced, and well-structured for a novella. I really love the Jewishness of it, the political and social commentary that comes from that deep well of philosophical and cultural values. It felt like an action-based plot while at the same time resolving high-stakes confrontations in surprising ways with negotiation, bluffing, cleverness, union organizing, and trickery. Esther is a great character, and the other members of her Hex are vivid and interesting. Kai's situation is stressful, Daniel's fate is uncertain--it's a good book! I'd read the prequels! If only they existed.
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