Two parallel timelines cover parts of Boba Fett's life - his part in the destruction of the Bounty Hunter's Guild during the time of A New Hope, and the other Boba Fetts survival of the sarlacc after Return of the Jedi and his nursing back to health by another bounty hunter and an ex-slave from Jabba's palace that Fett seems to have some history with.
The story jogs along quite well, giving us bits of Fetts history and action mixed in with his current near death state. Bounty hunter Bossk is brought in as an ignorant antagonist, with Prince Xizor as an evil overlord who wants to see Fett dead. Another new character is an arachnoid dealer who lives inside a ship made from its own secretions.
Close to the end of the book there is a large battle with Shell Hutts - a relation to Jabba the Hutts race that lives within armoured shells, with other bounty hunters including one from Fetts past who is merged with a ships laser cannon.
The novel mixes a lot of new ideas in to the Star Wars universe without doing Fett any injustice - he's shown as a cold blooded man only interested in profit, killing anyone who won't get out of his way.
Review by Paul Silver, 1999
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