A Sister Turned Convict. A Brother Turned Killer. A Trial of the Soul.

For Sister Catina De Baciu, surviving the evils of Colony 76 was all the adventure she needed. Her homecoming to the planet Kasian should have heralded a quiet, peaceful life. But her arrival was not empty-handed. And secrets, even those nestled deep in the earth, rarely stay hidden. It wasn't long before the Transport Administration, cuffs in hand, appeared at her door...

Rayner Burke would have turned his back on Gods, Mitrite, and Civil Wars. But as a slum rat of Breccia, a recently emancipated mining colony, apathy was not an option. Especially with his brother, Dag, slipping further into ore-addled madness. Though his position as Crusher Under Lieutenant provided a roof over their heads, it has not been enough to find a cure or slow Dag's degradation...

The Second Initiative did not care for either. It loomed in the depths of space: the vessel for experimentation, greed, and avoiding human rights tribunals. For Catina, it means freedom in exchange for her humanity. For Rayner, it holds the cure to his brother's illness: a prize for which he and his men would be willing to kill.

The Second Initiative, a science-fiction thriller with western sensibilities, is the hotly anticipated follow-up to The Third Test.