Books like 'Optional Retirement Plan'
Readers who enjoyed Optional Retirement Plan by Chris Pourteau also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
sc-fi mystery space action / adventure crime suspense law-enforcement noir hard-boiled assassins
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Network Effect by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 58 ratingsMurderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel...Categorized as:
cyberpunk dystopia humor space-opera space-travel suspense 21st-century action-adventure -
![Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey]()
Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 61 ratingsThe fifth novel in Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series--now being produced for television by the SyFy Channel!A thousand worlds have opened, and the greatest land rush in human history has begun. As wave after wave of colonists leave, the power structures of the old solar system begin to buckle.Ships are disappearing without a trace. Private armies are being secretly formed...Categorized as:
colonization crime cyberpunk dystopia space-opera space-travel suspense 21st-century -
![Exit Strategy by Martha Wells]()
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsMurderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever showed it respect must be a system glitch, right?Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr... -
![Spaced Out by Stuart Gibbs]()
Spaced Out by Stuart Gibbs
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this New York Times bestselling novel the moon base commander has gone missing and Dash Gibson is on the case. The second mind-boggling mystery of the Moon Base Alpha series from beloved author Stuart Gibbs.There’s nowhere to hide on the world’s first moon base. After all, it’s only the size of a soccer field...Categorized as:
humor law-enforcement male-mc political-intrigue suspense action-adventure aliens audiobook -
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![Artificial Condition by Martha Wells]()
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsIt has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue... -
![Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells]()
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsNo, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall... -
![Mountain of Mars by Glynn Stewart]()
Mountain of Mars by Glynn Stewart
Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Mage-King of Mars is deadChaos rocks Olympus MonsA new monarch must rise – but she does not stand alone!As the celebration of the victory at Legatus cools, a shuttle accident claims the lives of the Mage-King of Mars and his heir. The Crown and the Mountain fall to the Mage-King’s daughter, seventeen-year-old Kiera Alexander...Categorized as:
crime political-intrigue space-opera space-travel suspense action-adventure adult aliens -
![Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsForced to abandon his undercover role as leader of the Dendarii Mercenaries, Miles Vorkosigan persuades Emperor Gregor to appoint him Imperial Auditor so he can penetrate Barrayar’s intelligence and security operations (ImpSec)... -
![Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey]()
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsHumanity has colonized the solar system—Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond—but the stars are still out of our reach.Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted... -
![Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton]()
Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsRobust, peaceful, and confident, the Commonwealth dispatched a ship to investigate the mystery of a disappearing star, only to inadvertently unleash a predatory alien species that turned on its liberators, striking hard, fast, and utterly without mercy. The Prime are the Commonwealth's worst nightmare... -
![Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells]()
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 59 ratingsSciFi’s favorite crabby A.I. is again on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good... -
![The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal]()
The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsMary Robinette Kowal continues her award-winning Lady Astronaut series, which began with The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky, with The Relentless Moon.The Earth is coming to the boiling point as the climate disaster of the Meteor strike becomes more and more clear, but the political situation is already overheated. Riots and sabotage plague the space program...Categorized as:
colonization crime dystopia political-intrigue space-opera space-travel suspense action-adventure -
![Alien Scourge by Michael Anderle]()
Alien Scourge by Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCharley and Angelina have a lot to deal with. Do they help their friend or turn him in for being an alien?In some situations, you don’t know how you will react until someone tries to kill you...And your alien friend keeps you safe.Angelina’s boyfriend believes she will come back with the right amount of coercion if he gets rid of her “friend... -
![Space Case by Stuart Gibbs]()
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsIt’s a murder mystery on the moon in this humorous and suspenseful space adventure from the author of Belly Up and Spy School that The New York Times Book Review called “a delightful and brilliantly constructed middle grade thriller...Categorized as:
crime humor law-enforcement male-mc political-intrigue space-opera suspense action-adventure -
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![Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCaptain Ivan Vorpatril is happy with his relatively uneventful bachelor’s life as a staff officer to a Barrayaran admiral. Cousin to imperial troubleshooter Miles Vorkosigan, Ivan is not far down the hereditary list for the emperorship. Thankfully, new heirs have directed that headache elsewhere, leaving Ivan to enjoy his life on Komarr, far from the byzantine court politics of his home system... -
![Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsA rich Komarran merchant fleet has been impounded at Graf Station, in distant Quaddiespace, after a bloody incident on the station docks involving a security officer from the convoy's Barrayaran military escort. Lord Miles Vorkosigan of Barrayar and his wife, Lady Ekaterin, have other things on their minds, such as getting home in time to attend the long-awaited births of their first children...Categorized as:
crime humor political-intrigue space-opera space-travel suspense action-adventure adult -
![Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsThe latest installment in the adventures of Miles Vorkosigan. Miles and Cousin Ivan travel to Cetaganda to play the part of sprigs of nobility doing their diplomatic duty. But when the Empress of Cetaganda dies naturally, and her lifelong attendant dies unnaturally, Miles and Ivan finds themselves in the thick of it...Categorized as:
crime humor law-enforcement male-mc political-intrigue space-opera space-travel suspense -
![The Worldship Humility by R.R. Haywood]()
The Worldship Humility by R.R. Haywood
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Worldship Humility...Categorized as:
dystopia humor law-enforcement political-intrigue space-opera suspense action-adventure adult -
![Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton]()
Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe comparative utopia of twenty-third century Earth is about to go dreadfully awry when a seemingly benign alien race is abruptly revealed to be one of the worst threats humanity has ever faced. Driven by an intense religious extremism, the Olyix are determined to bring everyone to their version of god as they see it...Categorized as:
colonization dystopia space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
![The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsHugo Award Winner! Miles Vorkosigan graduates from the Academy, joins a mutiny, is placed under house arrest, goes on a secret mission, reconnects with his loyal Dendarii Mercenaries, rescues his Emperor, and thwarts an interstellar war. Situation normal, if you're Miles...Categorized as:
humor male-mc political-intrigue space-opera space-travel suspense 20th-century action-adventure -
![Slow Time Between the Stars by John Scalzi]()
Slow Time Between the Stars by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAn artificial intelligence on a star-spanning mission explores the farthest horizons of human potential—and its own purpose—in a mind-bending short story by New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi.Equipped with the entirety of human knowledge, a sentient ship is launched on a last-ditch journey to find a new home for civilization. Trillions of miles. Tens of thousands of years... -
![Earth Bound by Michael Anderle]()
Earth Bound by Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt’s one stranded ex-lawman against a world full of homicidal psychopaths. Psychopaths who might, or might not, be human.Intergalactic lawman Terry Victor is betrayed by fellow officers and sent to a backwater planet on the interstellar arm of the universe.In short, he was sent to the planet called Earth.Fed up, he quits in a fit of disgust and seeks a peaceful retirement among the humans... -
![Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsKomarr could be a garden with a thousand more years' work, or an uninhabitable wasteland if the terraforming fails. Now, the solar mirror vital to the terraforming of the conquered planet has been shattered by a ship hurtling off course. The Emperor of Barrayar sends his newest imperial auditor, Lord Miles Vorkosigan, to find out why...Categorized as:
crime humor law-enforcement male-mc political-intrigue space-opera space-travel suspense -
![The Worst Ship in the Fleet by Skyler Ramirez]()
The Worst Ship in the Fleet by Skyler Ramirez
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA Military Science Fiction Adventure!Brad Mendoza is an idiot. He knows it, and so does everyone else. A promising naval career down the drain just because he accidentally killed 504 civilians. So, it's time for him to give up and accept a dead-end command on Persephone, the worst ship in the fleet... -
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![The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn]()
The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsSmuggler Jordan McKell has partner Ixil, an alien whose two "ferrets" ride his shoulders and telepathically exchange simple messages. They take a job on the odd-shaped ship Icarus. But the ragtag crew was found at taverns, the secret cargo sealed tight, the employer missing, and a saboteur is aboard...Categorized as:
humor law-enforcement political-intrigue space-opera space-travel suspense action-adventure aliens -
![The Horror at Murden Cove by D.D. Black]()
The Horror at Murden Cove by D.D. Black
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA triple homicide. A blind witness. What is the sound of evil?Late one night, two young couples walked to a park in an affluent Bainbridge Island neighborhood to celebrate the sale of their tech startup. The next morning, three mutilated bodies were found.One witness was left alive. Blind from birth, she didn't see anything. But she heard everything...Categorized as:
crime suspense space-opera law-enforcement hard-boiled mystery fiction action-adventure -
![Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds]()
Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe once-utopian Chasm City -a doomed human settlement on an otherwise inhospitable planet- has been overrun by a virus known as the Melding Plague, capable of infecting any body, organic or computerized. Now, with the entire city corrupted -from the people to the very buildings they inhabit- only the most wretched sort of existence remains... -
![A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine]()
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 50 ratingsAmbassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court...Categorized as:
colonization crime dystopia political-intrigue space-opera space-travel suspense 21st-century -
![Obsidian Detective by Michael Anderle]()
Obsidian Detective by Michael Anderle
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwo Rebels whose Worlds Collide on a Planetary Level. On the fringes of human space, a murder will light a fuse and send two different people colliding together. She lives on Earth, where peace among the population is a given. He is on the fringe of society where authority is how much firepower you wield. She is from the powerful, the elite. He is with the military...Categorized as:
colonization humor law-enforcement space-travel action-adventure adult aliens audiobook -
![The Aleph Extraction by Dan Moren]()
The Aleph Extraction by Dan Moren
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAboard a notorious gangster's luxurious starliner, Simon Kovalic and his crew race to steal a mysterious artifact that could shift the balance of the war... -
![The Face by Jack Vance]()
The Face by Jack Vance
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKirth Gersen tracks Lens Larque across several worlds, most notably Aloysius, the desert world Dar Sai and the more temperate Methel. He eventually learns that Larque is a Darsh, born Husse Bugold. He had been deprived of an earlobe and made a rachepol or outcast from his clan for a crime considered "repulsive but not superlatively heinous... -
![Hail the Hero by Timothy Ellis]()
Hail the Hero by Timothy Ellis
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis is an alternate cover edition for ASIN: B015AYA7CGAs the war comes to an end, Jonathon Hunter sees the good and bad sides to being considered the hero, but which is which? All he wants to do is go home, but home isn’t any closer than it was a month ago, and this time, he's going the long way around... -
![Hard Luck Hank: Stank Delicious by Steven Campbell]()
Hard Luck Hank: Stank Delicious by Steven Campbell
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBelvaille has cemented its place as the most important System in the galaxy and Hank is working as an official Factotum, negotiating deals between gangs and noblemen under the watchful eye of the Arch Minister. When his ever-capable butler, Cliston, is approached to become the general manager of a Super Class glocken team, Hank is hired not only as protection, but as a player... -
![Exo-Hunter by Jeremy Robinson]()
Exo-Hunter by Jeremy Robinson
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author, Jeremy Robinson, takes readers on a pulse-pounding journey to a dark and twisted future... and makes them laugh.THE YEAR IS 1989Callsign: Dark Horse and his Marine Rapid Reaction Force team have been sent to recover a strange artifact near Antarctica's Soviet-controlled Vostok Station...Categorized as:
colonization dystopia humor space-opera space-travel suspense action-adventure adult -
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![All Systems Red by Martha Wells]()
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 84 ratings"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern... -
![Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold]()
Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsThis Hugo-nominated novella adds a delightful extra chapter to Bujold's Vorkosigan series, describing the wedding of Miles and Ekaterin and events leading up to it. In the festive season of Winterfair on the planet Barrayar, Lord Miles Vorkosigan is making elaborate preparations for his wedding... -
![Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton]()
Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsHumanity's complex relationship with technology spirals out of control in this first book of an all-new trilogy from "the owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction" (Ken Follett).In 2204, humanity is expanding into the wider galaxy in leaps and bounds. A new technology of linked jump gates has rendered most forms of transporation--including starships--virtually obsolete...Categorized as:
colonization dystopia law-enforcement space-opera space-travel 21st-century action-adventure adult -
![The Churn by James S.A. Corey]()
The Churn by James S.A. Corey
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author James S.A. Corey...Before his trip to the stars, before the Rocinante, Amos Burton's was confined to a Baltimore where crime paid you or killed you. Unless the authorities got to you first.Set in the hard-scrabble solar system of Leviathan Wakes, Caliban's War, Abaddon's Gate and the upcoming Cibola Burn, Beloved of Broken Things deepens James S. A... -
![Renegade Atlas by J.N. Chaney]()
Renegade Atlas by J.N. Chaney
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe search for Earth has begun.After barely escaping the Union's grasp, The Renegade Star is off to parts unknown. Every member of its crew is a wanted fugitive. None of them can ever return home.But all is not lost.Thanks to Lex, a strange girl with a remarkable gift, the path to Earth has been revealed...Categorized as:
anti-hero colonization cyberpunk dystopia space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult -
![The Last Colony by John Scalzi]()
The Last Colony by John Scalzi
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsRetired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up...Categorized as:
colonization dystopia humor space-opera space-travel suspense 21st-century action-adventure -
![Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin]()
Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsHonest space trader Haviland Tuf, the owner of the last seedship of Earth's Ecological Engineering Corps, comes to the aid of an emperiled colony struggling to cope with a variety of hostile monsters, an obsessed populace, and a dictator who unleashes plagues to get his own way...Categorized as:
colonization humor space-opera space-travel action-adventure adult animals anthologies -
![Mission Inadvisable by J.S. Morin]()
Mission Inadvisable by J.S. Morin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPart-time heroes. Full-time outlaws. Carl Ramsey has done the unthinkable: he turned down a lucrative job. When the deed is too despicable even for outlaws like the Mobius crew, someone nasty had to be behind it. Carl and his friends decide to hunt down their potential employer and turn him over to the authorities... -
![Stowaway to Heaven by J.S. Morin]()
Stowaway to Heaven by J.S. Morin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIf you can't beat 'em, hijack 'em. Push a man hard enough and long enough and he's going to push back. Carl Ramsey finally has a plan to deal with transgalactic megacorp Harmony Bay. With the aid of a new ace up his sleeve, the Mobius crew finally have a heist that can put an end to the company's harassment. They're going to steal the ship responsible for Harmony Bay's black ops... -
![Masterminds by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Masterminds by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe fate of the Alliance hangs in the balance as the masterminds behind the Anniversary Day bombings trigger the final stages of a plan decades in the making. A plan that will bring about the total destruction of every dome on the Moon... -
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![The Ballad of Bad Jack by Anthony Ryan]()
The Ballad of Bad Jack by Anthony Ryan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Asteroid Belt, home to mining corporations and those who prefer to live beyond the heavily policed habitats of Earth orbit - the perfect hunting ground for Bad Jack, captain of the Dead Reckoning and the most feared pirate in the solar system... -
![The Wraithbone Phoenix by Alec Worley]()
The Wraithbone Phoenix by Alec Worley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Baggit and Clodde NovelA ratling and an ogryn aren't the best-matched pair, but in the crime-ridden heart of Varangantua, anything goes – at least, when there's a big score to be had.READ IT BECAUSEThis is first full length novel featuring the characters Baggit and Clodde from the audio drama Dredge Runners. Follow the duo as they hunt for a treasure that could answer all of their problems... -
![Blowback by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Blowback by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Moon, shaken by the Anniversary Day tragedies, deals with devastation. The Earth Alliance believes another attack imminent, but no one knows where or when it will strike. Just like no one knows who ordered the attacks in the first place.The Moon’s chief security office, Noelle DeRicci, does her best to hold the United Domes government together... -
![The Vacuum of Space by Julia Huni]()
The Vacuum of Space by Julia Huni
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen her maintenance bot found a body, Triana lost her lunch. Then she lost the body. How did she lose her memory? When a highly connected security agent interrupts her routine with stories of murder and missing bodies, Triana can’t ignore him; it’s cooperate or find a new job. A girl has to pay the rent, even on a crappy studio compartment... -
![No Way by S.J. Morden]()
No Way by S.J. Morden
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the sequel to the terrifying science fiction thriller, One Way, returning home from Mars may mean striking a deal with the very people who abandoned him. They were sent to build a utopia, but all they found on Mars was death.Frank Kitteridge has been abandoned... -
![Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch]()
Paloma by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs a Retrieval Artist, Miles Flint helps the Disappeared, saving the lives of those oppressed under the Earth Alliance regime. He owes his livelihood, and his very sense of honor, to a woman known as Paloma. It was she who was responsible for setting him on this path—and now she has been murdered.Summoned by Paloma’s desperate call, Miles reaches her apartment too late...
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