Jordan McKell, a smuggler for a crime lord nicknamed Brother John and his shadowy boss, Mr. Antoniewicz, is offered a job by a man named Alexander Borodin, whom he recognizes as the famous industrialist Arno Cameron.

The book concludes with the crew celebrating their rescue, while Cameron makes plans for smuggling the Icarus back to Earth for research.

Roland Green of Booklist called the book "one of the better novels in some time for readers moving from Star Wars and its clones to other sf".

"[2] Don D'Ammassa of the Science Fiction Chronicle called it an "old fashioned space opera in the very best sense of the term".

[5] Brad Skillman of the Associated Press wrote that the book is "not very deep", contains "quite a few plot aggravations" and called the ending a "tad manipulative".