Teaser

The Enterprise is scheduled to take part in a ceremony commemorating two decades of peace. It should be a simple task, were it not for the fact that Pavel Chekov has been replaced by a saboteur . . .

Review

Having recently immersed myself in the Star Trek Litverse and followed the adventures of Julian Bashir and Data, I decided to change things up a bit. For my final Star Trek read of the month that marks the franchise’s sixtieth anniversary, I headed back to the crew that started it all. Well, sort of. Identity Theft is mostly about Pavel Chekov, who didn’t join the show until its second season, and the story largely takes place during the era of the Enterprise-A and it’s big-screen movie outings, somewhen between The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country.

Honestly, this is the part of the Trek universe that I know the least about. I’ve seen bits and pieces of the films over the years, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every episode, but it’s the one series I’ve never watched from start to finish. Maybe one day. Despite this gap in my Trek knowledge, I do have a certain fondness for the time period detected. Every other Star Trek series has tie-in books that get all tangled up with galactic politics, complicated character dynamics, and ever-escalating threats to the universe. Kirk and his crew, meanwhile, cling stubbornly to their episodic adventures. Yes, there’s the cold war with the Klingons running in the background here, and there are offhand references to a dozen other adventures, but the story is a one and done. You can pick up the book, read it, and walk away knowing you got the whole story. That is what I want from a Star Trek novel.

In Pocket Books/Gallery’s rotating cluster of Trek authors, Greg Cox stands out as someone who sticks to the Original Series. Which is why I’ve read so little of his work. The Antares Maelstrom was one of my favourite Trek novels, however, and No Time Like the Past was a great crossover with Voyager, so my hopes were high. Those hopes were met in full, and I can happily say that Identity Theft is the best book I’ve read all month.

Every Trek author has certain strengths. David Mack has an eye for action. Christopher L. Bennett can weave together canon and errata like nobody else. Where Cox excels is in his character work. Not just in the sense that he makes each character feel just like their on-screen persona, but in the way that he shows a crew as they would likely be. Cox’s crew feel like a group who spend years in deep space at a time. It’s not just about the daring rescue missions or scientific wonders, there’s also the time spent going for walks in gardens, or spending time in the ship’s bowling alley. Short of Deep Space Nine, I can’t think of another time that Star Trek has felt like it’s showing us what life in Starfleet might really be like. It is in the quiet moments that Cox shines the brightest.

One other trick that Cox pulls off brilliantly is the book’s antagonist. While Chekov is on the run, we spend a lot of time seeing the Enterprise through the eyes of his sinister duplicate. It’s cleverly done, because we get to see Starfleet at their best, but also get an outsider’s perspective on the ship’s unique quirks, and the friendships and romances that might take place there.

Identity Theft is Star Trek at its finest, and Greg Cox at the top of his game. This is a corner of the Trek universe that I look forward to exploring in greater detail, and I can think of no finer motivation than the idea that there might be more books just as good as this one waiting for me.

Book Stats

• A Standalone Novel
• Published in 2025
• 335 Pages