Bloodline

Set 5 years before "The Force Awakens", this book starts out with bipartisan gridlock in the New Republic senate. This felt like a reflection of current US politics, down to some of the measures discussed. Senator Organa champions an investigation into post-Hutt criminal activity, a senator from the other party joins her, and things finally start to roll.

I liked the different tensions between these two characters and the action of the investigation, from card playing to wild flying. Of course things end up being connected to much bigger things, and this spiral increases the risk and speeds up the action.

This is not the Leia of the movie, of course, so a major event happens 2/3 of the way through this book. From this point the plot is on rails, and those tracks lead right to the film. I liked the wrap-ups of some points from the earlier story, but the rest of the novel felt rushed and the ending not satisfying.

I like the author's writing style and plan to read her earlier Star Wars universe novel, Lost Stars.