Until about halfway through the book I considered this novel a big disappointment. I chose it according to the GR ratings, and based on its leading characters, but I just found too much of it off, or downright annoying. Eventually, it started to slowly come together (as did the characters), and the final few chapters were downright joyous to read.

Still, I had to suspend my believe and steel my nerves more than I expected to.

So, the Romulans wouldn't know what the leader of the Unificationists looked like. Right. I know that this was written in the mid-90's, and that I come from 20 years later, when nobody in their right mind would use this as a crucial plot point - but frankly, I think you must have been a bit insane to do that even then. (Some secret police the Romulans have. Useless.)

Then, there we have McCoy, who is just an insufferable asshole for a large part of the book. Of course, if you had to make an asshole out of anyone of the core TOS crew, Bones is the best option, but it just felt too much like they needed him to be stubborn to complicate the plot, more than an actual manifestation of his character.

And then there's Spock, who, despite being in the whole novel, only really shows up at the end. As in, properly.

For the most part this novel ended up being a frustrating mixed bag, not bringing the best of both TOS & TNG crews until very late - but the nostalgia-fest elements of it were lovely. So this gets a 3* in the end.