«A Voice in the Thunder» by Kevin McCormick

Master thief Christmas "Crazy-Eyes" Parker has murdered a path from one end of the galaxy to the other, earning a living as a hired gun for the Galactic Coalition, the singular government controlling all planets inhabited by mankind. When an armored truck job goes sideways on the planet Eridan, Parker puts herself at odds with her government liaison, Horace Murchison (who betrays Parker thanks to a convincing religious experience), and her boss, industrial magnate Atusa Navarro, a woman who is equal parts generous philanthropist and ruthless killer.

While Parker looks to repay Murchison's betrayal with a bullet and recover the package she was sent to steal off the truck - whatever it was - Navarro struggles to shake the attention of detective Benjamin Weizmann, a persistent and intelligent man willing to risk personal ruin for the sake of a case as big as hers. Coming in the middle of an election season for the Coalition, Weizmann's investigation threatens the government's legitimacy. The package Parker stole off that armored truck, meanwhile, threatens to forever alter what it means to be human. Politics, money, power and fate intersect violently in A Voice in the Thunder the first installment in the Children and Ghosts quintet.