Firefly: Coup de Grâce is a 2023 novel by Una McCormack set in the Firefly 'Verse. It is eighth in a series of novels set between the events of Firefly and Serenity.
In the streets of Yell City, in broad daylight, a beloved lawyer was shot dead. His daughter, Annie Roberts, is quite put-out by this, especially since despite all the eyewitnesses, the man who did the shooting hasn't been arrested. He's part of a powerful local gang, and the Sheriff just doesn't have the resources to get involved in a war. So Annie looks for contacts who can help, and settles on one Malcolm Reynolds.
This Novel includes examples of the following tropes:
- Anachronic Order: This novel is also set some time between Big Damn Hero and The Ghost Machine, with Book and Inara still being aboard Serenity.
- Handicapped Badass: Annie is missing her left arm just above the elbow, the result of the accident that also killed her mother. She can still handle herself pretty well, even if she's not as badass as she likes to think.
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: The murder of Annie's lawyer father leads to a conspiracy involving Blue Sun to un-terraform the planet, turning it into a dustbowl so they can snap up property and make profit, as well as proving the viability of un-terraforming as a weapon in case of a resurgence of the Independent movement.
- Multiple Narrative Modes: The story switches between first-person following Annie and third-person following the crew of Serenity. Annie's first-person bits are her writing the events down in a journal, and occasionally addressing the hypothetical reader.
- No True Scotsman: Mal begins to think of Frank Collier and the Browncoats in his gang as this. No longer true Browncoats, as they're taking pay almost directly from the Alliance, furthering an evil Alliance scheme, and doing whatever it takes to look out for themselves. Mal even takes a moment to wonder if, had he not had Zoe and Serenity, he might have gone down the same path.
- Still Wearing the Old Colors: Much like Mal, most of Collier's gang are former Browncoats, and still wear their brown coats.
- Young and in Charge: Miss Annie is an eighteen-year-old girl, but she's paying the Serenity crew and setting the conditions for the job. It takes Mal and especially Jayne some time to warm up to taking orders from a "kid."
