Star Trek: Mission to Horatius by Mark Reynolds

I have added this brand new book to the little library especially for one boy in my class who is a hardcore Trek fan. Mission to Horatius by  Mark Reynolds is the title of a 1968 novel especially for children based on the television series. It was actually the first novel to be based on the Start Trek franchise  and was done  whilst the series was still being made. This hardback edition was published in 1999 by Pocket Books. Anyway, in this book the USS Enterprise is on its way to Star Base 12 for well-deserved shore leave, supplies and repairs, as food is running low and also the engines need attention. However, en route, a distress signal diverts the Enterprise to the outer edge of  the known solar system. The mental health of  the crew is not the best according to Dr McCoy. They are restless and irritable and he is concerned that they could be prone to cafard, a type of space madness. When they arrive at the NGC 400 solar system, the Enterprise crew come across three planets inhabited by different human settlers who had been disgruntled with the social norms of Earth. One planet has reverted to a Stone Age state, another has a mid-20th Century technology while the third has the most advanced technology and weaponry, and is ready for space travel. Kirk and his crew are trying to figure out who sent a distress signal and the nature of the emergency. To complicate things, they run into  a warrior society, where drugs are used  by a small elite to control the general population.