The Voyage of the Star Wolf (Star Wolf Trilogy)
David Gerrold
Great, big, cosmic wow!
Don't know why I missed this before - I've read his newest Heinlein-esque series (Jumping Off, etc.) and haven't read a lot of his other stuff. I picked this up on a whim - a reissue of a 1990 book. A second will be republished soon and the final of a trilogy comes out next year.
And I can't wait!
Really - very good, well plotted "Star Trek done right," someone said, and I agree. Very right, with lots of good SF ideas and conventions well used. Ah, Jerry Pournelle doing the intro points me in my biding-time position: reading The Mote in God's Eye.