I finished To Prime the Pump - the ending was not quite what was being telegraphed but unfortunately it was more in the way of hippy/new age B/S - although I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised at that given that the book was written back in 1971.

I have started on book 3 - The Hard Way Up. It is better than the first two. It is a collection of short adventures that take place one after another. I must say that the crew of that ship has some pretty bizarre luck to get in one weird adventure after another but the same can be said for the characters on any science fiction t.v. show.