1st thing 1st: if you want a Mercy for Hire pack, go with the omnibus, containing missions 1-16 for 1 credit. Otherwise, wait for a sale to get each of the 4 mission 4 packs. If bought individually, I recommend this pack 2 (missions 5-8), that can mostly stand alone, over pack 1. This spinoff is really best appreciated, however, having first listened to the Black Ocean omnibus (a zanier Firefly space opera…with wizards).
I enjoyed the 80hr Black Ocean omnibus, but found missions 1-4 of Mercy for Hire spinoff to be more of a drag. A lot of this is because we lost the Mobius crew and had only wizard-lite Esper and megadog Kubu for most of those books. Thankfully, this pack, with missions 5-8 expands the new crew to include wizard apprentice (and juvenile delinquent) Tiffany, dim movie star Wesley Wesley (or, is he?!), and eventually a new group of misfits that provide much better opportunities for fun space operatic action in later missions. My favorite mission was no 7 (Hotel Caledonia) that was a mix of murder mystery in a Flotsam Paradise / Fifth Element cruise setting.
The Mercy series has more F-bombs than Black Ocean, and a slightly more prominent LGBTQ thread, although all hankypanky fades to black at the first kiss. All in all, a good escapist popcorn listen between meatier series.