Rating: 3 1/2 stars
One of my favorite debut authors to come out this year is Gini Koch with her over the top and loopy sci-fi book, Touched by an Alien; where we were introduced to Katherine, “Kitty” Katt and how her life went into a tail spin when she finds out up close and personal that there are aliens on Earth; as well as an undercover Men in Black type organization keeping the Earth safe.
These Men in Black are also aliens, and considered to be to die for eye candy to Kitty. One in particular, an empathy named Jeff Martini, becomes smitten with Kitty.
Now Kitty, Martini and her hunky group of alien Armani wearing men are back in Alien Tango. It six months after the events in Touched by an Alien, and Kitty is now a Commander working with a team of pilots combined of humans and A-C's (The A-C’s are what Martini and his fellow compatriots in arms are.)
Kitty and her crew head down to Florida to investigate a human terrorist organization called Club 51 that hates aliens, mainly the A-C’s. Kitty will kill two birds with one stone since Martini’s family lives in Florida. But nothing goes as planned, especially when a group of astronauts are caught in the crossfire, one being Kitty’s old high school boyfriend, Brian, to whom she lost her virginity to.
Things become even more perilous when the Club 51 terrorists take hostages at the Kennedy Space Center. The only way to stop the bloodshed from happening is using some snarly alligators as weapons. If Kitty thought she had her hands full with her last mission, aka Operation Fugly, she hasn’t seen anything yet.
Alien Tango is ridiculously fun reading, and even more outlandish than Touched by an Alien. When I first heard about all this talk regarding alligators in Alien Tango, I knew I had to read it to believe it.
Alien Tango is a very unique book in regards to romance, suspense and the science fiction element. There were only two things that held me back from giving this a near perfect grade. The beginning is slow and takes time to move things along. Also, the ending is a bit convoluted and rushed. I had the sense that Gini got to a certain point and wasn’t sure how to proceed, where she takes a puzzling route that some may scratch their heads over. I was one of them, but when all was said and done, it ended the story in a satisfying way. (Let’s just say that Martini channels his inner Hulk)
Alien Tango is the second book in what will be, as of now, a six part series. I really look forward to the further adventures of lust Kitty, and the seductively sweet Jeff. This is one couple who I can’t wait to see what trouble they get into, while acting on their passion for one another at a drop of a hat.
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Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: DAW; Original edition (December 7, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0756406325