Review: “Touched by an Alien”

Author: Gini Koch

Title: Touched by an Alien

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Published: April 6th 2010 by DAW

How can a sexy marketing manager join forces with an Alpha Centauri male in Armani to save the planet-using hairspray, a Mont Blanc pen, and rock n' roll?
Easy...
She's Touched by an Alien
Marketing manager Katherine "Kitty" Katt steps into the middle of what appears to be a domestic dispute turned ugly. And it only gets uglier when the man turns into a winged monster, straight out of a grade-Z horror movie, and goes on a killing spree. Though Kitty should probably run away, she springs into action to take the monster down.
In the middle of the chaos a handsome hunk named Jeff Martini appears, sent by the "agency" to perform crowd control. He's Kitty's kind of guy, no matter what planet he's from. And from now on, for Kitty, things are going to be sexy, dangerous, wild, and out of this world.

I´ve read a lot of good reviews about this book and when I saw the amazing cover by Dan Dos Santos (once again), I just had to have it.

Let me tell you, it´s been a long time since I had so much fun with a book, right from the beginning, when we meet Kathrine “Kitty” Katt who wields a mean Mont Blanc pen. Gini Koch creates a world that is not only filled with super sexy aliens (one like Martini could kidnap me anytime in a grey limo) but also with so much wit, charm and orginality that there´s not one dull moment. Throughout the book, I had to laugh, smile, giggle and grin practically constantly. You stumble from one absurd yet highly entertaining situation into another. And did I mention that Kitty´s MO tends to be rather unusual? :)

The cast of characters is also a whole new league. While you sometimes really begin to ask yourself if Kitty really is insane (going after Alien with hairspray? not my first choice of weapon!), she is also refreshingly normal. She gets lost in the science center, has issues with her over-protective family and is jealouse when she meets all the equally beautiful femal alien. Kitty is definetly a girl after my heart! At first I was afraid that I would be annoyed by Martini´s behaviour, but I guess his alien charm even works through the book – I couldn´t help but like him. Add to the mix a family that is so familiar in their adorable weirdness, pets who save the day and one big fat fugly (I leave it to you to find out about that one) and your in for an all-night read.

I can recommend this book to all of you if you´re looking for something different, something that stands out from the mass of vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters, something funny, witty and sexy, then Touched by an Alien is just the book for you.

But be careful, these aliens are highly addictive! :) With this amazing debut, Gini Koch goes straight to the top of my list of favorite authors!

5 points straight for Touched by an Alien!

To stalk Gini Koch, and go and visit her blog. And did you notice the awesome countdown widgets on my sidebar (Thaks to Larissa for those!)? They definetly make waiting for the release of Alien Tango in December easier!

Review "City of Ghosts"

Title: City of Ghosts
Author: Stacia Kane
Published: July 27th 2010 by Del Rey
Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy


IT’S A THIN LINE BETWEEN ALIVE AND UNDEAD.

Chess Putnam has a lot on her plate. Mangled human corpses have started to show up on the streets of Dow...more IT’S A THIN LINE BETWEEN ALIVE AND UNDEAD.

Chess Putnam has a lot on her plate. Mangled human corpses have started to show up on the streets of Downside, and Chess’s bosses at the Church of Real Truth have ordered her to team up with the ultra-powerful Black Squad agency to crack the grisly case.

Chess is under a binding spell that threatens death if she talks about the investigation, but the city’s most notorious crime boss—and Chess’s drug dealer—gets wind of her new assignment and insists on being kept informed. If that isn’t bad enough, a sinister street vendor appears to have information Chess needs. Only he’s not telling what he knows, or what it all has to do with the vast underground City of Eternity.

Now Chess will have to navigate killer wraiths, First Elders, and a lot of seriously nasty magic—all while coping with some not-so-small issues of her own. And the only man Chess can trust to help her through it all has every reason to want her dead.


*This review might contain spoilers!*

Oh my God. I thought the second book was absolutly and utterly brilliant. That it was the best book yet this year. Well, what can I say, I´m running out of words.
"City of Ghosts" is once again perfection.
I don´t want to give away too much about the story, but it is fast, surprising with unexpected turns and uttely original.
What makes this book so amazing are the characters. Chess grows so much in this book, even though her life is still pretty much you know f**ked up. She realizes hiw how she needs and wants Terrible in her life, but due to the events of the last book, they are not really on good terms. It was heartbreaking to read how hard she tries to fix their relationship and what she´s willing to do to make amends. For once, her drug addiction takes a little bit of a backseat in the story. Which is completly understandable, because so much happens in the book.
Terrible´s character experiences an equal growth. It is unsettling to see just how insecure and vulnerable he is underneath his brutal and aggressiv demeanor. At some times during the book I still wanted to slap him, because he was that cold and just plain cruel to Chess. Still you can´t be really mad because what happened him must have been upsetting to say the least. But how everything works out in this book doesn´t leave anything to be desired! :)
Well, maybe not for fans of Lex. There´s a little less Lex in this book, but he stillgets his moment to shine and surprise you at the very end of the book.

Favorite scene:
Oh boy, where do I start? Definetly the scene with Chess and Terrible in the tunnels. And the one in Chuck´s. :) Both very... hot! :) I also loved how Terrible and Lex worked together to find Chess and her simple yet so meaningful and moving confession later in the book when she is aked who they were: "They´re my friends." (Even though I also kind of liked "My drug dealer´s enforcer and his rival who I used to fuck.") And the end. Oh yes the end. Sometimes the simplest words are the most beautiful and moving. All in all there are simply too many good scenes in the book. I could enlist the whole book just as well.

I don´t know what to write without sounding like a broken record. "City of Ghosts" is brilliant, heart-wretching, compelling with some of the best characters ever created. For me, "City of Ghosts" and the whole Downside series set the standarts for all Urban Fantasy books yet to come.
I´m addicted to these books. Seriously. I don´t know how I´m going to endure until fall 2011 when the next book is released.
I guess I´ll have to re-read them again. And again. And again. You get the picture.

My verdict: read it read it read it! 5 Points. Without a moment of hesitation!

By the way, look what I´ve found! Watching it is really fun and interesting!