Gini KochBesprekingen

Still the best!

Book 15 delivers just as perfectly as the first 14! Love this series. Have read all of them many times through and will continue to do so

Kitty and her hot super-powered alien husband move their spy games to Washington, D.C. It’s designer dresses cut so as not to impede chasing the baddies, well-trained animal guardians, and orgasms reenacted on the boardroom table. OK, 3.5 stars. The critters are fun.½

Koch, Gini. Alien Tango. DAW, 2010. Katherine “Kitty” Katt 2.
Chick lit with sexy aliens and monstrous aliens Kitty calls “fuglies.” When the course of true love gets troubled, you worry that you will never be able to make love in a shower again. All the normal people you know turn out to be aliens. And, oh yes, men’s rooms in bus stations may be teleportation portals. Give Alien Tango three or four stars, depending on how guilty you like your pleasures.½

390

Well, I've avoided this series/author for years since I'm not a fan of romance novels, but it was recommended to me by a fellow shopper in my favorite indie. He said they were light and fun, with a fresh t a ke on aliens. So I bought the first one and agree with him. Fast read, lots of action, snappy dialog, and fairly easy to skim past the "my knees went weak" blather and the frequent steamy passages.

Fun, nice surprises, great action, hot romance. Reads a bit like a superhero comic, closer to a Batman and Superman duo than anything else.

I tried to like this. But the writing style is dreadful. I couldn't make it past chapter three. It has some ridiculous inconsistencies that make it hard for me to suspend my disbelief. So I gave up. Oh well.

If only jury duty were this exciting. Our heroine, Katherine "Kitty" Katt (yes, the author really named her lead character that) is leaving the courthouse when she witnesses an argument spiral out of control, and one of the participants turns into a flying demon. Instead of running scared, Kitty gets pissed and attacks. She even manages to kill the things-with a pen. So, turns out the winged thing was an alien, surprise. Now Kitty is making new friends and discovering things about her family she never knew. Oh, and there is a big bad that only she can stop, but you can't keep a fan girl down.

48 points/100 (2.5 stars/5).

Alien Collective starts with the announcement that Jeff has been nominated to be the Vice Presidential pick for the frontrunning Presidential pick, and there are some people very, very unhappy with that news. Yates offspring keep showing up, Chernobog is still out there, an immortal has shown up to try and bring ACE to justice, they nearly get killed by a combination of quicksand (in the desert??), javelinas, and a combine harvester, and everyone is still trying to cope with the events of Alien Research. What a very, very long book.

Perhaps it is my fault I didn't enjoy this as much because I'm reading it so soon after Alien Research. I just felt like the author stream of consciousnessed this book. It just rambles on and on from scene to scene. I felt like there was one point to the entire book (the vice presidency), and everything else was something to fill out to reach word counts.

In Alien Research, I praised the author for staying on task the whole book. This did not happen here. I'm not certain why 90% of this book happened at all. They seemed to be going places and doing things just to do them for half of this book. I'd be reading along for a while and then suddenly realise I had no idea what they were doing or why. This happened several times throughout the book.

I think the worst part is that though a bunch of things happened, she pulled a lot of the previous threads from other books into this book, nothing actually got solved. Not really. It just keeps getting pushed off. It is growing a bit wearisome. Koch brings up one thread, plays with it a bit, and then moves on to the next thread, dropping the first, before she plays with that one for a bit. It makes it hard for me to really care what is going on at any one time because why bother.

If you liked the previous books in this series, you would probably at least be content with this book. Everyone who has shown up before in the series shows up in this one, practically. Friends, allies, enemies, and poofs. Even Jaime is starting to take a bit of a role in the story!

68 points/100 (3.5 stars/5)

A new book, a new disaster. Their people are off on a training mission turned kidnapping, Al Dejahl and his gang of horrible people are back, Kitty has to polish off her airplane piloting skills and we meet the mystery Elves. An action packed, emotional addition to this series starts off right and just keeps on going.

On the one hand I have no idea why I still read this series. On the other hand why don't I read it more often? This series annoys me, exasperates me, and makes me roll my eyes so damn hard I think i might strain something, yet there is something about it that keeps drawing me back.

This was actually a much better book than the last installment in this series. The pacing wasn't as frenetic. The plot wasn't as full of nothingness. Everything seemed to have a point to it. Plus, it was actually really emotional at points. I honestly did not expect there to have ever been any consequences in this series at all. I'm actually rather looking forward to seeing what the effects of this book are going to on the rest of the series.

The characters are actually starting to show some growth in this book, too. Kitty makes a controlled speech at the end that really hits all the right notes to a group of politicians. I really enjoyed the speech she made, even though the circumstances surrounding the speech sucked. The protests against aliens throughout the books, and then before this speech felt a little too much for this book, unfortunately.

A new alien race is introduced into this series! They are immortal, they live on a planet that is inside a black hole, and are generally fucking ridiculous. I guess I understand why she had to make up something to fill in this hole. It just.. It really annoys me that this thing exists. First ACE as their go to problem solver, and now this new character. It is growing to be a bit too much.

This was a lot less political in nature than Alien in the House. While I don't understand how Jeff could just fuck off from the Senate and be with Kitty the whole book, I guess I can understand not wanting to separate them - it just wouldn't be in line with the story until now. I think that is why I enjoyed this book so much more than the last one. This one was back to the fun action movie stuff, instead of the boring made up terrible politics and things go boom stuff.

While still fun, this is a serious installment to the Katherine "Kitty" Katt series. Every part of this book was in some way connected to the story already established or setting up for future books. There weren't any side adventures. A good installment to the series.

Full review to follow!

This is an outright frolic with an incredibly feisty heroine. The science fiction action is intense, especially through the last 3/4, and engaged me more than the romance initially did. With all of the worldbuilding squeezed into this book, it's no wonder that this kicked off such a long series.

So Kitty is now the super beings go to solve galactic problems because she thinks right....½

I love her Alien series. I don't know maybe it was the male main lead? He's kind of funny, but I didn't care about him. Didn't really care about any of the other characters either. I think I got to Chapter 12 when this then sat on the bedside for two weeks. Finished the books that had a shorter timeline with the library and then picked this back up. Still didn't really care and definitely had lost the momentum for reading. Back to the library it went.

Did not finish.

Used too many of the romance tropes I really dislike. Disliked the gender portrayals in the book right from the start, and especially Martini's hard sell approach was not at all attractive. Despite these initial issues, there were things I liked about the book, the aliens and plot were interesting, her parents were too, and the humor was often well done (sometimes not...see gender issues above), and I needed an audio book to listen to when traveling.

Major Offenses: (1) Unbelievable lead (she can see right through the twisted machinations and lies of an entire organization of alien spies and scientists but is hopeless at reading people; also screws and falls in love with Martini in less than 24 hours), (2) Assault in an elevator (lead's alien lover's brother stops an elevator and assaults her (kissing, groping, holding her head so she can't get away - so yes, assault; explanation is he can't help himself and she can't help but be excited it by it; only her concern about what alient lover #1 will think about it gives her the strength to force him back? NOPE! Really, just don't go there!)

Thank goodness this was a library audio book and I didn't waste any money on this.

Kitty and family end up taking an unplanned galactic tour when the new space ship takes off at the dedication of Distant Voyager. They take along most of their family and the President's cabinet. They end up saving three planetary systems, make lots of friends and add in bunnies to their menagerie. Just as they're headed to check in with the AC home world, they're transported to one of the multi-verses that is a steampunk world. There Kitty is married to Chuckie and Jim, should be an interesting read!

Oh my word I love this series, but I have to remember I can't do it back to back. I had just finished Alien Nation and then tried to roll into this book. I got off to a good start and then there were days I didn't pick up the book. Not because it wasn't good though! I really am looking forward to book 16! Kitty has added a new friend in Marcia (yes from the Washington Wives class!) and her kids into her little group. We got to meet The Tinkerer, who The Shadow is, is still a mystery.

fun½

Thought I had read it, but looks like I haven't! Have Alien Education from library, so need to read fast! Fun read as always! Love Kitty and the gang!

This ambitious anthology re-stages Sherlock Holmes through the vantage point of three different authors. I absolutely adored the first two. Jamie Wyman sets her versions of Holmes and Watson in a 1930s traveling circus. The cast is vivid and the atmosphere of the period is utilized in a wonderful way. Gini Koch moves her great detective to Los Angeles, where she (yes, a gender twist) works to solve crimes in the sordid underworld of reality TV. The approach is fascinating, and I especially love how she rewrote Irene Adler. The last portion of the book lost me in a big way. While Sherlock has always had issues with drug use, immersing him and Watson in the drug culture of late 1960s New York City just didn't set right with me. The writing of the setting itself is fantastic, but the setting and turbulence of the time took over a bit too much, it seemed, as the stories lacked cohesive beginnings, middles, and ends, and became more of overviews of the events of the period through Watson's eyes.

Fun is had by all when the children enroll in Sidwell for the new school year.

Usual enjoyable entry. Lots of new aliens. They are now the King and Queen of the world.½

This book is weird, and I do like and appreciate weird but this was really bad weird. Horrible head scratching dialogue that made me afraid to read any more, annoying characters that just say the darnedest things, but not in the funny or cute way, more...cringe-worthy . "She's mine". She's mine". She's mine". Oh my god, how many times did Martini said that to everyone, and that's on the same day he met Kitty. It was so very annoying, he came across more six year old caveman kid than charming, sexy alien. Listening to the audiobook probably just made things worse too. Maybe I'm wrong, but I figured the story is suppose to be quirky, funny, and youthfully charming, but the narrator's voice sounded too proper and old. Made me detach from the story instead of making me excited to get into. And wow, (bad wow) her male characters sounded like caricatures of male voices, so bad.

Maybe it gets better because I can see that ratings go up with every book and anyway this one does have pretty decent ratings. Expected it would be a fun book to listen to while I keep busy, so I was surprised at how cheesy the whole thing is, and not cheesy in a purposeful way to make me laugh. As of now, I'm still thinking I might try again one day to see if it does get better.½

Series is still full of sexy aliens and crazy terrorist plots. Loving the characters and the way the author doesn't feel a need to pry apart established relationships in order to feed the drama. That actually matters quite a bit to me -- I get tired of longer series when they keep doing that, and here instead our main characters are growing into their relationships while chaos swirls around them. Less loving how brutal the bad guys were in this one. Still love the characters, but I might have to move this series from a personal "fun romp that will cheer me up" pile to a "read when you're ready" one.

***This book was reviewed for San Francisco Book Review***

alt.sherlock.holmes is a collection of short stories showcasing work from three different authors. The name of this game seems to have been to distill the most essential traits of Sherlock and Watson, and barest essentials from Doyle's stories, throw them in the blender, along with healthy doses of traits/values/morals of the time era in question and see what comes out.

The era in which an individual grew up, and the resources of their relative social class certainly shape what they will become. In the first set of stories, by Jaime Wyman, we meet Sanford Haus, proprietor of a travelling circus. He’s a lanky boy with ginger curls, he loves to play, loves to dress up to observe people. But Sanford, or Crash as he prefers, still has Conan Doyle Sherlock's steely will, and fierce determination. He is, by the by, far more of a flirt than most Sherlocks. Here, Dr Jim Walker, is a soldier returned from the Great War, now a Pinkerton agent. A case brings Walker in contact with Crash, and the partnership formed.

I really enjoyed Wyman’s title choices- Scandal in Hobohemia, Case of the Tattooed Bride. I found them to be a wonderful homage to Doyle’s legacy. I also enjoyed the myriad hidden references to other of Doyle's original stories, like the Speckled Band! Wyman’s stories flowed elegant, yet playful as Crash himself. I was very very disappointed when these stories ended. I want more Crash!

Next up are two stories- All the Single Ladies, A Study in Starlets- by Gina Koch, which takes time and place a step further, with a female Sherlock, which of course, changes the game. Women think very differently from men. Kudos to Koch for finding a believable female Sherlock. She and Watson meet first on a case at the school he was teaching in. Sherlock, rightly guessing Watson’s boredom, offers him a partnership for being consulting detectives. I wasn't as much into Koch’s writing style, but that's personal preference, and this Sherlock and Watson were amusing to read.

Glen Mehn finished out the collection with two stories set in the late 1960s or so- Half There/ All There, The Power of Media. This was probably the most unexpected Sherlock in here. Really, gonna leave this one to the imagination. This is a time era that can, and did, really exacerbate Sherlock’s addictive nature. It’s also an era I don't much enjoy, history or culture-wise. The writing style was okay. Another quick grammar/ spell-checking would not be amiss for these two stories.

🎻🎻🎻🎻 Recommended especially for those who collect Sherlock stories, would be enjoyable to fans of mystery stories in general. Just a warning that they are kinda short, and prone to creating a longing for more stories from the characters’ lives. And I went and bought the Kindle version of Two Hundred and Twenty-one Baker Streets. Haha. So that worked.