Review: Touched by an Alien, Gini Koch

I have to admit it - I put off buying Gini Kock's first novel because I thought the title was cheesy. Add to that a character nicknamed Kitty? Hm, no.

But I'd seen rave reviews on Twitter and, after a sci fi chat in which I discovered that Gini is a geek after my own heart, I decided to get over my personal forbiles and buy it.

Touched by an Alien arrived yesterday, just before lunch. I'm sat here typing this at a little after 3pm, having finished it. I swear the paper of this book is made from crack. It's that or the writing.

In retrospect, it's definitely the writing.

First thing is Touched by an Alien is written in first person. I like this POV, because it makes the story very immediate. And when the story is immediately into the action... it's terribly easy to get caught up and swept off your feet. I warn you - Gini Kock can write hooks better than most fishermen can bait. Seriously.

So the infamous "Kitty" Katt. If you want a mousey heroine who needs the handsome, strong hero to prop her up, this is so not the book for you. Kitty kicks ass. She takes names. She is the HBIC with bells on (and a Glock stuck in her pants). But she remains utterly believable and, yes, even breakable. She gets emotional, she gets teary. She gets it wrong on several accounts. But I rooted for her because of those things.

Martini... his attraction to Kitty is immediate and... grating at first. He clearly thinks he's charming, what with the repeated demand that Kitty marries him. I just wanted her to slap him or deliver a stinging put down. And okay, it comes down to his alien abilities and being emphatic, but it was seriously annoying. Fortunately, there was enough other stuff going on that I read on in spite of that.

And he does develop as the story finds its pace. I stopped wanting her to smack him and actually grew to like the guy. He's not as relatable as Kitty, but maybe that's the alien macho thing he has going on.

As for the bad guys... I had to Tweet Gini, because parasites that live inside a human host hit a very geeky part of me and I wanted to know if their eyes glowed. Turns out they do, but red and not white-gold. I am unclear if their voices are phlanged. But the head bad guy is old and ugly and doesn't look like Cliff Simon, so it stopped being overly important.

Did I like this book? Um, I finished it in just over a day, so yeah I think so. No, I know so. The end is satisfying while leaving enough open for the sequel (already on my Amazon saved list) and setting up for what I do believe is going to be a stonking series.

Go. Buy. Read. Do it now, because you won't be disappointed.

Gini's website is here and Touched by an Alien can be bought on amazon.com and co.uk