Alien Love by Stan
Schatt
Not long
ago, I received an email from author Stan Schatt about the release of a new
novel entitled Alien Blood. I have enjoyed Stan's work in the past and
eagerly headed to the Amazon website and downloaded a copy to read over the
long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. At the same time, I found that I had missed
one of the author's earlier releases entitled Alien Love. That one
appeared to be a prequel to the novel Stan was alerting me to, so I also got
that one. Here are my thoughts on Alien Love by Stan Schatt.
It would
appear that our planet is crawling with Aliens that most of us know nothing
about. They all seem to have their agendas and even use our planet as a
battleground to try to solve their problems. When a dying astronaut brings this
information to light, it promises to create quite a stir on the planet and
something must be done before there is massive trouble for the indigenous
inhabitants of Earth.
Enter
former Navy SEAL, Jack Starling who is having a rough time after mustering out
of the Navy. He lives alone and is having trouble finding a job not to mention
suffering from a mild form of PTSD. When he witnesses a beautiful woman being
abducted on a San Diego street, his training kicks in and he intervenes, saving
the woman. Later, she appears at his apartment and wishes to show Jack her
gratitude by taking him to bed. Jack is a little surprised at first, but goes along
with the scenario. He falls hard for the woman, but there is something not
quite right about her. At first he thinks she is crazy, but later learns that
there is more to her than meets the eye.
Jack
finds himself caught up in a roller coaster ride of twists and turns that move
at breakneck speed leading to the revealing of a treaty signed with an alien
race by a former president of the U.S.
The story
follows the exploits of Former SEAL Jack Starling who seems to be a pretty likable guy who is down on his luck. He a big man, but while he is described
as a good looking man, he is also a bit scary. He really wants to just find a
job and go on with his life. He is in therapy to help him cope with his PTSD
and takes medicine. He wants to keep in contact with his former SEAL brothers
but is forbidden to do so by his therapist. So, as he is somewhat estranged
from his family, he is pretty much alone.. When Jack finally finds his chance
for some companionship, it takes some strange turns. He learns things about
what is happening in his world, and about himself that brings him into contact
with many other characters that are as colorful and interesting as he is. There
was just enough character development in the story to make Jack seem like a real
person to me, and to care about what happened to him.
While
Jack was the main character, I found that I wanted to know more about the
aliens. The reader is introduced to the aliens in the story with the
introduction of Jack's love interest, Cassandra. When she is introduced, there
is something that seems off about her. After making love with Jack for the
first time, she starts talking about pregnancy and basically freaks Jack out.
He is not sure he wants to pursue a relationship with her, but after a time, he
finds her irresistible and goes along with it, eventually falling in love. After
a time, Cassandra is revealed to be a member of an alien race that is in danger
of becoming extinct. Cassandra seems to be seeking help from Jack for some
unknown reason, that is until we learn an interesting fact about Jack.
I would
call Alien Love a low-tech, conspiratorial, aliens among us, sci-fi
novel that is very much in the vein of an X-Files type story. It was quite
entertaining and a lot of fun to read. It is fast paced and well written and I
read it quickly. While the story follows logically, there are numerous plot
twists that provided surprise and intrigue. Even though it was not a huge part
of the story, I enjoyed the conspiratorial aspects of the plot that involved the
government knowing and being okay with some of the aliens begin on the planet.
The astronaut in the beginning of the story had me curious and I was hoping for
more on that, which did come as the story developed.
I feel
like somewhat of a kindred spirit to the author because he is a fan of Star
Trek, to which he makes numerous references. I was also amused that some of
the aliens in the story were also mild Trekkies. They appear to be so because
they wanted to know more about human culture.
While the
story is quite serious, there were places where one could see aspects of Stan's
sense of humor rise to the surface. There are a few moments that I had to laugh
as those undertones revealed themselves.
I
recommend Alien Love as a fun read, full of twists and turns, and a lot
of action as well as interaction between characters. I found myself eager to
read on when I had to put it down and while reading, I was engaged and
entertained. I am looking forward to reading Aline Blood right after I
finish writing this to learn more about the aliens and their various agendas
during their interactions with humanity, both noble and nefarious.
From
Stan's website, here is how he describes himself...
"Futurist,
technologist, novelist, and a person curious about many things. The roll call
of jobs I’ve held over the years includes but is not limited to autopsy
assistant, police department administrator, salesman, sales manager, literature
professor, telecommunications professor, and technology analyst, and research
director. I’m a full-time writer now and live in Carlsbad, California with my
wife, Jane. My plate’s pretty full right now with writing projects. I’m writing
primarily mysteries at the moment when it comes to fiction and non-fiction
books on careers and retirement. I have always loved technology and politics
almost as much as writing."
You can
find a more complete list of both his fiction and non-fiction work on his
website, and there is a short list of his works at Amazon.com.
Well,
there it is...
Qapla!
