Beside a good, epic space opera, my favorite book genre is light-hearted but substantial fare. If you liked the goofy but engaging fiction of Christopher Moore’s Dirty Jobs, a tale of a loving father and his adorable daughter the Angel of Death, you will love Traci Skene’s book Love & Aliens.
(RELATED: Cloak & Dagger: Simona Mangiante & a New Spy Novel)
The story centers on Claire–a young, attractive Las Vegas showgirl with so much more than good looks. Claire has so much depth. She’s very intelligent, has a razor sharp wit with which she spars with her warm and wonderful parents. Oh, and she’s terrified of snakes.
The book spends a good twenty percent following Claire’s childhood and young adult life. We get to know this precocious character and vivid details of Las Vegas you can only know from living there as Ms. Skene does.
The story builds slowly but not in a way that loses your interest. And it is really worth your while when Claire meets Luther, a massive python stage prop for another Vegas act.
Claire’s life quickly goes from better than ordinary to mind blowing. Skene’s gift is to bring quirky plausibilty to massive absurdity. I wish I could reveal more but it’s worth the time to see the story unfold. I’ll only say that snakes are back, one of the aliens is a Jon Hamm doppelganger and the story of human history takes a twist worthy of a Neil Gaiman tale.
I never willingly picked up a love story or a romance novel, but I found myself absorbed by Skene’s narration of a love-at-first-sight scene. Her prose is a delight to read as she weaves in comedic asides and deeper themes.
In a world where we conservatives reward big names that hate us with our purchases and eyeballs, I would recommend supporting good people in our camp. You really should buy Love & Aliens for three reasons: 1. It’s a fun, quirky book, 2. it’s like buying local–it supports somebody not part of the Hollywood entertainment complex and 3. it’s only $1.99 on Kindle! Don’t be stupid, buy it now!
About the Author:
Traci loves a good strong female lead with a great sense of humor. She is a veteran professional comedian and author. She is an accomplished humor writer and blogger. She was a featured performer on Episode 3, Season 7 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. She was a 20-year contributor to US Weekly‘s “Fashion Police.” With her husband, comedian Brian McKim, she is the author of The Comedy Bible: The Complete Resource for Aspiring Comedians.
It sounds like a good book. And I especially like this in the review, “In a world where we conservatives reward big names that hate us with our purchases and eyeballs, I would recommend supporting good people in our camp.” In that vein, how about reviewing an old scribbler, 73 years of age, who thinks he may not see any acclaim in this life… how about reviewing one of his books? Yeah, I’m talking about myself, and one of my latest, Crossing Over, by Paul Clayton. An average American family attempts to escape the chaos and violence of the 2nd American civil war in their camper. They head for the Canadian border, unfortunately, thousands of others have the same idea. Thank you.