Rating: 
Summary: One Heck of a Whodunnit
Review: What do aliens, a murdered pilot, a wise-cracking PR professional and a not-so-sleepy town have in common? They're all part of the wild ride we take in "The Clovis Incident," Pari Noskin Taichert's witty read about an abnormal turn of events in the tiny town of Clovis, New Mexico.Sasha Solomon, the savvy but imperfect protagonist, is off to Clovis to land a job promoting the area's attractions. While in Clovis, the public relations practitioner hooks up with longtime friend Mae, a Clovis native and rancher. But the Mae she encounters is shaky and nervous, and persistent probing by the un-shy Sasha reveals why: There's a corpse with its head stuck in a cattle trough on Mae's land. Not only that, but the usually steadfast Mae reveals that she is being visited by space aliens who kidnap her, let her go, then kidnap her again. With the plot deftly established, Noskin Taichert unfolds her tale against the backdrop of Clovis - the kind of place whose slower, interesting rhythms urbanites yearn to understand. The story line moves quickly in this fun, engaging read. We learn about public relations, which is neat; and we get to look closely at Sasha, whose imperfect humanity we find refreshing, even reassuring. (She hallucinates, she has a talking cat, and she shoots aerosol-propelled whipped cream into her mouth as comfort food.) With its quirky twists and turns, The Clovis Incident is one heck of a whodunnit. Read it for adventure; read it for fun. I can't wait for Noskin Taichert's next effort.
Rating:
Summary: One Heck of a Whodunnit
Review: What do aliens, a murdered pilot, a wise-cracking PR professional and a not-so-sleepy town have in common? They're all part of the wild ride we take in "The Clovis Incident," Pari Noskin Taichert's witty read about an abnormal turn of events in the tiny town of Clovis, New Mexico. Sasha Solomon, the savvy but imperfect protagonist, is off to Clovis to land a job promoting the area's attractions. While in Clovis, the public relations practitioner hooks up with longtime friend Mae, a Clovis native and rancher. But the Mae she encounters is shaky and nervous, and persistent probing by the un-shy Sasha reveals why: There's a corpse with its head stuck in a cattle trough on Mae's land. Not only that, but the usually steadfast Mae reveals that she is being visited by space aliens who kidnap her, let her go, then kidnap her again. With the plot deftly established, Noskin Taichert unfolds her tale against the backdrop of Clovis - the kind of place whose slower, interesting rhythms urbanites yearn to understand. The story line moves quickly in this fun, engaging read. We learn about public relations, which is neat; and we get to look closely at Sasha, whose imperfect humanity we find refreshing, even reassuring. (She hallucinates, she has a talking cat, and she shoots aerosol-propelled whipped cream into her mouth as comfort food.) With its quirky twists and turns, The Clovis Incident is one heck of a whodunnit. Read it for adventure; read it for fun. I can't wait for Noskin Taichert's next effort.
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