The Clovis Incident: A Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Will quickly earn her legions of appreciative fans
Review: Pari Noskin Taichert is a journalist and public relations consultant. She draws upon her experience and expertise in The Clovis Incident, an intriguing and superbly crafted murder mystery which following the unexpected adventure of Sasha Solomon, an ordinary PR director fired from her job as PR director of Albuquerque's only holistic HMO, and then travels to the small New Mexico town of Clovis to bid on a PR project for the local Chamber of Commerce only to become entangled in a dark and ruthless plot of murder and intrigue. An exciting journey through hidden motives in a desperate search to protect oneself with the power of truth and insight before it is too late, The Clovis Incident is unique and compelling in its masterful interplay of layers of plot. The Clovis Incident is Taichert's rather impressive debut effort and will quickly earn her legions of appreciative fans who will look eagerly toward her next title.

Rating:
Summary: Murder She Wrote Meets the X-Files
Review: Want to take an unusual roller coast ride of a mystery? Pari Noskin Taichert's debut novel, "The Clovis Incident," introduces offbeat series heroine Sasha Solomon, a freelance PR professional who gets a New Age trancendental overload and is fired from her job--all in the first chapter. Hallucinations, space aliens, a killer, Sasha battles them all as she researches the small New Mexico town of Clovis in search of a lucrative PR job. She lands in the middle of a murder when an old friend finds a body on her land. Sasha deals with an intriguing gallery of small town characters, vindictive relatives, and cops of all types who become involved because the victim was an important foreign military officer. The reader bounces with Sasha from likely suspect to likely suspect. Her inquiring mind eventually gets her into trouble--several threats and two life-threatening situations--before she figures out the killer and the motivation.

Pari has finished a second Sasha novel and is busy on a third. Readers can look forward to more adventures in out of the way New Mexico small towns as Sasha continues looking for employment but finds mystery and suspense.

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.