Book Review: Alien Taste

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Alien Taste     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Wen Spencer
Class/Genre:   SF AND Fantasy   Mystery   Private Investigator   Futuristic
Series: Ukiah Oregon # 1
Roc, Jul 2001, $6.50, 320 pp.

No one really knows how old allegedly twenty-one years old Ukiah Oregon is. He was found caught in a wolf trap when he was approximately twelve. The woman who captured Ukiah took him to Pittsburgh so she and her female mate Lara could have a child since the courts ignored adoption efforts by a same sex couple. Now Ukiah works with private detective Max Bennett. Ukiah is a world-class tracker who can find a trail with the faintest of clues. There are other oddities about Ukiah. His olfactory, taste, and hearing senses are much more acute than the average person’s and he can read DNA with another unknown sense. He has suffered strange memory losses that only sometimes he regains. On one of his cases, Ukiah learns about The Pack, a loose coalition of bikers who take a sudden interest in him. When he finds out why, he also learns he is the key to saving the human race. ALIEN TASTE is an urban science fiction tale that takes place on earth in three years. However, new technological advances make the reader feel that Wen Spencer's tale takes place much further into the future. The characters are fully developed and understandable and The Pack is likable in a feral sort of way. This novel is keeper shelf material and hopefully Mr. Spencer will return with more tales starring the Pack.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner