Friday, May 6, 2016

#Friday Review - Camp Alien by Gini Koch (Science Fiction, Romance)

Series: Katherine "Kitty" Katt # 13
Format: Paperback, 588 pages
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Publisher: DAW
Source: Publisher
Genre: Science Fiction


The President and First Lady, aka Jeff and Kitty Katt-Martini, don’t get any downtime once the Mastermind has been revealed to the world. Not only do they have myriad high-level government positions to fill, but the scrutiny and pressure on this Administration has gone into overdrive.

The sudden reappearance of a long-forgotten adversary turns out to be the tip of the iceberg. New robots and androids attacking, old enemies making new alliances, and new aliens with interesting abilities almost overshadow the fact that the U.S. still has to host a peace summit at Camp David between Israel and Iraq. It’s clear that while the Mastermind may be down, there are plenty of others ready to take his place—and all that stands between them and success are Kitty and Company.

Kidnappings, rescues, creepy hideouts, a hidden black site, and a domestic dispute that could end Jeff and Kitty’s marriage are nothing compared to finding not one but two hidden labs where dangerous and deadly things are brewing.

But when the President and his entourage finally get to the peace talks, things are no better. Mossad rightly suspects something’s wrong with both their Prime Minister and the President of Iraq. A hidden in-control superbeing, an android replacement, and an army of Fem-Bots turn the peace talks into a Battle Royale that the team might not actually survive. And if they don’t make it, Earth won’t make it, either.

But no pressure.






Camp Alien, by author Gini Koch, is the Thirteenth installment in the Katherine "Kitty" Katt Science Fiction/Romance series. Camp Alien picks up several weeks after the ending of Alien in Chief or Operation Epidemic if you've been keeping track of all of Kitty's escapades and exploits. Operation Epidemic left a whole lot of people dead, and the US government in disarray. Not only did everything happen when the Planetary Council was visiting, but it has made Jeff Martini President, and Kitty First Lady. If you are chuckling over the fact that Kitty is now FLOTUS, got for it. I was too. 

It's almost too good to be true. But, then again, this is the kind of FLOTUS I can get behind and fully support. After all, Kitty started out as a marketing manager in Arizona who knew nothing about alien monsters, to a superbug exterminator. She later went on to become Commander of the Airborne division of the American Centaurion, Ambassador of the American Centaurions in DC, and Public Enemy Number One to all of the Villains of Doom. She's confused numerous people, including Jeff, over the way she solves the unsolvable. She's also made enemies into friends, and friends into people who want to stand in the way of a bullet meant for her. 

Kitty is the kind of character who refuses to sit still and let others handle things. Since she has been enhanced after the birth of her daughter Jamie, she truly believes that sitting still as ambassador, or being the FLOTUS, is a waste of her time and energy. She wants to hunt down the Mastermind, and all of the rest of the enemies she has made since joining the Alpha Centaurions. Which is why when the men in her life, the men who should know better, make a terrible mistake, Kitty has every right to disappear with those who have her back throughout this book.

Kitty has had her hands full over the past Twelve installments. If you think Kitty will get any sort of rest and relaxation in THIS novel, you haven't read this series, and don't know Gini Koch all that well. So, without spoilers, Kitty and her allies have exposed the mastermind on national and international TV. Yet, exposing him has had the opposite affect. Instead of agents of evil standing down, they pull some tricky maneuvers that leaves Kitty kidnapped, a long sought enemy makes their move, robots and androids and super-beings all have their own agendas, and on top of all of the stuff that is happening in Kitty's new Home, She and Jeff are supposed to deal with a peace summit at Camp David between Israel and Iraq. 

Easy Peasy, just another day at the office for Kitty! Sorry, but I do have one itsy bitsy little complaint to get off my chest. While I adore Lizzie, and love the fact that she has become one of Kitty's sidekicks against the agents of evil, she uses a certain word, you know the one, way, way, way TOO MUCH! I have come to embrace Selene as well. She knows Kitty all too well now, and doesn't do stupid things in trying to stop her from protecting those she loves.

There are some fantasy novels that I have read over years that have had too many characters. Thankfully, this is not the case in Kitty's series. In fact, I dare say that if any of the current crop of characters ends up getting dead, including Selene, Lizzie, Siler, or Richard, it will change Kitty in ways that I just can't fathom right now. All four that I have mentioned are solidly behind Kitty, and could be considered her partners in crime along with her flyboys.

I was given an early copy of this book in its raw form, and then a finished copy by the publisher. I really got whole lot of thrill seeing one of my blurbs in the beginning of this book. I have been trying to push this series onto almost everyone I know. Even 13 books in, I refuse to accept that this series can't get any better than it already is. I adore Kitty to the max. I love her sarcasm, her relationship with some very powerful beings, and the fact that she can fight evil while being a good mother to her kids.  

In closing, I think that one day the author needs to put together a soundtrack for her books. She as Kitty, has a whole lot of songs at her fingers tips. Some I've heard before and some not so much.  





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