Review: Alien Taste by Wen Spencer

Title: Alien Taste
Author: Wen Spencer
Genre: science fiction?
Grade: A-
Reason for reading: If memory serves, I decided to try these because my reading twin recommended them.

Synopsis: Ukiah Oregon isn’t your average man. He’s not even your average human….
Ukiah Oregon is quickly becoming one of the greatest trackers in the country. Some
call it luck
—
those closest to him call it instinct. Abandoned as a child, he was found running
with a wolf pack. Now, in his job as a private investigator, he puts his nose to
the ground to track down missing persons and fugitives from the law.
A heightened sense of smell and taste
—plus a photographic memory—
make him an invaluable asset to his partner. But when Ukiah kills a crazed young
woman in self defense, he draws the attention of the FBI’s most wanted: a violent
and elusive gang known as the Pack.
And it won’t be long before Ukiah discovers just how much he has in common with the
Pack: a bond of brotherhood, blood…and destiny.

My Thoughts: Wow. This book was exactly what I needed. Everything is just about perfect, from the very well-drawn characters to the setting (which I don’t normally pay attention to but which I was impressed with) and the themes explored.

First the characters. I loved Ukiah Oregon. In fact, he may have to supplant Miles Vorkosigan as the fictional character I would run off to live in sin with if he were real. He’s a sweet, noble guy who loves deeply and purely and with all that he is. And you know that being raised by a lesbian couple has made him into the kind of man any woman would want to be with.

The secondary characters are also very well drawn. I was especially intrigued by Max Bennet, Ukiah’s mentor and partner. I loved watching them interact. Max has also had a ton of crap heaped on him, but thanks to Ukiah, he is slowly beginning to heal. And we know this because we are shown, not told, which is one of the book’s other strengths.

I mentioned the setting was well-done. The book is set in Pitsburgh, and it’s very clear that Spencer knows about Pitsburgh. In fact, it’s sort of amusing that the setting stuck out to me at all, because I kept being reminded of a Mage: the Ascension game I used to play in, which was run by a native of Pitsburgh who mentioned several of the same settings Spencer used in the book, which was cool and added more pleasant associations to my reading.

As for the plot, you’ll notice the question mark under the book’s genre. I really don’t know how to classify this book. It’s got a very definite urban fantasy feel for about the first two-thirds, reminding me of a somewhat grittier Charles de Lint (which is, natch, a good thing), but then it takes a left hand turn and goes wandering off into science fiction land.

The sci-fi elements of the plot were definitely not my favorites. They seemed straight out of a cheap B movie, and even though they made sense for the story, some of them seemed beyond preposterous and I had to roll my eyes.

I’m also not sure how well the romance worked for me. I can’t decide if I thought it was rushed or if it made sense that Ukiah would fall for the person he falls for so quickly because he just seems to love people so intensely anyway. I think I’m leaning toward the latter, because it is one of the sweetest romances I’ve read in a while, but I’m not normally a fan of the characters meeting and professing their love mere days later.

Overall, despite its flaws, this was a great book which I highly recommend. I definitely intend to read the sequel as soon as possible.