Alicia Thomas’s review of The Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair
SciFi Romance published 27 Nov 07 by by Bantam

I am already a fan of Linnea Sinclair’s writing, so it was a no-brainer to read this new book.

Bahia Vista homicide detective Theo Petrakos thought he’d seen it all. Then a mummified corpse and a room full of futuristic hardware sends Guardian Force commander Jorie Mikkalah into his life. Before the night’s through, he’s become her unofficial partner—and official prisoner—in a race to save the earth. And that’s only the start of his troubles.

Jorie’s mission is to stop a deadly infestation of biomechanical organisms from using Earth as its breeding ground. If she succeeds, she could save a world and win a captaincy. But she’ll need Theo’s help, even if their unlikely partnership does threaten to set off an intergalactic incident.

Because if she fails, she’ll lose not just a planet and a promotion, but a man who’s become far more important to her than she cares to admit.

Read an excerpt (scroll down the page a bit to get to it).

Imagine how you’d feel if you were the only person in your city who knew there were aliens walking among you. What if those aliens were there to stop your planet from being overrun by bio-mechanical monsters who suck out people’s life force and leave them instant mummies? Everything you know and love is threatened with a horrible end and you can’t tell anyone. What if one of those aliens was strong, beautiful and intensely dedicated to saving the very lives you hold dear?

Jorie is caught between the regulations and what her heart tells her is right. The rules are there for good reason and her decisions are not easy to make. “Nils”, or people from planets with very low technological advancement, are not supposed to be allowed to know about her people’s intervention. But Detective Petrakos shares her sense of duty. Theo cares about his city… his people.

I just love Theo. Throughout the book he juggles life and death situations while keeping the horror from touching those he loves. He’s a strong man with “a very good face”. He even handles, fairly well, the fact that he’s practically a caveman to Jorie’s people and that’s gotta’ hurt a man.

I thought , at first that the book was slowed down with a little too much description of the neighborhoods in the setting. It turns out these descriptions kept me grounded as the story progressed. The action is taking place in an American city. All around there are parks, grocery stores, people taking their families out for the evening… all blissfully unaware they are on the brink of destruction.

I also enjoyed the way Ms. Sinclair handled the issue of language. Too often aliens just pop in their handy babel fish (automatic translator of some kind) and they’re good to go. Jorie and Theo have similar languages to work with but they aren’t exactly the same and the one Jorie uses is a second language for her. There are times when communication is one of the major obstacles they have to navigate.

This book is a good, solid romance with space ships, evil bad guys, bio-robot zombies, family, courage and honor. Don’t miss The Down Home Zombie Blues.

Grade: B+