C.J. Barry

[AnnaM]

Ms. Barry has a new series. I loved her Un- series, and this one is still SFR but not as heavy into the SF.

I'm reading Body Master and it's terrific! It's wonderful. It's not techy at all, which is one reason I'm really surprised I like it so much. I adore tech. But the characterization, the voice, the wording, the idea all rock!


Basically, a spacecraft filled with thousands of alien shapeshifters crashes on not-too-distant-future Earth. The heroine, Seneca, is an Xcel agent assigned to find all the bad "Shifters", aprehend them and turn them over to the government. She has secrets that make her invaluable. She's strong and self-sufficient with a cool Grandma.

Now, not all the Shifters are bad. And 99% of the world doesn't even know they're walking amongst them.

Enter the hero, Max. When Seneca's partner is killed she's paired with Max to seek out a particularly ruthless Shifter murder. The catch is that Max is a Shifter too, with secrets of his own.

Sound like a PNR? Sort of. I can see this one appealing to PNR fans because it's sort of like a non-techy JR Robb book but in a more current day setting. But, the aliens aren't people who become animals. They're more like Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Now, I'm not really into shapeshifter stories, but this one is different. These bad guys don't go changing into kitties all the time, they change into monsters and it's really pretty creepy.

The chemistry between Max and Seneca is wonderful. The writing is really good. I've laughed and shuddered and cried already. I'm on page 76 and can tell I'll be keeping this one to reread, and probably buying the whole series if there is one.

I love this book. Anyone else read it?

[Michelle]

I haven't read it, but I'd like too. Judging from your post, it sounds pretty interesting! I love Invasion of the Body Snatchers etc, so I'd love to read an SFR with that sort of theme.

[AnnaM]

I went and checked the reviews here and they surprised me. It seems people either love or hate this story. For me, it's very well written and I like the characters and story so far. (I'm now nearly halfway.)

The only "nitpick" I have so far is that the Shifters call themselves "Shifters" even when they're alone together instead of using their original alien name. But that's a tiny thing to me.

[namericanwordcat]

AnnaM wrote: "Ms. Barry has a new series. I loved her Un- series, and this one is still SFR but not as heavy into the SF.

I'm reading Body Master and it's terrific! It's wonderful. It's not techy at all, whic..."

Sounds good!

[Jan]

This looks cool.

[AnnaM]

I'm still not done, but I do see a bit of what the critcs were complaining about. It's very...hmm... modern day cop show instead of SF. There's very little reference to anything alien and indeed they call themselves Shifters in private. No native language, etc., and so far only one tiny passing reference to alien tech.

The aliens are coming across as human. Course, they want to totally blend in. I'm still enjoying the characters. The Romance part is good.

[Michelle]

I went on ebay hoping to find a few of her books for sale, and was able to bid on her "Un" series. I'm back on my sci-fi reading kick, and I'd like to give her books a try; inclued Body Master. Amazon.com, here I come!

[Michelle]

So, I've received my "Un" series from ebay. I'm looking forward to reading them. I'm just not sure how soon that will be.

[AnnaM]

Enjoy! I'm not done with the Un series either, but I did like the half I read.

[Frances]

I read the Un series and loved them...some more than others, but still a great sweep of sfr. I'll have to look out for this one and see. The description almost reminds me of the old TV show Alien Nation (which I loved!) And it was totally a cop show--with aliens. :D