"Oh what a tangled
web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."
Sir Walter Scott
Spring 2004
Volume I,
issue 4
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"Oh what a tangled
web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." |
Spring 2004 |
| Lisa
Polisar is a writer and a musician from New Mexico. Her debut thriller,
Blackwater Tango, was published in hardcover in
November of 2002, and her second mystery, Kneedeep,
was released in December of 2003.
Currently a staff writer with Crosswinds Weekly, and a fiction editor of the 12 Gauge Review, she also writes a monthly mystery-spoof article in New Mystery Reader magazine. Direct correspondence to Lisa@LisaPolisar.com or editor@lifeloom.com. Ms. Polisar's website is lisapolisar.com.
The Clovis Incident , A Review |
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“Pocket genre” books, albeit a self-coined phrase, are those that stick to the rules of their category like metal to magnets. Books like these are easy to review – linear, straightforward, predictable. Yet the secret, unyielding desire of all book reviewers is…a book that steps politely outside of these narrow confines. The Clovis Incident by Pari Noskin Taichert leaps, no, screams outside the box of sci-fi, and there’s absolutely nothing polite about it.
PR consultant, Sasha Solomon, has bigger problems than a talking cat named Leo. Looking for a job in Clovis, New Mexico (a/k/a “Hickville”) turns out to be the worst decision of her life. Within twenty-four hours there, she gets lost, drunk, and learns two important things: her longtime friend Mae King has a dead body on her ranch and may be under suspicion of murder. That’s just the beginning.
In the days following, Sasha unwittingly becomes the nucleus of a convoluted police investigation involving the Singaporean government and an underlying threat of alien harassment. Is this Clovis or The Twilight Zone??
Sasha’s bossy demeanor and derisive wit put her immediately at odds with the Bible belt constituency of Clovis. When she tries to contact Mae King to clarify what’s happened, she learns that Mae’s had a nervous breakdown and has been taken away by the authorities. Detective Henry LaSalle, possibly the town’s only redeeming quality, is using her as well. Out of contact and ostracized, Sasha is forced to do what she does best – research. So while spelunking through the tricky dynamics of a small town with lots of secrets, Sasha finds trouble at every turn.
The element of humor in The Clovis Incident is just one of its appealing qualities. It’s a quirky yet compelling suspense, riddled with strong characters and a fast pace.
When I asked Taichert if she consciously decided to write a book about aliens, she said “the alien idea came when I read an article in the Albuquerque Journal maybe nine or ten years ago, about other New Mexico towns trying to cash in on those Roswell tourist dollars. I loved the idea of that . . . the moxie of it. It wasn't until I'd written more than 100 pages of Clovis that I finally went back to re-read the article and found out that I'd somehow confused this southeastern New Mexico town with the true subject of the piece--Aztec, NM in the northwestern part of the state. And yet, I can't imagine putting the events I came up with for The Clovis Incident anywhere else.”
Though The Clovis Incident is Taichert’s first published novel, she’s written three Sasha Solomon books. “I sort of wince every time I walk by the first two manuscripts--I needed both of them to figure out how to write a book and how to write a mystery. The good thing about writing so much before Clovis is that I know Sasha very well at this point. Those other books are her backstory.”
Read more of Pari Noskin Taichert’s work at www.badgirlspress.com, her website for public relations and interviews with interesting bad girls.
Copyright 2004 by Lisa Polisar
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"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." |