I found Christine Pope in the omnibus Gods and Mortals. (Don’t ask. Most of the stories were atrocious, muddled teen things.) Her novel was fun despite the ridiculous premise and worse theology, and I looked for more. The Sedona Files: Books 1-3 collects the first three books in her science fiction / fantasy / suspense / romance novels set in the Arizona town of Sedona, about 10 miles from an alien outpost meant to conquer the Earth.
The premise of the books is a bit silly, but if you overlook the basic plot framework and enjoy the characters, setting and the story, these are fun, fast reads.
In Bad Vibrations (The Sedona Files Book 1) psychic Persephone O’Brien gets into a real mess when a new client asks about his wife, whom he is convinced has been taken over by aliens. One thing leads to another and pretty soon Persephone and her new friend Paul Oliver have escaped from LA to Sedona Arizona to get help from a bunch of UFO nuts.
Unfortunately the nuts (and her would-be client) are right. Aliens have a base near Sedona and are trying to take over the world by embedding obedience messages into new films and television shows. Persephone manages to kick over the alien’s sand castle but not before we readers get entranced with the UFO nuts and the growing bond between Persephone and Paul.
I found this wacky novel with a goofy plot a lot of fun. It was fast paced, well written and the descriptions of Sedona made me want to hop in the car and go visit.
Desert Hearts (The Sedona Files Book 2) was the weakest of the three. Christine Pope did a good job on her heroines except this particular one, Kara, had a problem knowing which guy she loved. She fell for Greyson, the stranger who collapsed in her living room, but dumped him cold when she found long-loved-but-despaired-of Lance was in love with her. She treated Greyson horribly, it’s plain rude to throw up just because you find out your boyfriend is half alien, and even ruder to have a fling then dump the guy the minute your real heartthrob shows interest.
It is more than rude, it is just plain wrong to treat people the way Kara treated Greyson. In the end it is Greyson, not the intrepid band of UFO nuts who blow up the alien’s rebuilt fusion reactor and base. Pope made Greyson likeable and real, and having Kara just dump him made me dislike her.
Angel Fire (The Sedona Files Book 3) is a good ending for the series. Kirsten, Kara’s younger sister, is the star of this book along with her “Man in Black”, Martin Jones. This was tightly written with fast action and more suspense than the others. We aren’t sure whether Kirstsen will be able to do what she needs to, nor are we really sure what Agent Jones is about.
The aliens attack Kirsten physically and mentally and she must develop strengths she never realized. One thing I liked was her down-to-earth view of the UFO nuts and New Agers. She knew the UFOs were real and she knew the tourists would be horrified if they realized how dangerous and threatening the aliens were.
I liked the way the other characters got a chance to shine in Angel Fire, including geeky Jeff, and the fact some of the characters have to sacrifice something to win. Perhaps that’s what bothered me so much about Kara and Lance in Desert Hearts, they sacrificed nothing but Greyson gave up his life. The other character who got a free pass was Otto, although he threw the book at Martin Jones.
Summary
In all the books the central character is a woman, a different one each time although all three are present in all three novels. All three books are fast paced, where the characters don’t know where they are going until they arrive, nor do they have time to stop and whine. I like reading books with strong female leads and by the time the books ended I felt like we were friends. I’m sure I’d recognize Kirsten if I met her on the street!
I didn’t like how the ladies in each book fell so quickly in love and into bed but the good dialogue, neat plot, tight characterization and great setting more than made up for the immoral behavior. Another point that made the books believable was the day-to-day events, things like cooking supper, minding the store, arranging for a helicopter ride. Lots of books breeze right by these but the humdrum day in and day out stuff makes the stories more believable and the characters more like people.
Definitely I will look for more by Christine Pope.
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