Chadzilla ROARS!!! (The Official Blog of Chadwick H. Saxelid, Writer)

Body Master - by C.J. Barry

New York City has a rather unique new problem when it comes to the Illegal Immigration issue.  That new problem is an actual alien (as in alien from Outer Space) life form, which has come to town and begun to cause all manner of havoc.

These aliens are called Shifters, because they can literally shapeshift.  Using a living DNA sample, a Shifter "copies" the donor and then attempts to assimilate itself into the general population.  Shifters routinely find themselves fugitives, hunted by the planet's frightened native population, so most try to go into hiding and attempt to find a way to stay hidden and live in peace.

But some Shifters don't. 

That is were Seneca Thomas comes in.  Seneca is a part of a secret task force that tracks and apprehends Shifters, and it is very dangerous work.  Shifters can adapt themselves in ways that make the relatively primitive weapons of planet Earth ineffective against them.  But Seneca has something that most other human beings do not, an ability to actually see Shifters.  She also can make Shifters "shift" against their will.  Something that can come in handy during combat situations, because forcing a Shifter to shapeshift is both painful and incapacitating.

But Seneca doesn't mind how badly she hurts the Shifters.  She just wants them dead or off her planet.

Seneca's world view is shaken to its core, though, when she is given a new partner.  A partner that just so happens to be a Shifter.

Max Dempsey is very much aware that he will be far from welcome on the Shifter hunting task force, since he is the very monster that the task force is tasked with hunting down and neutralizing.  But Dempsey does not care whether or not he is welcome.  All he wants to do is find the Shifter that killed his wife...

The intriguing concept that C.J. Barry roots her new paranormal romance series in could best be described as a combination of Alien Nation and John Carpenter's The Thing, or, perhaps, any of one of the many versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  (I am partial to the 1978 version, myself.)  It's a great idea, but the results are mixed.

As a science-fiction story, Body Master suffers from the exact same flaw that, ironically, many critics complained about with the original Alien Nation movie.  The shapeshifting alien concept plays more like a gimmick than as a fully realized story.  Max Dempsey could just as easily been a reformed (and very human) gang member that wants to track down and murder the unreformed gang member who murdered a loved one.  Rather than having a shapeshifting capability, Dempsey could have just as easily been a martial arts master.

Then again, Body Master is the first novel in an ongoing series.  So there will be quite a few more opportunities for Barry to explore the whole shapeshifting concept in future books.  Science-Fiction fans are very well aware that Alien Nation really came into its own as an ongoing (albeit short lived) television series. I suspect that the very same rule will apply to Barry's shifter concept.

But Body Master really isn't a science-fiction story.  It's a romance novel with a science-fiction concept twist.

I wish I could say that the romance story makes up for the science-fiction concept shortcomings, but I can't.  While all the necessary beats are there, I felt that there was a scene or two missing in the early section of the book.  Seneca goes from hating Shifters to being attracted to Max way too quickly.  I have read most of Barry's work (with the exception of her work as Samantha Graves, which is buried somewhere among my 14,000 or so to be read stacks piled around the house) and that kind of story beat is not something she has ever shown a tendency to overlook, so I cannot help but wonder if a scene in the book had been cut out by the publisher to make for a faster, leaner read.

On the plus side, the sex is hot and, once the emotional connection between Seneca and Max has been formed, the romantic chemistry between the two is quite strong.  The limited supporting cast, which should never be overlooked in a series book, as they oft times get books of their own, is pretty solid.  I really liked Max's buddy Apollo and hope that he gets a book of his own at some point.

Unchained - by C.J. Barry

Ten years after her entire family was brutally murdered, a revenge killing for a crime that her father did not commit, Cidra Faulkner is now burying Syrus Almazan, the man that had rescued her from certain death.  Interrupting the funeral is professional treasure hunter Grey Stone, who claims that Syrus had asked him to take Cidra on as one of his crew to ensure her protection against those that would still seek her out and kill her.  If they knew she were still alive, that is.  Syrus's surprise revelations do not end there, however.  He has also left behind several clues as to what really happened to the missing vaccine shipment that Cidra's father was blamed for withholding, and thus causing the unnecessary deaths of millions.  Now Grey finds himself on the most dangerous of treasure hunts.  The prize being not only Cidra's life, but the fate of an entire galaxy, as well.

C.J. Barry's debut novel, Unchained, is an entertaining ripsnorter of a read that works not only as a romance, but also as a well plotted space opera.  No matter what kind of action the reader might seek, be it hot and frenzied love making or bare knuckled brawls and/or laser gunfights, Unchained has both.  So it will easily appeal to both romance fans and space opera fans.  All of Barry's strengths are on display in this first time outing: a tightly structured and intricate story, solid and well developed characters (Barry's supporting casts are always fun to have around), and well timed outbursts of humor to release the growing tension.  (I particularly liked a gag that involved an automated vacuum cleaner.)  Unchained has it all.  Well, except for any connection whatsoever with the books in her Un series (Unearthed, Unraveled, and Unleashed, to name a few), though several plot ideas in Unchained (most notably a devastating plague and the misuse of the vaccine that cures it) were reused in interesting ways in later books, but none of the characters or events are mentioned. 

Even without a connection to her other books, Unchained was a wonderful reminder why C.J. Barry is my favorite romance writer.

Unmasked - by C.J. Barry

Unmasked is the fourth book in C.J. Barry's "Un" series, following Unearthed, Unraveled, and Unleashed.  Barry's debut novel Unchained is not a part of the series, despite having a similar title.

Torrie Masters has fnally gotten the chance to run a ship of her very own in the family busimess, Masters Shipping.  But her maiden voyage goes sour when her cargo is stolen by pirates.  What the thieves do not know is that Torrie is eager to prove herself capable of the task of running a cargo ship and that she has built a tracking device into the shipment's containers.  She follows the pirates to try and get the stolen property back, but is captured by a ruthless criminal instead.

Qaade Deter is not the callous pirate Torrie thinks he is.  Qaade is actually more Robin Hood than robbing hood.  He has stolen Torrie's cargo of Phellium for its ability to undo the effects of the mind swipe drugs slavers use on slaves.  (Someone with no memory, or with the ability to remember hampered, makes for an easier to control slave.)  When Torrie is captured during his negotiations with a local crime lord, he gives up his precious Phellium to save the attractive woman from life as a slave.  But now he needs Torrie's help to get the Phellium back.  No easy task.

C.J. Barry is my favorite romance writer.  She had me with the line "Oh, a lightsaber" in Unearthed and each of the books that followed it were filled with the same winning blend of action, humor and zesty romance.  When I read Unmasked's opening line, "Engine core meltdown in thirty-two minutes," I just knew that I was going to be taken on yet another fun ride.  One that did not disappoint.  However the tone of Unmasked is somewhat darker then in the previous books, no doubt due to the story's underlying subject matter, human slavery.

I give C.J. Barry's book(s) my highest recommendation, but don't worry about the series aspect.  Each book is structured as a stand alone adventure, with previous characters and events are only mentioned in passing, if at all.  You can start the series with any title of your choice.  Enjoy.