Review: Universal Alien - Gini Koch

Being the wife of the Vice President isn’t easy. Especially when your talents lie in kicking butt and rocking out . . .

Jeff and Kitty Katt-Martini find out just how easy it is for the wife of the Vice President of the United States to unintentionally insult an ally. Now they have to smooth things over with the Australian Prime Minister, pronto, or risk creating an international incident the worldwide anti-alien coalitions will be able to use to force Jeff to resign and the A-Cs to leave the planet.

But before Kitty can make things worse, a cosmic congruence and a little help from some powerful beings shoves her into another world -- one where she’s been married to Charles Reynolds for years and aliens don’t exist. She’s also landed in the middle of a huge conspiracy and is marked for death . . . but at least that’s business as usual.

Kitty’s not the only one confused, because the Kitty from that world has taken her place in this one. Now Alpha Team and the Diplomatic Corps have to make sure that no one spots that there’s been a switch, while keeping World War III from happening. And they have to do so while keeping this new Kitty in line, because she has views about what to do and how to it, and time is running out.

Can both Kittys save their respective days before it’s too late to go home to the universes they belong to? Or will one Kitty decide to keep the other’s life . . . forever?

Katherine "Kitty" Katt Series:
Touched by an Alien
Alien Tango
Alien in the Family
Alien Proliferation
Alien Diplomacy
Alien vs. Alien
Alien in the House
Alien Research
Alien Collective
Universal Alien
Alien Separation
Alien in Chief
Camp Alien
Alien Nation
Alien Education
Aliens Abroad
Aliens Like Us (release date to be confirmed)
Alien Galaxy (release date to be confirmed)
Alien Rescue (release date to be confirmed)
Alien Reckoning (release date to be confirmed)

Visit Gini Koch's website for more information

Review:
I've been a huge fan of this series since I first discovered Touched by an Alien and every time I think it can't get any better Gini Koch throws something completely new into the mix and makes me love it even more. In fact I think Universal Alien might just be my new favourite instalment of the series! I could not put this book down so make sure you clear your diary for the day before you start it.

Kitty's day starts off badly when she's forced to sit through an incredibly long cricket match, it gets even worse when she manages to unintentionally insult the Australian Prime Minister starting off an international incident that could have a major effect on the future of all of the ACs on the planet, but things really go downhill when she suddenly finds herself in an alternative reality. A reality where she's never met Jeff but is instead married to Chuckie and everything about her life is completely different. Not only are there no aliens on the planet but her alternate self knows nothing about Chuckie's secret life working for the CIA and has no idea of the danger that has placed her and her family in. While our Kitty is struggling to figure out what is going on in her new life her alternate has taken her place and suddenly finds herself faced with aliens, conspiracy theories and the fact that her husband is now her best friend and she is married to a complete stranger.

I can't tell you how much fun this story was to read, both universes are completely different and Kitty doesn't have her usual gang of friends and allies to rely on for help. There are some familiar faces though and I found it really interesting to see how different their lives are without the ACs in the mix. I actually found myself loving both Kittys and enjoying seeing how they coped with their new circumstances, both have a different role to play and are desperately needed to help resolve problems occurring in the alternative universe. What I found really interesting was that even though things look so different on the surface when you look a little deeper there are a lot of similarities. Is there a chance that a different Kitty will give insight into what is really going on and be able to help uncover the Mastermind? I'm not going to give you that answer so you'll have to read the book to find out but I will say that two Kittys means twice the action, twice the humour and twice the fun of normal.

This is a series that gets better and better with each instalment, my love for these characters continues to grow and I'm already desperate to get my hands on the next book. I don't think I'll ever get tired of reading about Kitty's adventures and I'm definitely excited to see how events from this book have a knock on effect in the next one. Universal Alien is a book that fans are going to love, once again Gini Koch has taken us on an action packed adventure that is nothing short of fantastic.

Source: Received from DAW books in exchange for an honest review

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