Essentially Human

SCI-FI:  Romance author Rachel Inez Astor throws herself from the bow of a cruise ship when she is eighty-three. Now she is awake on an alien ship and finds her youth restored. She now goes by Ria. She is sunning herself on a little boat, naked, when she is captured at the same time the entire crew of a ship goes missing. She is being questioned as to their whereabouts. It is suspicious because she has been genetically identified as Rachel Astor, but everyone knows she’s been dead for twenty-six years. Investigator Sam is taken along with Ria when the aliens come back for her. Will he learn the truth of the enigma that is Ria?

Sam is a deep, well rounded character. He’s intelligent and able to accept just about anything as long as he’s shown proof. Ria falls a bit flat. She’s only just reawakened and she has few memories and even fewer emotions. There are many missing words in sentences and misuses of words such as mute for moot. This seems to be a thinly veiled anti-pollution/save the whales themed story and tends to be preachy. On the other hand, the theme has some very unique points with the way the aliens are able to repair the humans. A good story, overall.

Belinda Wilson