With Outer Perimeter, Ken Goddard, the author of seven previous novels of suspense and science fiction beginning with 1983's Balefire, returns to the Oregon of his 1999 SF thriller, First Evidence. And he's brought the disgraced crime scene investigator, Detective Sergeant Colin Cellars of the Oregon State Police, and his shape-shifting, silicon-based, extraterrestrial life forms with him.

Cellars, understandably, isn't in tight with his superiors just now. It seems that he and some friends (Bobby Dawson, forensic scientist and Cellars's erstwhile girlfriend Jody Catlin, and the NSA's Dr. Malcolm Byzor) recently blasted to smithereens a slew of police vehicles. They explained that the whole thing wouldn't have happened if they had not been in a life-or-death struggle with invisible, immensely intelligent, coldly murderous space aliens with half a mind to destroy civilization unless they reclaim some missing baggage.

Still, some 50 locals have disappeared, officers have been killed or nearly killed, DEA agents are lurking about, and the NSA has set up housekeeping in a "black operation" in the nearby piney woods. With that, OSP Internal Affairs Commander Hightower and watch commander Bauer have little choice but to turn Cellars and his coconspirators loose--but they ask him to please not rewrite those reports.

Cellars' eyebrows furrowed in surprise. "Why not?"

"Think about it. At the moment, given the discussion she and I just had with [police psychologist] Pleausant before you got here, there's no official reason why we can't put you back on the street immediately, and there's every good reason why we should. But if you were to write and sign an official report in which you claim to have killed a shape-changing extraterrestrial who immediately morphed into a small rock--"

"Ah." A reasonably well-written (excepting a ridiculously expository phone conversation early on) if standard outing, this occasionally humorous, mostly engaging, and sometimes downright suspenseful book will, if nothing else, encourage you to revisit those early X-Files episodes you've been meaning to watch. --Michael Hudson


From Publishers Weekly
Goddard has committed the cardinal sin of sequel writers here--he's written a novel that can barely stand on its own because it never acquaints readers with the plot of the previous book (First Evidence) in a fashion that helps the current book make sense. There are plenty of hints, but it takes almost 100 pages before the broad outlines of the premise are revealed. Det. Sgt. Colin Cellars of the Oregon State Patrol and his friends Bobby Dawson, Jody Catlin and Dr. Malcolm Byzor have had a previous run-in with aliens who can turn themselves into rocks and stones when they're injured or dormant. Now a group of aliens has been sent to retrieve the stones/aliens that were left behind at the end of the last book, and eliminate witnesses like Colin, Jody and especially Bobby, who is on the run for reasons that are never made clear (the vital fact that the previous book began with Bobby's supposed death is never revealed at all in this one). All this confusion isn't helped by Goddard's habit of building up to an exciting scene and then sketching it in after the fact instead of relating it in real time (he does this with a grisly murder and a pileup of 72 cars and four trucks). And it's even more annoying when the end of the book is reached, and there is no closure at all, except the words "The End"--which, like most everything else in this thriller, promise what they can't deliver. (Feb. 6)Forecast: The popularity of First Evidence will ensure plenty of readers for this novel. It's Goddard's next book that will suffer the aftermath of reader disappointment.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The sequel to the Oregon novelist's weird and exciting First Evidence (1999) is even weirder and more exciting. A month or so after participating in a showdown between the Oregon State Patrol and a vicious and seductive extraterrestrial, crime-scene investigator Colin Cellars is on medical leave pending the outcome of a psychiatric evaluation. Meanwhile, his former partners are behaving oddly (especially his good buddy Bobby Dawson, who seems to have survived his own death), and it appears that the extraterrestrials are getting ready to execute a massive, diabolical plan. This will all be tremendously entertaining to those who have read First Evidence but may baffle others. Even those who don't usually respond to fantasy, however, may like Goddard's hard-edged treatment of his out-of-this-world topic. With plenty of forensic detail and a cast of solid, realistic characters to ground the action, the plot starts to seem entirely plausible, even in its most outlandish moments. A genuinely entertaining thriller. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
“A genuinely entertaining thriller.”
— Booklist

“Goddard’s style is smooth and meticulous.... You have a deliciously layered plot that gets stranger and stranger, as the DNA gets weirder and weirder, and the story gets scarier and scarier.”
— The Providence Sunday Journal

“Well-written, suspenseful ... [a] page-turner.”
— The Orlando Sentinel


Also by Ken Goddard:

First Evidence

“First Evidence reads kind of like X-Files meets Patricia Cornwell.”
— Contra Costa Times



From the Paperback edition.


Review
?A genuinely entertaining thriller.?
? Booklist

?Goddard?s style is smooth and meticulous.... You have a deliciously layered plot that gets stranger and stranger, as the DNA gets weirder and weirder, and the story gets scarier and scarier.?
? The Providence Sunday Journal

?Well-written, suspenseful ... [a] page-turner.?
? The Orlando Sentinel


Also by Ken Goddard:

First Evidence

?First Evidence reads kind of like X-Files meets Patricia Cornwell.?
? Contra Costa Times



From the Paperback edition.


Book Description
New York Times bestselling author Ken Goddard combines a stirring mystery and an exhilarating forensic thriller in this stunning follow-up to his critically acclaimed novel First Evidence. Here crime scene investigator Colin Cellars continues to pursue the truth behind the bizarre occurrences that so recently turned his life upside down, and his desperate hunt for a killer makes him deadly enemies on both sides of the law....

A man of reason and science, Colin Cellars has earned a reputation as a top crime scene investigator by using microscopic fragments of evidence to fill in the crucial missing pieces of a crime. But Cellars now finds himself disgraced because of a bizarre and violent episode -- an erotically charged encounter with a beautiful woman that led to a horrifying shoot-out right in front of his eyes. And what Cellars thinks he knows about the victim's identity -- and about her death -- has plunged him into a no-man's-land ... and a deadly search for a killer who may or may not be quite of this world.

Meanwhile, as Cellars investigates a case involving dozens of missing victims and a constantly vanishing trail of evidence, he realizes that the three people he trusts most each hold a piece to the puzzle -- one that includes evidence that defies all known technical analysis. And these three individuals -- the woman he loves, a man he has defended with his life, and a friend with ties to the most clandestine wing of the U.S. government -- seem to have their own ideas about what to do with the information.

As Cellars and his team get closer to the truth, the stakes continue to rise. For the hunters are about to become the hunted: victims of a deadly game whose rules they can't understand, whose players they cannot predict. And their few advantages are rapidly disappearing.

A novel of relentless suspense that ranges from the forests of the Pacific Northwest to the secret high-tech laboratories of the NSA, Outer Perimeter is a stunningly vivid, fast-paced tale in which nothing is as it appears and the facts point to conclusions that seem all but impossible. Most of all, it is a chilling and unforgettable voyage that takes readers through tunnels of violence and intrigue -- and out into the unknown....




From the Inside Flap
New York Times bestselling author Ken Goddard combines a stirring mystery and an exhilarating forensic thriller in this stunning follow-up to his critically acclaimed novel First Evidence. Here crime scene investigator Colin Cellars continues to pursue the truth behind the bizarre occurrences that so recently turned his life upside down, and his desperate hunt for a killer makes him deadly enemies on both sides of the law....

A man of reason and science, Colin Cellars has earned a reputation as a top crime scene investigator by using microscopic fragments of evidence to fill in the crucial missing pieces of a crime. But Cellars now finds himself disgraced because of a bizarre and violent episode -- an erotically charged encounter with a beautiful woman that led to a horrifying shoot-out right in front of his eyes. And what Cellars thinks he knows about the victim's identity -- and about her death -- has plunged him into a no-man's-land ... and a deadly search for a killer who may or may not be quite of this world.

Meanwhile, as Cellars investigates a case involving dozens of missing victims and a constantly vanishing trail of evidence, he realizes that the three people he trusts most each hold a piece to the puzzle -- one that includes evidence that defies all known technical analysis. And these three individuals -- the woman he loves, a man he has defended with his life, and a friend with ties to the most clandestine wing of the U.S. government -- seem to have their own ideas about what to do with the information.

As Cellars and his team get closer to the truth, the stakes continue to rise. For the hunters are about to become the hunted: victims of a deadly game whose rules they can't understand, whose players they cannot predict. And their few advantages are rapidly disappearing.

A novel of relentless suspense that ranges from the forests of the Pacific Northwest to the secret high-tech laboratories of the NSA, Outer Perimeter is a stunningly vivid, fast-paced tale in which nothing is as it appears and the facts point to conclusions that seem all but impossible. Most of all, it is a chilling and unforgettable voyage that takes readers through tunnels of violence and intrigue -- and out into the unknown....

FROM THE PUBLISHER

And you thought first contact was terrifying....

From New York Times bestselling author Ken Goddard comes a terrifying thriller that dares to pursue the truth behind a series of bizarre occurrences — and a murderer whose identity even the authorities will kill to keep concealed.

A man of reason and science, Colin Cellars has earned a reputation as a top crime scene investigator. But Cellars finds himself disgraced because of a bizarre episode that led to a horrifying shoot-out right in front of his eyes. And what Cellars thinks he knows about the victim’s identity — and about her death — has plunged him into a deadly search for a killer who may or may not be quite of this world.

Meanwhile, as Cellars investigates a case involving dozens of missing victims, he realizes that the three people he trusts most each hold a piece to the puzzle — and that they have their own ideas about what to do with the information. Soon Cellars finds himself on a chilling and unforgettable voyage, one that takes readers through tunnels of violence and intrigue — and out into the unknown....

Author Biography: Ken Goddard is the author of seven previous novels, including the New York Times bestseller Balefire. He has served as a criminalist in three California police and sheriff’s departments, and as an instructor in crime scene investigation and forensic techniques at law enforcement academies throughout the United States as well as for Interpol. He lives in Ashland, Oregon, where he is currently director of the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, the only full-service wildlife crime laboratory in the world.

FROM THE CRITICS

Orlando Sentinel

Well-written, suspenseful ... [a] page-turner.

Providence Sunday Journal

Goddard’s style is smooth and meticulous.... You have a deliciously layered plot that gets stranger and stranger, as the DNA gets weirder and weirder, and the story gets scarier and scarier.

Publishers Weekly

Goddard has committed the cardinal sin of sequel writers here--he's written a novel that can barely stand on its own because it never acquaints readers with the plot of the previous book (First Evidence) in a fashion that helps the current book make sense. There are plenty of hints, but it takes almost 100 pages before the broad outlines of the premise are revealed. Det. Sgt. Colin Cellars of the Oregon State Patrol and his friends Bobby Dawson, Jody Catlin and Dr. Malcolm Byzor have had a previous run-in with aliens who can turn themselves into rocks and stones when they're injured or dormant. Now a group of aliens has been sent to retrieve the stones/aliens that were left behind at the end of the last book, and eliminate witnesses like Colin, Jody and especially Bobby, who is on the run for reasons that are never made clear (the vital fact that the previous book began with Bobby's supposed death is never revealed at all in this one). All this confusion isn't helped by Goddard's habit of building up to an exciting scene and then sketching it in after the fact instead of relating it in real time (he does this with a grisly murder and a pileup of 72 cars and four trucks). And it's even more annoying when the end of the book is reached, and there is no closure at all, except the words "The End"--which, like most everything else in this thriller, promise what they can't deliver. (Feb. 6) Forecast: The popularity of First Evidence will ensure plenty of readers for this novel. It's Goddard's next book that will suffer the aftermath of reader disappointment. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

VOYA

Crime scene investigator Colin Cellars returns in this sequel to First Evidence (Bantam, 1999/VOYA December 1999). During the two months after Cellars's encounter with the aliens, he has been on administrative leave pending a psychological evaluation. Despite being off-duty, however, he is drawn again into a series of inexplicable events involving his childhood friends Jody Catlin, Malcolm Bysor, and Bobby Dawson; assorted aliens with touchy tempers; and Elmer Fudd. The plot moves at a breathless pace, with action taking place over a brief twenty-four hour period. As with the earlier book, this novel is plot driven, although Goddard uses a somewhat finer hand this time, with less expository narrative and more action, and employs humor to good effect. The plot is packed with surprises, including the deaths of likeable characters. Goddard pulls no punches here. He manages to tie up loose ends from the previous novel, but the ending leaves the reader wondering whether future novels about Cellars are planned. Goddard seems simultaneously to wrap things up and leave them open. Character development is stronger providing more complex main characters and giving more depth to Cellars. Some dialogue seems a bit stilted, but overall Goddard keeps things moving. He also summarizes the previous action so smoothly that the novel stands alone well, but readers of the first book will be especially happy to see this title on the shelf. VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2001, Bantam, 427p, $23.95. Ages 16 to Adult. Reviewer: Donna Scanlon SOURCE: VOYA, August 2001 (Vol. 24, No.3)

Internet Book Watch

Oregon State Detective Sergeant Colin Cellars is on administrative leave pending the results of a psychiatric examination following a strange X- Files-like incident. Since the events with the violet-eyed extraterrestrial, Colin is a true believer. As such, he has set an Outer Perimeter in his remote cabin in the mountains near Jasper Springs, Oregon to warn him of any intruder, especially serial killing aliens.Taking the death rate seriously, the state establishes two six-person teams of crime scene investigators to search the area for the serial predators. However, Colin believes that he and his three amigos (ex DEA Bobby Dawson, electronic guru Malcolm Byzor, and lab technician Jody Catlin) will ultimately be the team to stop the rising homicide rate and send an unfriendly ET home or die in the process. Outer Perimeter is an engaging, cleverly designed mixing of science fiction elements with a forensic-police procedural thriller. The exciting plot moves quickly forward with plenty of action, but references to the first book will, on occasion, leave the bewildered new reader first seeking evidence as to what previously happened. Overall, the spine tingling story stands alone as the fearsome foursome battles with a villain most likely not of this earth in Ken Goddard's latest chiller.