Tarizon: Conquest Earth

I'm often asked why after writing nine legal thrillers I suddenly turned to science fiction. When I started writing I was a lawyer and I'd heard you should write about what you know, so it only seemed natural to write about the law. This also made sense since time was at a premium with practicing law full time and raising a big family. I didn't have a lot of time to do research, so writing mysteries and legal thrillers came easily and naturally. But I'm not the kind of person who likes routine. I get bored easily and enjoy doing a variety of things. So, each of the first six volumes Stan Turner Mysteries had as much adventure, romance and political intrigue as they did mystery. But, even with this variety, after ten mysteries I was burnt out and needed something dramatically different. I'd always loved science fiction, but didn't know if I could write that genre since it required much more creativity and time consuming research. In order test my abilities in the science fiction arena I decided to do a cross genre. This was Cactus Island where Stan is asked to defend a teenager who things he saw an alien spacecraft. In order to prove him innocent of negligent homicide, he had to prove alien life existed. This turned out so well, I continued the experiment with Act Normal. Act Normal turned out even better and even was written up in a feature article in Library Journal. This was all I needed to give me the courage to start the Tarizon Trilogies. Writing science fiction is very different than writing mysteries and much more challenging, but I'm glad I took the plunge and plan to write more in this genre, but I'm not giving up mysteries. I just needed a break. Now that I'm almost done with the Tarizon Trilogies, my next project will be most likely be a mystery.

Aliens abducted teenage earthling Peter Turner and took him to Tarizon where many believed he was the Liberator. However, known as Leek Lanzia, he learned the hard way how difficult his new role proved to be when Civil War forced him to choose sides. Now with the dictator Lai dead, Leek takes a vacation with his beloved wife Lucinda and their baby child Tokin. At the same time Lai’s adopted son Evohn Cystrom pledges to keep fighting on his home planet and to take the hostilities to earth as his late father envisioned a grander Pearl Harbor attack.

Captain Lanzia cuts off his family time early when he is apprised of the Cystrom threat. Accompanied by his wife and child, he commandeers a shuttle to fly to earth to warn his birth planet of an invasion, but must escape Tarizon without the enemy aware of his leaving. Cystrom learns of the earth mission and sends his best troops to thwart it while Leek as Peter reunites with his parents before retuning to his new home planet.

Continuing the space adventures of the son of his top rate detective Stan Turner (see Disillusioned and Act Normal), William Manchee provides a strong Tarizon science fiction military thriller (see Liberator and Civil War) as the war goes off planet. Fast-paced and loaded with action, fans will appreciate Conquest earth as Cystrom takes up the mantle of his late dad. Although it helps to read the previous two Peter/Leek novels to understand how far the hero has come from earth, fans of the saga will relish this entertaining entry.

Harriet Klausner

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