Amazon Category:  Science Fiction Publisher: Allen-Ayers Books ISBN-10:  0965870219 Type: Fiction Pages: 316 Copyright: Jan 1 1999 Unwilling participants in a double-edged nightmare. Alien explorers have been studying Earth for some time, moving to and from their planet through a controlled space warp that exits into the Wyoming wilderness. Troubled by a love affair that is going nowhere and pushed by a desire to lose himself in the woods, Mark Carter inadvertently enters the warp and is transported to the alien planet. His surprised and unprepared hosts resent the intrusion. Mark is taken to the lab, there to be studied by an alien with a quick wit and an open sympathy toward his captive. Among other things, the alien exposes him to an "experience-sharing" chamber, a form of virtual reality that captures moments in the lives of beings from all over the galaxy then allows a subject to momentarily become that being. But his captors fail to recognize that the process is stimulating Mark's mind. He learns to communicate telepathically, manipulate objects remotely, even rearrange his DNA to imitate other creatures. While all this is happening, Kathy Montari, thinking Mark is lost, travels to Wyoming and there goads the authorities into a search. Because the aliens are simultaneously attempting to learn as much as they can about Mark's life on Earth, her involvement deepens. Excerpt PROLOGUE “There! Over there! Just above the tree line. To the right of the tallest peak!” *** “I see it. The poor thing dashes from point to point with no sense of purpose.” *** “Frightened, no doubt. The forest it sees now makes no sense. Once familiar, it has become alien. But ‘poor thing’ or not, we must act quickly to defend ourselves.” *** “We are adequately protected.” *** “You are; I am not; I convert more slowly than you, remember?” *** “Sartor, the creature is but two meters long and one meter high. It is hardly a monster.” *** “What it is capable of doing to us and to our world is beyond monstrous. Set to sterilize.” *** “‘Sterilize.’ Such an innocent term when posed by those on the giving end.” *** “Set to sterilize!” *** “You misunderstand, Sartor. I am not refusing the order, I am merely philosophizing. We are about to terminate an innocent being whose only fault was to stumble uninvited into our home.” *** “Such is the nature of life and circumstance. Were we to do nothing, the error would be ours.” *** “And it is not ours now? Was it not we who left the transporter on too long?” *** “Point conceded. And it is we who must ensure that no Earth creature enter uninvited again.”

APHELION--Dan L. Hollifield, Publisher and Senior Editor
It grabbed my interest from the first few pages and held it all the way to the conclusion. Very well done. I found this to be a very enjoyable book to read. The characters were real enough for me to start caring about them early on in the story. Noel and Carol have crafted an engaging adventure for their heroes. The aliens were just as well written as the human characters, so no part of the novel was slighted. The writers can feel justified in being proud of this novel. I particularly enjoyed the aliens and their technology. Carol and Noel came up with a wonderful concept for their aliens and didn't stint in developing their associated technology and society. The interaction between the alien and human characters is very well done. As is the human to human and alien to alien dialogues. All in all, a very fun read.