Product Description

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....

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1124379 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-30
• Released on: 2001-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 496 pages

Amazon.com Review
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

---

Customer Reviews

Too much of a good thing
I thoroughly enjoyed "First Evidence" and anxiously awaited the sequel. "Outer Perimiter" was good, but the plot was too dependent on "First Evidence". If you haven't read the first book, this one will not make much sense. I find the plot of this "series" interesting and exciting, and most of the characters well developed. However I was hoping that "Outer Perimeter would advance the plot more than it did. About half of the book was a retelling of events in the first installment. Mr. Goddard is an excellent writer and has provided many great thriller stories. This plot line has great potential. I hope the next installment, if there is one, will advance the plot and provide closure to some of the plot lines.

Great sf/mystery/thriller
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.

Harriet Klausner

Second Contact
Being the sequel to one of the most suspenseful books I've ever read, (First Evidence) I expected a lot. I didn't get quite what I expected but it was an engaging read. For the most part, this book fills in the gaps from "First Evidence." It explains a lot and makes you go, "Oh yeah." You must, however, read the first book or you will be lost. "Outer Perimeter" started slow but built it's intrigue bit by bit. Several times, I thought of putting it down but it finally grabbed me. Most books fizzle by the last third. This one takes off like a UFO! The ending didn't grab me but it makes me think he may be thinking of writing another one. (Sidenote: It's interesting that three recent novels all have "black panthers/jaguars" as a nemesis. Have I missed a wildlife trend?)