Rating: 
Summary: The Wolf Boy is back, and biting!
Review: The sequel to 'Alien Taste,' this is the second "Ukiah Oregon" book.
A bit of background for this science fiction / mystery crossbreed: Ukiah Oregon was found wandering in the woods when he was a kid, a 'wolf boy' living feral. He was found by a lesbian couple who used humane traps to work with wolves, and they took him home, and began raising him as their own - after hiring a private eye to try and track down who he really was. The P.I. failed, Ukiah lived with the women as a son, and eventually, he and the P.I. started working together. In the first book, you find out a lot about Ukiah's strange origins, and start to realize just what he is up against.
'Tainted Trail' picks up where 'Alien Taste' left off, in that Ukiah and his P.I. partner are seeking out a missing person, but the ancient evil alien race Ukiah went up against in the first book may be behind what's going on in the wild woods where his childhood friend went missing.
Wen Spencer really upped the ante on this one - the hits land closer to Ukiah's core, the damage dealt is harsher, and the blood and guts got me a bit nauseated in parts. On the plus side (not that the above is necessarily a con), the supporting cast to this book is much more flushed out and interesting, and the mystery itself was complex enough to keep me reading. If you like your science fiction with a mystery twist, and like complex genetic plots, this is the series for you. I'm certainly ready for book three (though I might read something a tad less violent first).
'Nathan
Rating: 
Summary: Great blending of mystery and science fiction
Review: There is nobody in the world quite like Ukiah Oregon. His genetic make-up is that of an alien sire and an Earth woman. He has heightened senses, which make him an excellent tracker, is almost impossible to kill and is more than two centuries old. Ukiah's earliest memories were that of growing up and being raised by wolves until he was caught in a trap and adopted by two women who set the non-lethal snare.He works with private detective Max Bennett who is one of the few humans privileged to know about Ukiah's background. Their latest case takes them to Oregon where a hiker has gone missing. Her uncle has hired them to locate her but when Ukiah picks up the trail, he discovers that she is the victim of a kidnapping. While trying to locate her despite the attempts of the kidnappers to stop him, Ukiah also tries to follow a promising link to his mother's family which, in turn, leads him to his father's enemies. Containing elements from the mystery and science fiction genres, TAINTED TRAIL is a unique and highly entertaining reading experience. It is easy to believe that the hero is a lovable half-breed alien, which makes the underlying premise for this work easy to accept. The mystery is a tightly woven cerebral puzzle that is almost impossible to figure out until the author reveals the final clues. Hopefully Wen Spencer will continue to write about Ukiah Oregon (the person, not the place). Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Great Action
Review: This book is second in a series and is a much better read if you pick up Alien Taste before reading this book. Other than that its a great book with a lot of back ground on the main character being explained. My biggest complaints about this book are I wish some of my favorite characters from the first book had been included(there are only references to Ukiah Oregon's mothers)and even though it was over 300 pages in length I wish it had been longer because it raised more questions than it answered. If your looking for something different I'd try this alien detective meld, its not too cheezy.
Rating:
Summary: Another excellent Ukiah book
Review: Ukiah Oregon and his PI investigative partner Max are back, picking up the action a couple of months after 'Alien Taste' finished. Although the events of Alien Taste are synopsised at various points in Tainted Trail, I highly recommend that you read Alien Taste first, both for the background to this the second book, and because it is such an original, well conceived and executed tale in itself. Spencer continues this excellence in Tainted Trail. Ukiah and Max have come to Oregon to investigate the disappearance of the niece of colleague Kraynak, who is also known to them as she used to work for the agency. Ukiah, with his tracking abilities down to the cellular level, is quickly on the trail. As usual, that's where things start getting interesting. FBI, sheriff, family, Ontongard, Pack, and the recovery of a few more memories. It's great. Twists, turns, unanticipated events - as before, the reader learns with Ukiah as he finds out as much about himself as he does the case he is working on. Ukiah maturing - he's still somewhat of an innocent, but he is becoming more aware of light and dark, and shades of grey. Even Max, always heroic to Ukiah, causes him moments of disquiet here. But the essence of Ukiah is the same - someone who loves fiercely and loyally, and must protect those he loves at all costs. And even those that are Pack come to respect that element in him. I missed some of the characters in Alien Taste, especially Indigo who had to 'stay at home and mind the child' (urgh! Considering Indigo's steely strength I have to say I didn't like this passive role for her, but this is a very mild niggle). But meeting Magic Boy's family more than made up for it, and Max's own secondary story was excellent. Once again, in an author that clearly knows the seedy side of life, I really enjoyed that although bad things happened to good people, for those I really cared about Ukiah was eventually able to make it right - this time with help from Jared. Ukiah really is a true hero, overcoming the odds and fighting for what he sees as right. I enjoyed this book every bit as much as the first one, and am looking forward with great anticipation to reading the next (Bitter Waters).
Rating: 
Summary: A Solid Follow-up Effort
Review: Ukiah Oregon's prospective mother-in-law recently described him as a "long-haired, teenage, Native American, Unitarian, Wolf Boy raised by lesbians, with an infant son obviously from a previously failed relationship." If she only knew. Tainted Trail, set in a near-present-day United States, is Wen Spencer's second novel. Like her first, Alien Taste, it features Ukiah, a young man who was indeed raised by a lesbian couple near Pittsburgh, after being found as a feral child in the Oregon wilderness. Back in Alien Taste, however, Ukiah learned enough about his true origins to make the "wolf boy" business look downright tame. Tainted Trail includes enough back story to let it stand alone. The first two chapters are particularly background-heavy, which makes the current plot a bit slow on the start-up. It would be a mistake, though, to skip Alien Taste if it's available. While Spencer has managed to avoid the second-book-itis that often plagues new writers, the current story is more mundane than her first outing. Tainted Trail is a solid effort, and raises several plot points for future books, but Alien Taste is a better indication of why both books are marketed as science fiction. In Tainted Trail, Ukiah is off to Oregon with friend, mentor, and fellow private investigator Max Bennett; plus another friend, homicide detective Raymond Kraynak. Kraynak's niece, Alicia, has disappeared while hiking in Umatillo National Forest. That's the same area where Ukiah spent his feral childhood, so he hopes to pick up on a previous-fruitless-search for more of his personal history. The trio also hook up with Sam Killington, an Oregon PI working a set of insurance cases, part of a localized spike in accidental deaths and disappearances involving 35 people, including Alicia. These three plot threads intertwine to form the overall story. At first there's nothing tying them together except vague coincidences, but a good PI never puts much trust in coincidence. Spencer has chosen to make her protagonist-and virtually every other key character in the book-a man. Far fewer writers are successful at opposite sex point-of-view than the number who attempt it. Luckily, science fiction is more flexible than other writing genres. If Ukiah doesn't always ring entirely authentic as a young, contemporary American male, well, there are obvious reasons on which to pin any false notes. Still, it would be interesting to see Spencer focus on more characters she could fully inhabit from the inside out. She seems to have done her homework on the new locale and other story aspects. Her writing is lean and generally well-constructed. The grammar police note that it should be "someone who," never "someone that," does or says something. There are also occasional missing or incorrect parts of speech that cause momentary stumbles in the smooth flow of sentences. Finally, cells would propagate through a body, not "profligate." Never mind; the story is worth reading and Spencer is worth another look whenever her next Ukiah Oregon book comes out.
Rating:
Summary: Tainted Trail
Review: Ukiah, Max, and Kraynak leave to rescue Alicia; Kraynak's niece and Max and Ukiah's friend. Alicia was camping in the forest when she turned up missing. Thanks to Ukiah's awesome tracking abilities--he may be the only one to find her. After two days on the trail and after Ukiah being shot in the process, they determine she was kidnapped and turn to detecting mode to find her. Several days past with the team searching for clues as to what people Alicia encountered in the local town. Ukiah is dismayed to learn that Alicia had a secret crush on him and accidently actually uncovers Ukiah's past after seeing a picture of him in a local museum. Now the team has to race against the clock to save Alicia, as well as Ukiah's real family.
I like this book, it keeps me interested and reading. I don't like the science part of it, though, it was a bit far fetched for them to just so happen to find the turtle, the ship, and have the power necessary to run an alien gadget. Oh well. I still want to read the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Ms. Spencer Just Keeps Getting Better
Review: What a terrific follow-on to ALIEN TASTE! Ms Spencer is a true talent, mixing mystery, thriller, and Scifi into an enticing hue of action. One thing you must learn with TAINTED TRAIL is never take Ms. Spencer's plot direction for granted -- you may or may not get what you expect! A really gripping read -- even better than ALIEN TASTE.
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