Reviewers Helping Authors

The Shifters of 2040
By Ami Blackwelder

I was not familiar with the work of Ami Blackwelder until I read this book. Although my main genre of read is paranormal, my interest is mainly with vampires/werewolves. I have not read much about shape shifters but was open to it. I found I was a bit lost in the beginning but of no fault of Ami's because when I read a book that is not in my realm of interest, it takes me a bit to get off the ground with the book.

I was greatly impressed by Ami's imagination and creativity in The Shifters of 2040 and due to this, the book not only held my interest but became a 'can't hardly wait', page turner. I tried to put myself into the story and ask the question, " could something like this really come to pass?" Well, logic tells us no, but for me, I like to look beyond the 'norm' and 'logic' life has to offer and push the envelope. In doing so, I find life to be a lot more interesting.

"The shifters winced whenever their fluid bodies met with the water-jelly, as if an electrical surge shocked their systems. Though able to transform into any animal form on earth, in their alien form, Melissa could make out a soft malleable cylinder tube inside their shadowy frames from top to bottom. The cylinders directed currents of what appeared to be photons, at least to the scientists who studied the captive shifters, and the structure mimicked the shape of plant seedlings in growth. Encompassing the cylinder, a protective layer of jelly-skin, gray in color, felt like the insides of an oyster to the touch. This protective layer, as malleable as the cylinder, seemed to serve no real function other than to provide security for the cylinder and allow them to camouflage with their surroundings. The tubes of photons glowed intermittently as they spit off shards of light. The studies conducted on their design revealed the tubes also offered nourishment to the alien species by way of chlorophyll infused into the cylinder tube, converting light into sugar for energy, much like the plants on Earth. The studies concluded that Earth made a suitable abode for the life forms because of the plentiful supply of H2O and nearby sun." (excerpt from book)  We think of aliens as being little green men with big eyes, but in The Shifters, they are described as really having no form until they came to earth and became shape shifters, taking on the form of a human or animal.

Melissa, wanting to take a break from the lab where she worked as a scientist, running tests on the aliens who invaded earth over 20 ago, goes to a bar for a drink. She meets a man and decides to take him home with her, insisting they not know each others names. To her horror she discovers after having had the most memorable sex ever, the man starts flickering and losing his human form. She takes out a gun and chases him out of her home. She doesn't realize it, but her whole life is about to change forever due to that one night of passion. Her worst nightmare is about to come true. The species that comes from a human and alien is called a hybrid and that is what the aliens are striving for in order to keep their kind alive. But Melissa has to hide her pregnancy from SCM and her father most of all. What would he do to her and/or her babies if he knew?
I would recommend this book and give it five stars. I once again want to give Ami Blackwelder a lot of praise and credit for her imagination, creativity, and realism in The Shifters of 2040. I will be looking forward to more from her.

***** Five Stars

Reviewed by

Nora Barteau
http://norachipleybarteau.blogspot.com/