Bad Vibrations

The Sedona Files #1

by Christine Pope

She thought she could see it all…
He showed her so much more.

Psychic Persephone O’Brien thinks she’s always prepared for the unexpected, but when she reaches out to distractingly attractive ufologist Paul Oliver for help, the two of them soon find themselves drawn into a far-reaching conspiracy that sends them on the run — as well as into each other’s arms. And after Paul is captured by sinister agents, Persephone finds herself joining forces with an unlikely group of UFO hunters to rescue Paul and derail an alien plot before it’s too late.

This series is now complete and includes six novels in Bad Vibrations, Desert Hearts, Angel Fire, Star Crossed, Falling Angels, and Enemy Mine.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Fiction, Mystery

263 pages, ebook

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

A native of Southern California, Christine Pope has been writing stories ever since she commandeered her family’s Smith-Corona typewriter back in the sixth grade. Many reams of dead trees later, she’s happy to announce that her debut novel, Fringe Benefits,was published by Pink Petal Books on April 8, 2010. Her short fiction has appeared in Astonishing Adventures, Luna Station Quarterly, and the new journal of dark fiction, Dark Valentine. Her paranormal novella, Playing With Fire, was released on August 5, 2010.

While Fringe Benefits is a straight contemporary romance, she writes in a variety of genres, including paranormal romance, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and historical romance. She blames this on being easily distracted by bright, shiny objects, which could also account for the size of her shoe collection.

After spending many years in the magazine publishing industry, she now works as a freelance editor in addition to writing fiction. She lives with her husband and an explosively fluffy Pomeranian mix. Her house is pink, but don’t hold that against her.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Light and silly this story is about psychics and aliens so being annoyed by unrealistic things seems a little silly. Yet that was where I found myself. I had no problem with the aliens or the alien human hybrids. I even accepted the alien virus injected into the body ( or via spray tanning) which gave us alien possessed humans. I had no problem with the heroine being psychic with a spirit guide. I like the alien hunting team our heroine finds to help her rescue the hero. Where it lost me was when our heroine's psychic powers suddenly morphed into a combination of telekinesis and mind control and she started blasting people with white light to drive out and/or kill the aliens. Even though the entire premise is silly this was just too ridiculous ( and convenient) for me. I was also incredibly annoyed by hero dies, spirit guide 'breaks the rules' to return him to life. Too convenient. Not that I wanted him to be dead. I just thing it would have been better not to kill him at all if you are going to magically wave a wand (or in this case white light) over him 2 mins later.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Sedona Files series I've read. The first one was the most recently published Falling Angels. After reading Falling Angels, I was absolutely hooked and knew reading the rest of the series was an absolute must! I was not at all misguided in that knowledge. Bad Vibrations was excellent and I am more hooked on the series than I was before. I enjoyed seeing how it all started. Having begun reading the series with book #5, I enjoyed finally reading about Otto and at least part of his history with this group of individuals thrust together (and bonded) by bizarre circumstances. The characters in the book were dynamic and colorful. Both Persephone and Paul have distinct personalities (that's not to say that the others don't, this just wasn't their story so I'm not going to focus on them). Both have come to know living outside what is publicly accepted as normal and acceptable all too well. Persephone has been plagued for 20 years, since she was 12, by Otto, her spirit guide (and a faux-16th Century Eunuch). Paul is an astrophysicist who believes in UFOs, costing him a promising future as a tenured professor at his university. Now both Paul, with two masters degrees, and Persephone, who also has an advanced degree, find themselves doing work the majority of the world considers a joke (her as a full-time psychic and him authoring novels and becoming a figurehead in the UFO community). They are thrown together without any read explanation by the promptings (or demands) of Otto. One thing I particularly like about this series so far, is that the characters aren't just a bunch of young 20-somethings falling headlong into a passionate romance or middle-aged individuals getting a second chance at love. This book was a great reflection of what is becoming more and more prevalent in today's society: waiting until later on to settle down and get married (with Persephone being 32). Another thing I particularly enjoyed about this book was Christine Pope's treatment of what it means to be psychic. It is very clear that Persephone (and all psychics) only have certain abilities (though she has far more power than she is aware of). They are not all seeing or infallible. They can be wrong or miss things. They have faults and insecurities and fears. They are, quite simply put, human. It makes it that much easier to relate to Persephone's character. And that really applies to all of the characters. They all have their own quirks and shortcomings, strengths and weaknesses, all-too-human personalities and characteristics. And, at the end of the day, they are a community, albeit a bit unconventional, that looks out for one another (despite Persephone and Paul being new to the fold). It makes them an endearing bunch. Overall, I think this book is an excellent book to what I believe will prove to continue to be an enthralling series. The story line is intricate and keeps you guessing. I found myself surprised on multiple occasions while journeying through this book. The book concludes with a HEA ending for Persephone and Paul and does not have a cliffhanger. I will warn you however, the book has the potential to pull you into the series as a whole and not let you go easily when it's done. I, for one, am excited at the prospect of plunging into book 2: Desert Hearts.

[Claire Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read the description of this book, I did not really have big expectations. It seems like a pretty generic premise. The cover is pretty fair, but nothing too impressive. But I'm a very picky person, so it is an opinion that differs from person to person. After I have read the book, it would seem that my predictions were correct. There are a number of things that could have been done better and could have made this book work for me. First of all, the two main characters seem to somewhat swim in the bland pool of the character swimming facility. They are not particularly interesting other than the fact that Persephone is psychic. They are written as normal people which doesn't really amuse me. I wish they were more fun to read about, frankly. Second, there is barely any action in it. Most of the time it is just the main characters driving around and descriptions of how Persephone knows every nook and cranny of where she lives. At times I felt like Google Maps had taken over the book. The climax was not satisfactory for me. It felt too easy. I don't feel the characters worked hard enough to achieve any climax at all. There was his scheme these so called "aliens" made but it was so simple that I thought that that couldn't possibly be the investigating mystery part. That "evil" scheme is something that goes into books for young children and grade school students. It definitely could have used more complexity. Now, the thing that frustrates me the most are the "aliens". This is the part over which I got excited the most and the part that disappointed me the most at the same time. These advanced species from a distant planet want nothing more than to enslave the humans. Now, this would be ok, even though it lacks creativity, if they had a good and logical reason for doing so. There is no reason. Or at least we are never told the reason. They are just cartooney bad guys with no 3-dimensional personalities or motives who are trying to take over the world in the most simple and odd way possible. Because of the first person writing style, which I am not very fond of, we cannot spend any time with the villains and see what they are up to while the protagonists chase after them. That could have been really cool. We don't even see what they look like. They are apparently so advanced in technology that some computer guy just destroyed their whole plan in a matter of minutes. Next, I don't understand what Persephone's spirit guide meant when he said this was her destiny or what not. I was hoping for a cool reveal, but apparently, her destiny was to foil a plan of a bunch of "aliens" who were sent to earth because all the other much cooler, smarter and more developed aliens were too busy taking over everything that is more awesome than earth. Or shopping for groceries, I dunno. I wish there were explanations. Where did they come from? Why did they come here? Why did they want to enslave humanity? What do they look like? We learn nothing about them except that they obviously need better lessons on how to take over a planet. To sum up, I didn't really enjoy this book, but at least it wasn't that long and it did not stir up my emotions as much as some books that include complicated love problems do.

[CeCe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Persephone had a client come in for a reading. He told Persephone that he thinks his girlfriend is possessed by an alien. Persephone shrugged him off more or less and even told him that he was just imagining her recent change in behavior.
Since that client left a string of events happened. Her spirit guide, Otto, tells her that she needs to go to a hotel immediately without giving her any specifics. There she finds out that maybe what that client was saying wasn’t so crazy.

Persephone and Paul’s relationship started pretty quickly. This was understandable since Persephone was very tuned with others and herself.

The story was fast paced. A nice sci-fi mixed with romance.

Persephone said that since she is constantly judged, she really had not right judging others, but I felt she always did judge others. She had an “opinion” about everything which annoyed me. There was a lot of inner dialogue which I think could have been eliminated.



Source: A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

[Keith Bornmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this author. I just finished reading 'The Chosen' and wanted to read more by her. I wasn't disappointed.

She does a great job on character building and world Building.

In this book, the main character is a psychic who accidently stumbles upon a secret alien attack and has to save the world.

Others complained about her obtaining special abilities at just the right time. I think it fits just fine in this story. I believe the author will reveal more about that in her next few books.

So, why 4 stars? Unfortunately the book limits itself. I can't read this to my kids and I can't recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to be exposed to descriptive sexual content. It wasn't necessary. I'm reading along thinking, "This is a great book". Then all of the sudden, there's kissing and undressing. I have to skip several pages to keep from feeling ashamed.

I hope this author will consider writing a series without all the graphic sex.

[Ronnae Stately · Rating 5 out of 5]

Persephone is a psychic who gets a client telling her this far fetched story about his girlfriend being possessed by an alien. She takes him as a loon and dismisses his whole entire story. That same night she goes out with her girlfriend to a bar and has an encounter with a man, Paul, who is looking for a hotel that just happens to be on the other side of town. Later that night Persephone is sent to that hotel to track Paul down and things go into a tailspin from there. It seems there are aliens out there trying to control humans and now they are after Persephone and Paul. They get help from UFO nuts that live out in Sedona, after Paul is kidnapped along with a computer hacker named Jeff and a cracked scientist named Raymond, who is accidentally possessed by an alien. Persephone then learns she has more power than she realized as a psychic and comes into her own powers dealing with the body stealing aliens. She does get help from her psychic helper Otto who she learns is not exactly what he originally appeared to her as, a eunuch djinn. In the end everything works out for both Paul and Persephone and the rest of the gang.

[Lilly M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor writing, poor plot, lacks character development.

I picked this book up for free on a stuff your kindle day. I’m not sure what I was expecting of an alien romance but I was certainly hoping for more than this.
* the romance element seemingly comes out of the blue and progresses very quickly with no tension building or chemistry creation between the characters. They’re not together and then they are, considering the whole book takes place over the space of three days there isn’t a lot of time but still…
* there’s no character development. Their main characters don’t have any personality and we really don’t learn anything about them at all. A lot of side characters are introduced who are present for one chapter and then disappear.
* there’s dialogue is stilted and uncomfortable to read. There’s no flow between characters and it feels rushed.
* The plot contains a lot of unnecessary details about how the main character does her hair or the type of furniture in a room which doesn’t add anything to the story. Their plot also progresses very quickly without really making sense as to how things are happening.

I can understand why the book was free…

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a NON-SPOILER REVIEW. Bad Vibrations by Christine Pope is Book 1 in the Sedona Files series. I am not a big X-Files fan, but this fun romp into the "truth is out there" realm is highly entertaining and more than a bit addictive. Bad Vibrations is Persephone and Paul's story, a fast paced tale of crazy situations and even crazier solutions. While reading this book, I kept getting a "Borg" type flash whenever the facility was brought up. Add some really strong secondary characters that become part of the team, outlandish plot twists and you have a fun, tongue in cheek dramedy set in one of the Nation's premier close encounter hot spots. Christine Pope consistently delivers big screen entertainment in book form. This series is no different, prepare to be amused and entertained.

[Alejandra Guerrero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bored me to tears... And at the end, she went from a mediocre psychic to an ultrapowerful Mary Sue who nobody can stop. She just gets new powers and immediately knows how to use them, without any explanation whatsoever. At some point, one of the characters says "You don't need to question what happened." Yeah, I do! Especially if it makes no sense with what we knew till then.
The "romance" made no sense, it felt forced. There was zero chemistry between the characters, so the kiss came out of nowhere. I didn't connect with them, so when he's killed at some point it had zero impact.
The aliens were kind of stupid, and I didn't understand half of what they did.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars

First, let me say that I am not a big fan of alien plots and was never a fan of X-files. However, I loved this plot and the struggles the characters have to evade and defeat aliens. The individual characters, including secondary characters, are well developed. However, the relationship between our main characters is lacking a little something toward the beginning. By the end of the book their relationship feels more real, but the development was more of a push to get them started. I hope that makes since because I don't want to include spoilers.

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Persephone, who works as a professional psychic, meets UFO expert and celebrity Paul, and they fall in love while being chased by alien-human hybrids, possessed humans and human collaborators. She has a spirit guide but there's a twist around that, and develops psychic super powers very conveniently though I imagine that's actually being channelled through her by the "spirit guide". There's a reset button about a major plot point. Quite light-hearted fluff and decently written but not something that interests me enough to read the rest of the series. I rate it an OK 2 stars.

[Tobyann Aparisi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book on Goodread for an honest review.
This is typically not a book I would have chosen for myself, I am glad I won it though. This was a good book with a gripping story and good characters that keep you turning page after page. The author spins a good story that you will want to read and quickly move on to the next in the trilogy. I do recommend this book for its strong characters and its intriguing content.

[Jean Holtof · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting and dangerous journey starts with Persephone, the psychic, heading off to find the mystery man at the Universal Hotel after her haphazard spirit guide, Otto tells her it is vital. Dr Paul Oliver is the guest speaker at the UFO symposium and as such is open to her suspicions that the MIB are watching. A high speed thriller is set in motion with all the elements of a great science fiction story. A fabulous read. Thanks Christine.

[Stasia Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

I didn't think I'd like a story about a psychic, but Persephone was great. Paul was smart, friendly, and open minded.
The plot was adventuresome and diverting. I never thought of what was going to happen, except that Persephone and Paul would get together.
A fun story and no cliffhanger.

[Angela Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was a little more self-contained than Pope's Darkangel, that is, if it was solely a romance novel. The adventure part has a denoument, but not any sort of resolution. I suppose this is the new trend in series writing.
Again, it kept me reading to the end.

[Brittany Goodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

This story was less enjoyable than others that I have read from this author. The story has some sexual activity (while you don't see much it is still there). The story also didn't captivate me as her others did. It was an ok story.

[Gwynneth Ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychics AND aliens?

This IS book one. My kindle edition says book two, but Amazon lies. A few typos, but it moves quick through the men in black and spirit visitations. It was a fun read.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll Read the Series

The story moved along at a decent clip but there were too many tedious descriptions of driving in Los Angeles. I found myself skimming several paragraphs because I just didn’t care about the scenery or descriptions of traffic.

[JB · Rating 5 out of 5]

great world building and storytelling!

I don’t like to give spoilers on the books that I read. I believe the blurb on the back is enough for you to decide if you will read the book or not. If you choose to read, enjoy!

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flat characters, and a simple plot. no humor, the romance is stilted, go from point A to point B, and the story has no actual effective magic. Read 1st 13 chapters, DNF. purchased this item on March 11, 2023, from Amazon for free. skipped to end - still trite ...

[Letter Viewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cristine Pope is really good storyteller. Easy to follow, easy to enjoy. And the story is catchy. You start reading and like "oh it's not overcomplicated", and then "more, more, another page, another". Good book, good reading.

[RaChelle Holmberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK, I found it in FreeBooksy in a trilogy! I'm going to read the other two right away ;-) very exciting story line, great characters! Highly recommended ;-)

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of it was entertaining, some of it was meh. Some of it really bugged me... (A sample size of one, really??)

[Barb VanderWel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this & I can't wait for more.
I will be also leaving a review on Goodreads @ Amazon.
And letting everyone know about it.
So i gave it a 5 Stars.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a great book to read

[Alexandria Woods · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't a fan of this one. The story took too long to build, Paul and Persephone's relationship lacked believability and passion, and the events were more puzzling than interesting.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (7/11/2021)! 🎁

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book started as a simple psychic with a client who is scared for his girlfriend.

It went a whole different way. I loved it.

[Rita Callaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aliens out to control

A UFO story that keeps your interest till the end. I've been to Sedona and it's just as beautiful with its red rocks as this author says.

[Vicki Mitchell-Taylor]

Not great