First Evidence: A Novel

Colin Cellars First Evidence #1

by Ken Goddard

A down-to-earth forensics expert has just discovered a crime scene that is out of this world.

In criminal forensics they train you to uncover evidence, no matter how brutal or bizarre the murder.

But what if one night you make contact with a crime scene so terrifying, no one on earth can explain it?

It begins at a chaotic crime scene in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest--site of a reported shoot-out. Investigator Colin Cellars cannot find a trace of perpetrator or victim--or even confirm that anyone has been killed. As he doggedly pursues the case, he realizes there is far more at stake here than murder. Someone--something?--will stop at nothing to prevent him from discovering the truth. For the truth is not "out there." It is locked away in Cellars's own evidence file. The evidence points to a killer far outside Cellars's experience--far outside any earthly experience. But who will believe one maverick cop?

From the New York Times bestselling author of Balefire comes a chilling tale of murder, forensic detection, and vivid speculation, pitting a unique crime scene investigator against a culprit who may be unlike any this world ever spawned....

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Paranormal

464 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Ken Goddard describes himself as "a crime scene investigator, forensic scientist, wildlife crime lab director, husband, father, grandfather, supposed cattle rancher, and more to the point, a fiction author who writes fiction novels about professional terrorists, underground chemists, demented burglars and malicious poachers for any number of reasons."

Reviews

[El · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so bad it is almost worth reading just to make you appreciate the other books you are reading. Not a lot happens initially and then, when it does, it is so ridiculous that I just laughed out loud at the implausibility of it all. The unnecessary, minute description of guns and forensic equipment and the hugely detailed indexing of each item of evidence had me gritting my teeth and asking, "Why are you telling us all this? Stop it!" It was quite obvious to me that we were dealing with supposed (SPOILER ALERT) aliens and I couldn't understand why it took our less-than-intrepid hero so long to work this out. Talking of whom, why would he go back alone to the isolated cabin in a dead communications zone after what he has already experienced there? Why would he invite the clearly suspiciously-acting Alessandra (excuse spelling: audiobook!) back into his life after his first encounter with her? Presumably for the author to be able to advance the plot! And as for the ending. Is he having a laugh?! I think he is. But at our expense.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another reviewer wrote that this was so badly written that it's almost worth reading just to make you appreciate other books. Spot on. It starts with a huge build up of a character & a gruesome fight that was amazingly boring & forgettable. Incredible. I gave it over an hour, but was gritting my teeth, so moved on.

[Daniel Rudge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books like this are why you have to be careful with the star scoring system on Goodreads. This book was one-part police procedural, one-part mystery, and one part X-files. It added up to one awesome read! First off is the ominous tone that was set from the very beginning and didn't let up. Second, except for the very long crime scene investigation at the cabin, the pacing was spectacular. I thought the plot was great and most of the characters were well done. So many twists and turns and red herrings that you just sit back, keep reading, and have fun. Is the high-quality literature? Probably not. But if you enjoy a good novel because reading should just be fun then First Evidence is highly recommended.

A down-to-earth forensics expert has just discovered a crime scene that is out of this world. In criminal forensics they train you to uncover evidence, no matter how brutal or bizarre the murder.
But what if one night you make contact with a crime scene so terrifying, no one on earth can explain it? It begins at a chaotic crime scene in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest--site of a reported shoot-out. Investigator Colin Cellars cannot find a trace of perpetrator or victim--or even confirm that anyone has been killed. As he doggedly pursues the case, he realizes there is far more at stake here than murder. Someone--something?--will stop at nothing to prevent him from discovering the truth. For the truth is not "out there." It is locked away in Cellars's own evidence file. The evidence points to a killer far outside Cellars's experience--far outside any earthly experience. But who will believe one maverick cop?

[KAREN GIRGENTI · Rating 1 out of 5]

This read literally put me to sleep.

[Sonja Fosgate · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is hilariously terrible. The plot MIGHT be okay... and I get that the main character is a forensics guy, but he goes into SO much detail about the process of collecting data and about guns... Like never did he call it a "piece" or a "gun" or a "firearm." Always the brand name of the gun. And there was an ENTIRE DNA base sequence written out -- just why? It was exhausting. More plot/less minutiae needed. I also noticed that every single character said they "don't like this one little bit," which is super weird.

I mean... The story wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea regardless, but the writing is just not engaging. The audiobook reader wasn't really trying to help matters, but you can only work with what you're given.

[James Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining thriller starring a CSI tech against what seems to be an alien invasion. Maybe.

Fairly basic story, mostly focused around the ins and outs of crime scene investigations. And if you are a fan of CSI type stuff, you get a load of it from an author who did it for a career.

[Deb F · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the audiobook version - This starts off as gun porn, and doesn't seem to get much better. Issues so far:
1) The editor desperately needed to go through using find/replace, and eliminate all the (hundreds of) unnecessary times 'immediately' or 'quickly' appeared.
2) This guy has a mobile phone, but fails to call Jodi back, even on the way to the crime scene.
3) This guy is called out to an isolated cottage, where he finds two deputies. They each have their own cars. But instead of one of them staying with the crime scene guy, and one going back to report in, they BOTH drive off, leaving him alone at a place with no communications mechanism. On his first day.
4) He uses an untested system, which has been sent to him by a friend, to record a crime scene (He's killed two cameras by this point). The friend, for some reason, sent him the set through the post without having recharged the batteries after he tested them. If you're going to send batteries through the post (illegally?) anyway, surely you'd send them charged?
5) He has a body with no face, but doesn't bother to go looking for anything that might determine the owner of the cabin, until he sees a signature on a portrait.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up only because Goddard mentioned that he got the idea for writing the book from a late night radio broadcast by Art Bell.
Though Art Bell (RIP) no longer hosts the Coast to Coast late night radio show, I am a big fan of Coast to Coast and George Noory. I love all their spooky mystery shows.
This was a good read, but it was a bit slow in spots and you really have to be a fan of forensic technique not to get bored in the first half of the book. But despite the very carefully laid out details of forensic crime scene investigation, the story was pretty good. Though this was a mystery, there really wasn’t much of a mystery. I found myself wanting to take the main character Cellars aside and say “dude! It’s aliens! Why are you being so dense?!?!”
But waiting for him to get it was quite fun too.
I wouldn’t really recommend this to anyone I know as it was kind of cheesy but in a way that made me smile at some of the dark humour. If you are a fan of Coast to Coast you might get a kick out of this one.

[FLJimmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing here to see.

Overly-descriptive, overly witty dialogue, hints of southern dialects that seem to come and go with cause or reason, and a very, very slow-moving story that lets you wander to other topics.
It is the standard to describe things like he does not just draw his pistol out of the holster but his Sig Sauer and as boring as this had become, it is inconsistent. Why not the brand and model of the shotgun too?

If you overlook these elements and focus on the story being told and the untold one, there is not enough mystery or intrigue to keep you engaged. The story being told hops from place to place and because you are lulled into easy reading, you miss the clues.

The characters seem to know one another either too well or just well enough to distrust each other and the dynamics between them are forced through words, too many words.

My first and last by the author

[Kristel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A police proceduarl, CSI, X files type mystery, thriller that takes place in the Pacific Northwest. How do you go about collecting evidence on an alien encounter when the aliens don’t want to leave any evidence and you don’t know who’s who.
I read this through overdrive. It is a police procedural, mystery, supernatural thriller. If you like CSI stuff and forensics with lots of detail, this book has that. I actually found it okay. If you like forensics and x file stuff, this book might appeal. Overall, I found it interesting.

[Dorsi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book just wasn't for me. It was just all over the place and not my cup of tea.

[Mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh... So many adjectives. So many shallow characters. So many eye rolls...

[Loc'd Booktician · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I will read this book again.

[Penelope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very detailed well written tale of a crime scene investigator documenting a crime scene that might just be out of this world. Wonderfully narrated by Kevin Kenerly.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Believable killers, that turn out to be from outer space, and Colin Cellars, a forensic expert who gets in terrifyingly deep while trying to solve the mystery full of missing detectives, and bizarre murders.

[Slayermel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story had a very interesting twist to it that I was not expecting when I first picked it up.

Colin is a forensic scientist who ends up being sent out to a possible gun fire scene, where nothing seemes to be as it appears. Deputies are missing and the ones he comes across are so spooked, they seem to be jumping at their own shaddows.
On top of all of this, Colin thinks he knows who the victim is.

[Scotty · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only chose this book because I was traveling. It was an audiobook for me, and the reader (Kevin Kenerly) is a joy. If all of the adverbs were removed from this book, it was be three chapters long. The writing is repetitive and unimaginative. Listening to this book, I became obsessed with the thought of how easy it must be to publish a book. This book must have been written in a couple of hours after watching a sci-fi movie and maybe a clip of Walker, Texas Ranger. Silly things are mentioned all throughout the book. For example, when cars are on fire and the flames make it to the gas tank, the car does NOT explode like a bomb. Also, the protagonist in the book is a forensic scientist and claims, multiple times that blood doesn't have a lot of DNA in it. What? All blood, human or animal, contains 4–7 x 106 leucocytes per milliliter blood. This means that the DNA content can vary between 30 and 40 µg/ml blood which means that blood contains about 10x more DNA than RNA!
Writers like Ken Goddard and Patrick Rothfuss could probably make more money conducting seminars and how to NOT write a good book than the money they make off of sales. Some of the "literature" that publishing companies are placing on shelves today are atrocious! There are thousands of thousands of manuscripts being sent all over the world, seeking publishing or a literary agent; this is what is on the top of the stack?

[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holes in the plotlines and characters (especially since the ET's are supposed to be intelligent and the cop is supposedly very good at his job) leads to violence to preserve the Alien "rules" which are ridiculous in light of what they do. But overall, if you are not critical, it is an enjoyable read.

Personally I like technical info which is useful, but here it is used not to propel the story but as word filler for the book. I can see that it would be boring to some. This is what happens when the plot, patchy arc and characters are all lacking some solid structure and logic. Don't get me started on the stupid, weak romantic arc. They are trained and Colin at least couldn't figure out what the female was doing, really?

The first book ended leaving a lot hanging and unexplained. Moving on to book 2 of the series so Colin and his extra terrestrial mystery/detective fiction can tie up those bloody loose ends (hopefully).

This book is not thought provoking, enlightening or particularly memorable. It is a read and dump book for summer holidays or low activity periods.

[Any Length · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't that wrapped in this book. I felt like I was left waiting for something to happen. However, nothing much ever did. The story line was a bit weak. There was way too much emphasis on collecting evidence and what to do with it. The ease with which the protagonist gives himself to what he must suspect is an alien is annoying for someone who is portrayed as smart. The lack of detailed description of the "shaddows", becomes rather boring as one gets further into the book. The few scenes that promise excitement didn't deliver. All up I can't really recommend it other than to kill a rainy afternoon when you have nothing much else to read. Also I don't like authors resorting to killing dogs or other pets for their story. Come on guys, come up with something better to scare us readers. I was going to give 1.5 stars( not that that is possible here), but because of the dog I chose not to up it to 2 stars and instead scaled it down to one.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of First Evidence by Ken Goddard. It is the story of forensics expert, Colin Cellars as he investigates a gruesome crime in the back woods of Oregon. Cellars slowly and methodology maneuvers through all the twists and turns of the mystery thriller. But instead of being thrilling, it was just slow. This could have been a great book. This should have been a great book. The story of murder, forensic detection, and vivid speculation, pitting a unique crime scene investigator against an unknown and unbelievable culprit. What could be better? A better author would have been better. The reader clearly knew what was happening way before Cellars. We just had to wait and wait and wait some more for him to figure it out. By the time he figured it out I was cheering for the aliens.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were multiple reasons why I wanted to give this book 1 stars. It was really slow in some parts, it was repetitive in others and some of the forensic scenes were overly detailed. If there were 20 pieces of evidence he named, described, tagged, catalogued and numbered all of them. Every. Single. One. It was excessive and boring. In the end I decided on 2 stars because it did have some redeeming qualities. There were some hilarious scenes with the annoying sheriff that made me laugh out loud and despite the slow start there were some exciting action scenes.

[Erneilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forensic science meets sci-fi, with shadowy aliens and a determined investigator. As a forensic science practitioner myself and acquainted with the Oregon state crime lab system, it was a bit of a chuckle in some places.

[Holly Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unusual book for me, but I enjoyed it. Smartly written with great science and pretty believable. Good characters and fast paced.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is very meticulous in his descriptions of all the forensics. He describes all the evidence collection and examining in detail. When the main character, Collin, is walking in the woods or looking at something it is all described in such detail that you can really see it.
The story has Collin transferred to a southern Oregon law enforcement district to investigate the missing of some people and he has the chance to reunite with an old friend he hasn't seen in many years. They set up a date to meet but his friend doesn't show. He is then called to a crime scene and it appears to be his friend's cabins and his friend is dead. Things really start happening from their.
He starts seeing shadows that appear to move and be violent. He has a lot of mishaps while trying to get his evidence examined and some of it goes missing. He inadvertently involves his old girlfriend and it puts her life in danger. Another genius old friend also has some input. There is a woman who looks a lot like his old girlfriend and has some strange effects on him.
He is trying to figure out what is going on and every time he feels close something else happens. The shadows are dangerous and he feels like he might be going crazy. The evidence seems to show that there are creatures not from earth. When the woman finally tells him what she is and what they want and that they have his girlfriend he sets about figuring out a plan to get her back.

[Brandon Nichols · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise was more interesting than the writing. I was intrigued by the back of the book, but it took a while for our main character to catch up to what the readers had already surmised.

I'm always fascinated by lost potential. I think there was a better book that could have been written from this premise, but it was not to be.

The first half borders on maddening as Colin stumbles through confusing situations and fails to deal with the conclusions that the evidence pushes him towards.

The second half groans under the weight of coincidences and disparate connections. Somehow Colin has friends who are perfectly suited to help (or hamper) his progress. At the same time, we have situations and descriptions that are baffling.

I found myself lost on two or three occasions. The author loves an adverb and a firearm, perhaps too much. The idea was worth a second star, but the execution prevents me from giving any more.

It didn't make me want to read the sequels, but I would love to talk to someone who did, just to find out if Goddard wound up making it all worth it. (I'm not optimistic.)

[John (JP) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of a forensic investigator investigating the presence of aliens I thought was a novel idea. The audio book was a fun experience. There were parts where the forensic criminal investigator seemed in real danger. There were some funny incidents that lightened the dark mood of the book. The water's principal faultless in the actions of the investigator the police and the aliens. None of their actions or motives could stand up to serious examination.><> This book is not for serious mystery readers or highbrow science fiction readers. It is a a decent first novel. Its something you would read or listen to while you are waiting to get the book you really want to read from the library

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I saw where this book was going, at least in a general sense, there were enough details that were not as predictable as the book's premise, which kept it mildly interesting.

The narration bothered me a bit. The narrator's voice is not the issue, but the tone used sounds like a whisper, and turning it up loud enough not to miss details results in a "loud whisper" combination that is irritating. I thought I would get used to it as I usually do with distinct narrators, but I didn't.

This is the first book in a series, and although I don't feel like rushing to find the next book, I would definitely listen to the next book in audio format if I come across it or find it without difficulty.

[Nick Gehlbach · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely terrible. Somehow came up as a suggested read after checking out a lot of Michael Koryta and Harlan Coben books. The premise of this book was similar, so I gave it a shot.

I'm 2/3 of the way through the book. I'm just not going to be able to finish it. I'm pretty invested in knowing how it ends, but I just can't take anymore. For what it's worth, I did the audiobook. I can't imagine the reading experience would be much better.

The author is entirely too wordy and overly descriptive. Several things that happen during the story just do not make sense to do.

It was very hard to grind my teeth through and read. I would not recommend this book to anyone. I doubt I check out anything else by this author.

[Conni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my usual serial killer story, but I enjoyed it. Very well developed characters and fast paced plot. The narrator talked so fast at the beginning, I thought my audio was on fast speed. It made the fast paced story fly by at first. It wasn’t until the second chapter that I realized where the story was going. Set in Oregon with unidentified dangerous things in the dark. I was going to stop reading it right there, but the story caught me in its mystery and the characters kept me interested. The author is capable of describing in such detail that you can see, feel and smell it. I’m going to read the second in the series for the enjoyment of a really good read.

[Janet Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many have complained that this book is "slow," and it definitely has a slow first half, aside from the very beginning. I found much of the forensic stuff overdone--but I was stuck with the book due to being in a car with nothing else to put in my ears without a certain amount of effort, and about 40% in, I was really grabbed. There is humor, mystery, a cast of both intelligent and stereotypical characters, and a lot of procedural stuff that is mostly interesting. It's definitely X-File stuff, so be patient with that. I'll just say that it was annoying to have to recharge my battery about 60% through, and I couldn't turn it off as soon as I got it back in my ears