What do you think?
Rate this book
Alien Nation #7
Extreme Prejudice
On a business trip to Pittsburgh, detective Matthew Sikes and his Newcomer partner, George Francisco, stumble on what appears to be an unusual homicide. It isn't long before the case leads them to a frightening world of abuse and violence that set in motion the series of horrifying murders born of an unremiting hate-- murders that target only the innocent. With bodies piling up and time running out, Sikes and Francisco must race against the clock to stop the killing-- and face a terrifying monster from beyond the stars!
279 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1995
1 person is currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
L.A. Graf
25 books42 followersL.A. Graf reportedly stands for Let's All Get Rich and Famous. Its a pseudonym used by authors Karen Rose Cercone and Julia Ecklar.
They have co-written some eleven Star Trek novels. Their first Star Trek novel came out in 1990.
They have co-written some eleven Star Trek novels. Their first Star Trek novel came out in 1990.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 7, 2021
Apparently, Alien Nation was a TV show. I did not know that. Had I known, it's likely I wouldn't have purchased Extreme Prejudice due to significant prejudice about TV shows and, especially, books written on top of them.
Thankfully, L.A. Graf is a pen name for Julia Ecklar, author of Regenesis . I am dramatically disappointed that Ecklar doesn't have a more extensive catalog, so I was thrilled to find more.
Also, Extreme Prejudice takes place in my home city of Pittsburgh.
I clicked "order now" before finishing reading the back copy.
As this takes place in a ... what's the word for a shared fictional universe? I'll go with Franchise. Since this takes place in a Franchise, it seems expected that most readers will come into it knowing some things. Those things are:
1) Aliens crash-landed in the Mojave. Known to themselves as Tectonese and humans as "Newcomers," they've tried to assimilate into American life, though they almost exclusively live in Southern California.
2) This ship that crashed was a slaver ship. The majority of its inhabitants were slaves specially bred over generations to be strong, fast, etc. The brutal Overseers of the slaves were also Tectonese.
3) Matthew Silkes. He's a human LAPD cop and a bit of a loose cannon in that lovable way where he'll throttle a bigot even when there are cameras on him.
4) George Francisco. He's Matthew's partner and Tectonese. He's calm and analytical and practical and nervous. And who can blame him? He and his family survived unspeakable horror on the slave ship (that it seems they lived on their whole lives?) only to end up on a strange planet where they now have to worry about both the Overseers and human bigots.
5) It's been a few years since the Tectonese got here.
The Tectonese, for the most part, are happy to assimilate into American culture. While they're mostly accepted around LA, the rest of the United States either hardly knows they exist or hates them on principle. To this end, the Tectonese decide it's time to put on a symposium and showcase both what they've done to enhance human society and how well they work together with humans in their home of LA.
Unfortunately for the Tectonese, who loathe the cold, this symposium takes place in Pittsburgh in the middle of winter.
Naturally, George will talk at this conference about his experiences as the only Tectonese cop and how he collaborates with his human partner. Cathy, a brilliant Tectonese scientist and Matthew's girlfriend, will be discussing the impact of her research.
With the two most important people in Matthew's life talking at this symposium, it's a given that he's going to be there, even if it's not really his thing. He expects a few dull days of talks, a few pleasant nights with his girlfriend, and to get back home to LA.
Then one of the Tectonese disappears and a ransom note comes in with outlandish demands about isolating the Tectonese in the Mojave desert. It looks like typical "Purist" bigotry ... until a Tectonese woman is found torn in pieces in her hotel room.
Matthew and George aren't cops in Pittsburgh. Yet, as they watch the local Pittsburgh police and the FBI struggle, mostly due to their lack of knowledge about the Tectonese and their "Purist" antagonists, they realize finding the killer is going to be up to them. So long as it doesn't kill them, first.
I wouldn't say I'm experienced with police procedurals*, but that seems to be what Extreme Prejudice is. We've got two cops—partners—out to solve the crime and save the day.
I'm not sure if it's common for police procedurals to take on horror vibes, but they show up here. Something rent that Tectonese woman limb from limb and left her scattered about her room. Even by murder standards, that ain't natural. And that niggling dread over what could have done that lingers...
Even after the murder, the symposium continues. The Tectonese, most of them previous slaves, are capable of handling extreme psychological pressure, and they refuse to cower before whoever wants them to shut up, go home, and hide.
So we've got a big, fancy hotel swirling with people. There are the Tectonese, of course, but there's also hotel staff, media, politicians, organizers, fans, hangers-on. They're all there, doing their thing, and you know that something is watching, waiting, and will strike again. It might even be among them already.
I liked this low-key horror vibe, but it did come with a problem. This isn't a horror book. It's not even a thriller; the tone can't be tension and fear non-stop. So it makes sense that, aside from heightened security, the symposium doesn't seem impacted by the murder. But at the same time, it was weird to have someone torn apart in one chapter and then have everyone acting more-or-less normal in the next. And as the danger mounts, this disconnect between tone and danger is felt more keenly. It's not absurd, mind you; it just occasionally makes it harder to suspend disbelief. Thankfully this doesn't last: once the shit hits the fan, the tone finds the right vibe and stays there through the ending.
Aside from this being the sort of book with a good balance of hints, hooks, and questions—which can be satisfying if done right—my favorite part about Extreme Prejudice is Matthew.
As established, he's a loose cannon. He's got way too much of a temper, and he's maybe a bit ego-centric in that way where he thinks he's taking care of others. Thing is, he wants to be doing weird random cop shit even if Cathy would rather he pay attention to her thing for, like, a few hours. That's kinda classic "fictional cop," and is not the reason I liked his character.
What I think escapes the trope is Matthew's racism.
Note, in the book, they use the term "racism" to describe anti-alien sentiments as well as racial sentiments, so I'm going to use it in that context.
Matthew is dating a Tectonese woman. His partner is a Tectonese man. He's dedicated a lot of time, energy, sweat, and blood to fighting the "Purists" that would see the Tectonese, at best, exiled. He feels strongly about racial justice and can and will spot institutionalized racism.
And within the first chapter of the book, he looks at the plane full of Tectonese, and his skin crawls. He's the only human. The moment passes, and he feels guilt and revulsion over that split-second where something seeped out from his subconscious. He takes a second to confront the ugliness of his thought, discards it as unreasonable, then shakes it off and keeps moving.
I love the nuance here. All too often, racism is seen as binary. Either you're the sort who will throw racial slurs around, or you're not. Either you're the sort of person who would never hire a person of color, or you're not. But, of course, racism is on a spectrum with no definitive boundaries. And just because you're generally good about racial issues doesn't mean that there isn't any racism lurking in there, subconsciously steering you in unintentionally racist ways.
Matthew is a good guy and an interesting one because he notices those moments and doesn't let them get the best of him.
Another endearing part of Matthew's character is that he's not the machismo sort; Cathy, physically, exceeds him in pretty much every way. That doesn't seem so strange until she picks Matthew up during an intimate moment. I feel like the average man would feel that's emasculating. Matthew doesn't even think twice about it. His girlfriend is naturally strong. That doesn't affect him in any way.
In general, though, Extreme Prejudice ended up being more about racism than I expected. I'm not sure if it's a common theme across the books and TV show, but it's central to this novel. There's the intra-racial racism of the Tectonese Overseers and the Tectonese Slaves. Then, of course, there's the inter-racial racism of Americans against the Tectonese. It's not always where you'd expect it to be, but it's there.
I'm glad that these seemingly weird books that aren't High Literature and aren't purposefully pontificating on morality discuss topics such as racism. It would be inauthentic for this world not to suffer from Human-Tectonese racism. I was surprised, though, because I thought I was opting into something goofy/campy. Which I thought my blog, ForFemFan, and I could use after my Treatise on the Unacceptable Conflation of Fetuses and the Disabled: Dissecting the Works of Sheri Tepper .
Instead, I contemplated the perverse and invasive nature of racism. Even as horrible motherfuckers in my country are stoking the flames and hate crimes against Asians have sky-rocketed, and we're having a trial about whether a Black man the world watched be murdered was, in fact, murdered. So, this wasn't as chill as I had hoped. The message stands, though. And good on even goofy sci-fi and fantasy for pointing this shit out.
On the more light-hearted end of things, the showdown occurs in the Pittsburgh Zoo! Even better, the author did her research! At one point, Matthew scrambles onto a big ol' rock between the rhino pen and the lion's enclosure, and I squealed because I know that rock! It's technically a replica of a termite mound, but Matthew had better things to do than read the placard. I get it.
All-in-all, Extreme Prejudice was an interesting novel that, I suspect, would scratch a police procedural itch. The technical writing is solid. The characterization is surprisingly good given this isn't a character-driven sort of book. The plot holds up, and the creepy tension surrounding the murder has a nice heft. The end is a bit weird, but I didn't hate it. While far from my usual read, this was an enjoyable addition to ForFemFan and a good reminder of why my reading guidelines, outside of "old," "woman-authored," and "speculative," are so wide open.
*I'm not going to go off like I did on Jinian Star-Eye, but I did want to mention the potentially harmful effect of police procedurals, specifically as they apply to the United States. Due to space limitations, these comments live on my blog, where I review vintage, woman-authored sff. You can dig in at ForFemFan.
Thankfully, L.A. Graf is a pen name for Julia Ecklar, author of Regenesis . I am dramatically disappointed that Ecklar doesn't have a more extensive catalog, so I was thrilled to find more.
Also, Extreme Prejudice takes place in my home city of Pittsburgh.
I clicked "order now" before finishing reading the back copy.
As this takes place in a ... what's the word for a shared fictional universe? I'll go with Franchise. Since this takes place in a Franchise, it seems expected that most readers will come into it knowing some things. Those things are:
1) Aliens crash-landed in the Mojave. Known to themselves as Tectonese and humans as "Newcomers," they've tried to assimilate into American life, though they almost exclusively live in Southern California.
2) This ship that crashed was a slaver ship. The majority of its inhabitants were slaves specially bred over generations to be strong, fast, etc. The brutal Overseers of the slaves were also Tectonese.
3) Matthew Silkes. He's a human LAPD cop and a bit of a loose cannon in that lovable way where he'll throttle a bigot even when there are cameras on him.
4) George Francisco. He's Matthew's partner and Tectonese. He's calm and analytical and practical and nervous. And who can blame him? He and his family survived unspeakable horror on the slave ship (that it seems they lived on their whole lives?) only to end up on a strange planet where they now have to worry about both the Overseers and human bigots.
5) It's been a few years since the Tectonese got here.
The Tectonese, for the most part, are happy to assimilate into American culture. While they're mostly accepted around LA, the rest of the United States either hardly knows they exist or hates them on principle. To this end, the Tectonese decide it's time to put on a symposium and showcase both what they've done to enhance human society and how well they work together with humans in their home of LA.
Unfortunately for the Tectonese, who loathe the cold, this symposium takes place in Pittsburgh in the middle of winter.
Naturally, George will talk at this conference about his experiences as the only Tectonese cop and how he collaborates with his human partner. Cathy, a brilliant Tectonese scientist and Matthew's girlfriend, will be discussing the impact of her research.
With the two most important people in Matthew's life talking at this symposium, it's a given that he's going to be there, even if it's not really his thing. He expects a few dull days of talks, a few pleasant nights with his girlfriend, and to get back home to LA.
Then one of the Tectonese disappears and a ransom note comes in with outlandish demands about isolating the Tectonese in the Mojave desert. It looks like typical "Purist" bigotry ... until a Tectonese woman is found torn in pieces in her hotel room.
Matthew and George aren't cops in Pittsburgh. Yet, as they watch the local Pittsburgh police and the FBI struggle, mostly due to their lack of knowledge about the Tectonese and their "Purist" antagonists, they realize finding the killer is going to be up to them. So long as it doesn't kill them, first.
I wouldn't say I'm experienced with police procedurals*, but that seems to be what Extreme Prejudice is. We've got two cops—partners—out to solve the crime and save the day.
I'm not sure if it's common for police procedurals to take on horror vibes, but they show up here. Something rent that Tectonese woman limb from limb and left her scattered about her room. Even by murder standards, that ain't natural. And that niggling dread over what could have done that lingers...
Even after the murder, the symposium continues. The Tectonese, most of them previous slaves, are capable of handling extreme psychological pressure, and they refuse to cower before whoever wants them to shut up, go home, and hide.
So we've got a big, fancy hotel swirling with people. There are the Tectonese, of course, but there's also hotel staff, media, politicians, organizers, fans, hangers-on. They're all there, doing their thing, and you know that something is watching, waiting, and will strike again. It might even be among them already.
I liked this low-key horror vibe, but it did come with a problem. This isn't a horror book. It's not even a thriller; the tone can't be tension and fear non-stop. So it makes sense that, aside from heightened security, the symposium doesn't seem impacted by the murder. But at the same time, it was weird to have someone torn apart in one chapter and then have everyone acting more-or-less normal in the next. And as the danger mounts, this disconnect between tone and danger is felt more keenly. It's not absurd, mind you; it just occasionally makes it harder to suspend disbelief. Thankfully this doesn't last: once the shit hits the fan, the tone finds the right vibe and stays there through the ending.
Aside from this being the sort of book with a good balance of hints, hooks, and questions—which can be satisfying if done right—my favorite part about Extreme Prejudice is Matthew.
As established, he's a loose cannon. He's got way too much of a temper, and he's maybe a bit ego-centric in that way where he thinks he's taking care of others. Thing is, he wants to be doing weird random cop shit even if Cathy would rather he pay attention to her thing for, like, a few hours. That's kinda classic "fictional cop," and is not the reason I liked his character.
What I think escapes the trope is Matthew's racism.
Note, in the book, they use the term "racism" to describe anti-alien sentiments as well as racial sentiments, so I'm going to use it in that context.
Matthew is dating a Tectonese woman. His partner is a Tectonese man. He's dedicated a lot of time, energy, sweat, and blood to fighting the "Purists" that would see the Tectonese, at best, exiled. He feels strongly about racial justice and can and will spot institutionalized racism.
And within the first chapter of the book, he looks at the plane full of Tectonese, and his skin crawls. He's the only human. The moment passes, and he feels guilt and revulsion over that split-second where something seeped out from his subconscious. He takes a second to confront the ugliness of his thought, discards it as unreasonable, then shakes it off and keeps moving.
I love the nuance here. All too often, racism is seen as binary. Either you're the sort who will throw racial slurs around, or you're not. Either you're the sort of person who would never hire a person of color, or you're not. But, of course, racism is on a spectrum with no definitive boundaries. And just because you're generally good about racial issues doesn't mean that there isn't any racism lurking in there, subconsciously steering you in unintentionally racist ways.
Matthew is a good guy and an interesting one because he notices those moments and doesn't let them get the best of him.
Another endearing part of Matthew's character is that he's not the machismo sort; Cathy, physically, exceeds him in pretty much every way. That doesn't seem so strange until she picks Matthew up during an intimate moment. I feel like the average man would feel that's emasculating. Matthew doesn't even think twice about it. His girlfriend is naturally strong. That doesn't affect him in any way.
In general, though, Extreme Prejudice ended up being more about racism than I expected. I'm not sure if it's a common theme across the books and TV show, but it's central to this novel. There's the intra-racial racism of the Tectonese Overseers and the Tectonese Slaves. Then, of course, there's the inter-racial racism of Americans against the Tectonese. It's not always where you'd expect it to be, but it's there.
I'm glad that these seemingly weird books that aren't High Literature and aren't purposefully pontificating on morality discuss topics such as racism. It would be inauthentic for this world not to suffer from Human-Tectonese racism. I was surprised, though, because I thought I was opting into something goofy/campy. Which I thought my blog, ForFemFan, and I could use after my Treatise on the Unacceptable Conflation of Fetuses and the Disabled: Dissecting the Works of Sheri Tepper .
Instead, I contemplated the perverse and invasive nature of racism. Even as horrible motherfuckers in my country are stoking the flames and hate crimes against Asians have sky-rocketed, and we're having a trial about whether a Black man the world watched be murdered was, in fact, murdered. So, this wasn't as chill as I had hoped. The message stands, though. And good on even goofy sci-fi and fantasy for pointing this shit out.
On the more light-hearted end of things, the showdown occurs in the Pittsburgh Zoo! Even better, the author did her research! At one point, Matthew scrambles onto a big ol' rock between the rhino pen and the lion's enclosure, and I squealed because I know that rock! It's technically a replica of a termite mound, but Matthew had better things to do than read the placard. I get it.
All-in-all, Extreme Prejudice was an interesting novel that, I suspect, would scratch a police procedural itch. The technical writing is solid. The characterization is surprisingly good given this isn't a character-driven sort of book. The plot holds up, and the creepy tension surrounding the murder has a nice heft. The end is a bit weird, but I didn't hate it. While far from my usual read, this was an enjoyable addition to ForFemFan and a good reminder of why my reading guidelines, outside of "old," "woman-authored," and "speculative," are so wide open.
*I'm not going to go off like I did on Jinian Star-Eye, but I did want to mention the potentially harmful effect of police procedurals, specifically as they apply to the United States. Due to space limitations, these comments live on my blog, where I review vintage, woman-authored sff. You can dig in at ForFemFan.
July 22, 2023
Unlike most of the books in the "Alien Nation" novelization series, this is a story that was never made into either a television episode or a movie. I loved it. It made a lot of sense within that universe, it heightened the horror of the Newcomers' former enslaved lives, and advanced four of the main characters – George, Matt, Susan, and Cathy – in ways that felt realistic for their character a few years after the final movie. The action was well-paced as was the humor, both of which were integral to the series and movies.
May 19, 2025
I couldn’t decide if this was a 3 or 4 star book. The story itself is a bit haphazard. There’s several parts that are a little repetitive but overall it’s an enjoyable story. What finally clinched it and bumped it to 4 stars was the way that the writer really nailed the chemistry between Sikes and Francisco. They did a really great job with all of the characters but particularly the core relationship between the two principal characters.
February 19, 2018
An intense and challenging read on aspects of how we see ourselves and others. Great series.
January 17, 2016
Matt, Cathy, Susan and George have all flown to Pittsburgh for some kind of Newcomer media gathering. Within minutes after they have left the plane, Sikes is fighting with three Purists who are those who hate Newcomers. Keep in mind that there are still very few Newcomers living other than in California, so the Purist hate in the Eastern portion of the U.S. makes even less sense (if it could make any sense at all, actually.)
When the group gets to their hotel, their's more trouble and Cathy is slightly injured. At the first dinner, a protester causes verbal trouble, and another throws a skinned dead monkey on to the Newcomer's table to scare them.
A co-theme to the human prejudice against the Newcomers is the storyline dealing with an Overseer, and the prejudice within the Newcomer ranks themselves while still on the ship, and even afterward.
George and Susan are trying to get some sleep when George gets a phone call, which turns out to be a bomb threat. The Overseer they meet at the convention apparently gets taken by the Purists.
The Purists put out a demand that all Newcomers be taken back to the Mohave desert and kept there. George says that the government would never do that, but an FBI agent there says that the government did it to the Japanese during WWII. This is one of the rare times I find any reference outside of factual books to the internment of persons of Japanese ancestry, including mostly American-born persons of Japanese descent, during WWII.
One of the Newcomer women is killed, her body literally torn to pieces.
(I'm going to guess here that the missing Newcomer was actually part of the murder, perhaps helped by one or two other Newcomers.)
Another Newcomer is murdered, and the chain to his hotel room is still on when George and Matt get there.
Matt gets into a fight with a Newcomer creature, a variation on a bloodhound, basically, called a levpa. It had been used to track escaped Newcomer slaves.
The rest of the novel is spent in the pursuit of the levpa and the person controlling it.
It's a really, really good story, again with a very strong anti-prejudice message. My only criticism would be that it's extremely obvious very early on who the actual criminal is, so there was no surprise when his identity was revealed.
When the group gets to their hotel, their's more trouble and Cathy is slightly injured. At the first dinner, a protester causes verbal trouble, and another throws a skinned dead monkey on to the Newcomer's table to scare them.
A co-theme to the human prejudice against the Newcomers is the storyline dealing with an Overseer, and the prejudice within the Newcomer ranks themselves while still on the ship, and even afterward.
George and Susan are trying to get some sleep when George gets a phone call, which turns out to be a bomb threat. The Overseer they meet at the convention apparently gets taken by the Purists.
The Purists put out a demand that all Newcomers be taken back to the Mohave desert and kept there. George says that the government would never do that, but an FBI agent there says that the government did it to the Japanese during WWII. This is one of the rare times I find any reference outside of factual books to the internment of persons of Japanese ancestry, including mostly American-born persons of Japanese descent, during WWII.
One of the Newcomer women is killed, her body literally torn to pieces.
(I'm going to guess here that the missing Newcomer was actually part of the murder, perhaps helped by one or two other Newcomers.)
Another Newcomer is murdered, and the chain to his hotel room is still on when George and Matt get there.
Matt gets into a fight with a Newcomer creature, a variation on a bloodhound, basically, called a levpa. It had been used to track escaped Newcomer slaves.
The rest of the novel is spent in the pursuit of the levpa and the person controlling it.
It's a really, really good story, again with a very strong anti-prejudice message. My only criticism would be that it's extremely obvious very early on who the actual criminal is, so there was no surprise when his identity was revealed.
November 14, 2015
I was disappointed when this show was cancelled. I always found the aliens to be quite interesting. I always wondered what would it be like if the Tenctonese ever moved out of the Los Angeles area.
Extreme Prejudice book answers some of those questions. I never knew that the Newcomers had a problem with cold, or if I did, I forgot about it. The killer I also found to be interesting, and it was great learning about how George was considered a troublemaker back on the ship and had to be hunted down multiple times because he was running away.
L.A. Graf did a wonderful job of portraying the main characters and making Matt just a little more volatile.
I did enjoy Extreme Prejudice and it was nice to read about Sikes and Francisco again.
I rated this book a 7 out of 10.
Extreme Prejudice book answers some of those questions. I never knew that the Newcomers had a problem with cold, or if I did, I forgot about it. The killer I also found to be interesting, and it was great learning about how George was considered a troublemaker back on the ship and had to be hunted down multiple times because he was running away.
L.A. Graf did a wonderful job of portraying the main characters and making Matt just a little more volatile.
I did enjoy Extreme Prejudice and it was nice to read about Sikes and Francisco again.
I rated this book a 7 out of 10.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews