Effie

by C.J. Williams

Effie didn’t intend to bring death and destruction to Earth. But with Enforcers in hot pursuit, Special Agent EAFY584 can only escape by crashing her stolen starship out of hyperspace into an uncharted solar system. Fortunately for her, the planet called Earth has a human population. Unfortunately for them, standard Enforcer procedure is to sterilize any planet where a spy might be hiding.

WHAT CAN YOU DO WHEN DISASTER IS COMING AND NOBODY CARES?

To outward appearances, Effie is a typical human teenager. She claims it's part of her undercover work on another world. Whether that's true or not, the disguise works. When she tries to warn the government the world is in danger, no one takes her seriously. The only person who will listen is a lonely old cowboy and he’s already at death’s door. Maybe if she plays her cards just right, his help will be enough.

HONESTY MAY NOT BE THE BEST POLICY

Effie knows that the Enforcers will arrive sooner or later, so she does everything in her power to be up front with the government. She admits she's an alien, she admits she's from outer space, and tells everyone she wants to help. But who listens to a young woman about a potential alien invasion?

JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE WON'T LISTEN DOESN'T MEAN THE THREAT ISN'T REAL.

Effie has no choice, she must prepare for battle. She goes into the global marketplace and sells her technology, a little here, a little there. She'll get ready for the bad guys on her own. But that is just step one. Step two means taking the fight to the Enforcers' home system. After all, if you are going to stand up to a bully, you better be ready to finish the job. And if that means dragging Earth into an interplanetary war, they'll have to get used to it.

Genres: Science Fiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 20, 2019

About the author

CJ Williams is a husband and wife writing team. He was a military pilot, and she was an artist. Today, they live in Washington State, enjoy hiking in the Olympic Mountains, boating in the Salish Sea, and writing.

Librarian note: There are multiple authors by this name in the GR database.

Reviews

[Dane Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The road not taken but longer and YA

Basically fleshed out the short story "the road not taken" but executed poorly.

The main character is supposed to be a super agent but was honestly not very smart. Take her out of the story and honestly the AI would have got things done fine without her.

I like my protagonists and the villains to have a brain.

Not a bad book, just not great and basically YA

[Leo R. Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad ass girl hero

Who doesn’t like an underdog story mixed with a first contact scenario? This is a unique story done just right. Usually in these underdog hero stories there are a series of setbacks that are meant to add suspense and excitement to the story but often just distract from the character development already established for our hero. Not so with this one! Effie’s strength of character is set early on and is maintained throughout. Not that there aren’t setbacks. It’s just that when they occur they are resolved with 0 damage to the hero’s character. Is it realistic? No. But who reads these escapist sci-fi stories for realism? The story falls short of five stars only because the accompanying characters are not so well fleshed out; particularly the villains. But overall a very satisfying read, enough to make me want to pick up another Williams story.

[Don Oberg-Hauser · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice YA story about a woman of indeterminate age to flees to Earth and hides from other aliens. She befriends an old farmer and convinces him to help her. Her plan to stay safe is to help Earth improve its technology enough to defend against the aliens she knows are hunting her.

The story itself is fine. It's definitely a happy ending type of story suitable, perhaps, for young adults but not so satisfying for older readers. There can't be a sequel because she thoroughly accomplishes everything by the end of the story. Might have been nice to have a bit of a cliff hanger for a sequel.

[William Howe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amateur hour

And I’m not talking about the writing...or at least not exclusively.

A navy captain should be more competent, as should a Lieutenant General. If I wasn’t aware the writers had a military background I would say they are clueless.

Wanders a bit too close to ‘MarySue’ land. Bad guys are incompetent, good guys make good choices, good guys design weapons with tech everyone else had for generations that no one else has...and the plot only moves when the MC is present.

I had to stop when they started installing an American democracy on a planet with a feudal tradition. It’s not that easy.

Still readable, but it’s not well crafted SF.

DNF

[Joseph P. Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read

Fun read. It wasn’t high fiction but the writing was engaging in while the plug was a bit deus ex machina it was great fun nonetheless. I recommended for a cold winter afternoon to cuddle up with a cup of tea or coffee or even cocoa and enjoy the ride.

[lesley serrano · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun read

I really, really liked Effie and Vern esp Vern. He is a good foil to Effie. Great storyline though space battles are simplistic. Have CJ hire out the writing about battles otherwise an excellent read.

[Tom Hare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It has a mixture of sci fi, geo politics and economics. There is exciting space and ground combat with break down of tactics, a little bit of romance. There is also the self aware AI and good old fashioned cowboy.

[Danie Darling · Rating 5 out of 5]

C.J. is my new favorite author.

This the third book I've read by C.J. Williams. Each was different, each was excellent. The next book I'll read is the broker. Keep up the great work!

[C A Winters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Fun

Effie looks like kid, but isn’t. ‘Prime Directive’ isn’t her style. Brings lots of High Tech to Earth to save the planet.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun to read!

[Emil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was initially suspicious of the apparent age gap between Effie and the love interest, like what was the authors' angle with it? But my worries proved unfounded and I was treated to a "adventure in space" kind of a thing that kept me up far later than I had planned.

Considering the fairly big plot for a single book I say the authors' did a damn a good job pulling it together, just don't expect any extra layers/complexity to characters or their interactions.

If you wish to explore some of the themes in the depth afforded by a long series, I would look to Mackey Chandler's "April" series for something quite similar in tone/style.

[Celia Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and Enjoyable

Effie is a hopeful first contact book. She isn't a know-it-all, but has the smarts and determination to get it done. Vern isn't a push-over guy, but strong and adds the reasonable curb to Effie's just do it desires. Bailey is what we all hope an AM will be, and funny, too! The story plays out in a reasonable, reasoned fashion, yet moves along with enough action to keep you turning pages. Like Mikey, I liked it👍

[Martin Rugroden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost a 5

First of all this is a good story. An alien looking like a 15 year old girl ends up on Earth and is being pursued by... No, you'll have to read the book. For those who care the editing is very good. Not the usual sloppy junk that passes for writing from some so called authors. Aside from a couple of minor errors I have to question one thing. If the hero is a girl why does she have an adams apple? We may never know unless there's a sequel.

[Dave Withe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good read

I think I've found another favorite writer (team).

Their style reminds me of an adult version of the old Tom S'ft Jr. novels I read as a kid.

But stylistically rough or not they spin good yarns. Lot's of action. Right triumphs over evil. Earth Humans are superior to the alien empires.

Less character development than Itry to put into my stories, but fun to read.

[Geary Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable

I glanced at this book half a dozen times before i decided to read it. Should have read it sooner. It starts out a little ordinary but builds the story all the way to the end. I really enjoyed the detailed planning of the heros. It follows a political path that sounds all to plausible. If someone ever shows up I hope they have the same ethics as Mrs. Mcbride 🙂

[Linda Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kinda book!!

Wonderful characterisation with a heartwarming, charming and deeply interesting story. Plenty of action with a strong female lead. Love that CJ Williams is a husband/wife team!!

[Denzil Ernstzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely fantastic

I really enjoy your writing and look forward to every book that you release. This is the 2nd time I have read the story and it still brings smiles to my face. Thank you for being a writer.

[Barbara S Lehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

Always is a great read from this fantastic writer. All his series here great. Can't wait for next warlord book!

[Larry Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

This was a great read. Loved the characters and their development. I'll definitely be reading more from this author when the next book comes out

[Vikarti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hoped for much better story given blurb and initial chapters.
I also hoped that author remember basic school courses (both in physics and social sciences)

[Persnickety · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just plain fun.

A pleasant surprise. One of the better stand alone books I've read; nothing missing and a solid ending. Thank you.

[neal mirin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book

Yes it was funny , delightful, charming, read it.
The carrottur s where smarter ,driven, with the ad of a A1.

[James LaRue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice romp

While the characters aren't as fully drawn as might be, the writing is practiced and confident. The story moves well, with some interesting twists. Enjoyed it.

[john shook · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointed

I have read other stories by these same authors. I must say this one was a huge disappointment. Very amateurish writing very little story development.

[Matt Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

My new favorite author

My second CJ book and it didn’t disappoint! Witty and fun, epic and exciting - hard to put down. I look forward to catching up on all of CJ’s novels.