Who? Phane and Flooma, of course, aliens from the planet Vikos, stranded on Earth. You haven’t heard? They escaped the compound out in the desert near Sparks, Nevada where the rest of the Vikosian expedition is held prisoner by Rimar, the tyrannical commander. Rimar plans to invade Earth and keep small herds of humans in pens for extraction of their antibodies. That will allow Vikosians to survive Earth’s pathogens.

Ex-cop Lou Buck and his daughter, Lacey, are not fond of Rimar’s idea. Nor is Jeff Goldfarb, head of the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Why can’t we find a compromise, he wonders. It doesn’t have to be War of the Worlds. You would lose that war, Phane says. Nothing can withstand Rimar’s power.

Will Lou Buck save the world? Find out. Get the novel, Alien Panic, at Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/173389277X) in paperback, or on Smashwords (https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1022025) as an Epub ebook. The Kindle version is at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L5LBTJT.

Alien Panic is the second in the “Phane” series, featuring Phane Vikos, a green tennis ball of an alien who can also take humanoid form as needed. I present the alien series as sci-fi because what else can I do with green aliens? But Alien Panic, like all my “psi-fi” novels is really a psychological study. Lou and his daughter become close friends with Phane and Flooma. It may not matter what your friends look like, but it does kind of matter if their government is trying to take over the Earth. Where are the boundaries of friendship?

A sub-theme in Alien Panic includes the psychological effects of opioids and addiction to them. Lou is a recovering addict. The Vikosians don’t understand the attraction of drugs, at least not at first.

Another theme is the meaning of gender. Vikosians are genetically identical and all look the same, and they are not gendered. Lou has a hard time wrapping his head around that idea.

I know better than to have characters give speeches about such themes. My challenge is to write a rousing adventure tale with the psychological ideas woven in. Some readers get the message, some don’t. But as long as readers are happy, I’m happy.

Make yourself happy: Get a copy of Alien Panic. You’ll love it.