This year, things have gotten so crazy that nothing really surprises us anymore. In fact, if a spaceship were to land in our back yard, most of us would probably just shrug it off as just another day in 2020. But in The Intergalactic Interloper by Delas Heras, the event causes chaos for a group of neighbors...

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery

A book set in 1995 with a sci-fi/ comedy blend made this such a fun read! I loved the characters, the pacing and the writing! I never pick up comedy or any books hinting at this, but i was intrigued by this concept and I highly recommend!

The intergalactic interloper was an interesting read. A little quirky, a little funny and a little cliched.
Overall, it was quite entertaining read.

Thank you @Netgalley for this ARC

Oh I do love a good sci fi especially a quirky one and this book was just that. It certainly made me chuckle and put a smile on my face. It’s a lighthearted, fun read that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
The story is basically about Ollie who loses his pet Cat, Pirate and his search to find him. However, even though this is the main premise of the book, there are an array of characters with their own stories and of course a two-headed turtle like alien species to throw in the mix.
The book flows easily and I was desperate to find out what happened to Pirate. My only criticism is I would have liked to have learnt more about some of the other characters stories but the book was a short read. It could’ve been longer and maybe we could have had more about some of the other colourful and interesting characters.

this was a really enjoyable read, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the scifi elements. I look forward to more from the author.

I picked up this novel because I was intrigued by the cover art and the back of the book description. I was looking for a palate cleanser after reading an intense psychological horror novel, and I hoped The Intergalactic Interloper would provide a bit of comedy and fun. In some ways, it delivered. I casually read this book in one sitting, amused by some of the character’s discussions and antics. In other ways, I think this story didn’t reach it’s full potential.

My main concern with this book lies in the plot. If this were a middle school or young adult novel, I think it would be a home run. The story starts with fun looking aliens landing in New York City to study not just humans but cats. Ollie’s cat has gone missing, but not because the aliens have abducted it. Unfortunately, the aliens have little to do with any of the characters until the final moments, which is a shame since they are the most interesting piece of the story. I would have loved for their role to play a larger part from the beginning. Without them, the book focuses on Ollie’s quest to find Pirate, his missing cat, with the help of his bandmate Zara.

This is when the story started to remind me of the Air Bud movie franchise. There’s an pet owner, a “not too evil but evil enough” villain who hates animals, and a bit of high jinks to rescue the creature in distress. As an adult, this type of story doesn’t hold my attention. Even when I look for wholesome reads, I still long for the content to rise to a certain level of adult humor. This is where the alien sub-plot could have been utilized. As written, the main story line works better for a younger audience.

I love short reads that I can finish in a day! This was one that I enjoyed, but missed the mark somehow to have me give it a full five stars. There was some humor, but the author maybe had too many perspectives.

Thank you to NetGalley, Delas Heras, and BooksGoSocial for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 Stars.

It doesn't happen often, but this book made me miss living in NYC in my twenties, being broke, and yet still feeling like anything was possible. The Intergalactic Interloper is a sci-fi book only by chance. Yes, there is an alien, (AxzleProva) but to me, the alien seemed like the least important part of the book. Ollie is looking for his cat, struggling to keep a job, and trying to convince his friends that he hasn't gone crazy when he tells them he's seen an alien. Zara is finishing up her last year of veterinary school, trying to hide who she was before moving to NYC, and incredibly worried about Ollie. Although the book focuses on Ollie and Zara, the cast of characters is all so charming and relatable that I wanted more from each story. I especially loved Cassandra and the snippets we get about her life. This book is an easy 5/5 stars for me, and I hope to read a lot more from Heras.

The Intergalactic Interloper is first novel by American author, Delas Heras. Ollie’s cat, Pirate is missing. The well-fed black and white calico tom comes and goes at will via the cat flap to the fire escape of his shoebox NYC apartment but, strangely, he hasn’t touched dinner and hasn’t come for breakfast. As Ollie peers out from the fire escape for any sign of the cat, he sees something bizarre on a nearby rooftop. He is unaffected by alcohol or substance, so when he sees a green two-headed turtle-like being vaporise a pigeon on a water tower, he concludes: alien; and worries for the feline’s welfare.

AxzleProva is/are on the planet to identify intelligent life that might fit the Amalgamation’s criteria for inclusion, but they are meant to be acting completely under any radar, so vaporising a pigeon breaks lots of rules. It’s not homo sapiens they are looking at: “…humans were meddling and murderous overgrown monkeys, and the whole planet was infested with them. For now at least, they were confined to this small backwater world, but they shuddered to think of what would happen if humans ever found their way out into the greater galaxy or beyond.”

No, they are interested in a different species: “… the fur-covered quadruped known to Earth biologists as Felis catus, but referred to locally as a house cat. This clever parasitic species had figured out how to get humans to cater to them night and day. While clearly predators and occasionally aggressive, they were not warlike, and they spent most of their free time dozing peacefully, an attribute that was known to be heavily favored by the Inclusion Committee.”

Is Ollie right to be worried? When he shares what he saw on the rooftop with his closest friends, the general reaction is one of concern for his sanity, as he had expected. But the singer in his jam session band is a Veterinary intern and understands his anxiety, although she summarily dismisses the alien theory. She does have some good ideas about finding lost cats, though…

What fun! Heras’s writing has the feel of a sixties American sitcom: the characters are a little quirky, the dialogue is clever and snappy, and the alien/s is/are very amusing. There’s a lot of tongue-in-cheek humour in there, as well as some insightful commentary on the common behaviour of our species. This would translate very well to the small screen. Very entertaining!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Books Go Social.

This was a fun fast read that I think my teen son will also love. It’s a comedy/sci-fi novel set in 1995, with quirky fun characters that will leave you wanting more. In fact my only complaint is I wish it were longer.

This book was just what I needed! It was excellent and if I could rate it higher than 5 stars I would.

In the current pandemic life has been short of laughs, light hearted humour and general happiness and enjoyment from things so when I downloaded Intergalactic Interloper I was hooked from the first chapter.

I loved how this book had each chapter from a different perspective, it helped to move the story along and gave us the chance to see the backdrop of New York from so many different perspectives.

I was initially confused as the title implies the story will focus solely on our Alien visitors, but once I got deeper into the book I realised that wasn't the case. That each individual person or being that we were focusing on at any one time were there for the value of a persons POV, the true lead of the story was New York City and the many ways relationships are formed.

Once I realised this I absolutely LOVED reading everyone's connections and interactions with the aliens on the roof, it was brilliant to see so many different reactions through different eyes.

We also were treated to these truly beautiful graphics at the start of each chapter, which I thought added the perfect finishing touch.

I do think my favourite part was the ending, not because it meant the book was finished I wished it was longer in fact, but because of the way AxzleProva dealt with Mrs Butler, and the way that they were debating between themselves how to deal with her. It just rounded off the book perfectly.

On the whole, I absolutely adored Intergalactic Interloper, it was a light hearted, cheeky and funny read that brought a lot of joy and happiness to my bookshelf!

This was a fun little short novel about a man named Ollie's adventure to find his lost cat, Pirate, after seeing an alien on a nearby roof. It features chapters from the multiple perspectives of Ollie, the residents in an apartment building, and the alien. The story has an interesting premise and a few cute, funny moments. However, I felt that the some of the descriptions in the multiple perspectives were superfluous and I think maybe I missed some of the humor, which could be due to my own preferences.

My teen has spent the coronavirus trying to “outread” me, and I have found great pleasure in finding titles we could both potentially enjoy to read, so I was thrilled to receive an advance reader copy of The Intergalactic Interloper.

A multi POV filled with spunky, unique characters, that kept my teen entertained and giggling - this quick read was a fun one for sure! While the story may have been on the shorter side, we still enjoyed this one & the doodles for each character made it easy to realize which character was speaking, in a fun way.

Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, we give this title 3 stars.

I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

**Trigger warning for those affected by attempted animal cruelty.**

The Intergalactic Interloper is a comedic sci-fi short story centred on a young mans search for his lost cat. It is told from multiple perspectives throughout, but predominantly is about a young man called Ollie and his lost cat, Pirate.

I was hoping this would be a lot more about the alien visitors, and have a lot more laugh out loud moments. However mostly I just felt concern/sadness throughout, there are themes of heartbreak, rejection, job loss, catnapping and animal abuse throughout.

I think perhaps my sense of humour isn't geared towards the writer's style and therefore I might have missed some funny moments. But overall I'd dub this more of a contemporary that has slight sci-fi tendencies.

I did enjoy the few chapters that were from the aliens point of view and found them to be the most humorous aspect of the story.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

When a strange object appears atop a crowded apartment building, a handful of characters are sent down a path that changes their lives. This sweet sci-fi-ish story was such a pleasant surprise. Written in pithy vignettes, we follow each character through their decisions and chance happenings as they collide and align with their neighbors.

It's funny, a quick read, and sweet. The writing is smart and concise. In such a short book, the author does a great job with the necessary world building and enough character development to be believable. The Bunny and Cloudman were especially awesome and silly! I adored the cover and character art as well as the fonts. The story allowed me to reflect on how a group of people can all see the same thing but do any two people see the same thing? Do we not see it from our point of view and in the context of our circumstances, personalities, and opinions?

This is a Debut Novel wherein we follow Ollie, The Alien and Zara along with the other neighbouring citizens that have encountered the alien and the missing cat.

The main story starts off as Ollie, wakes up in his small New York apartment and finds that his cat; Pirate, is missing. As he looks through the fire escape where Pirate usually goes out, he sees a very unusual sight on the rooftop of one of the buildings. Instead of his cat, Ollie sees a two headed turtle with four arms. He could not believe what he saw, but he had the feeling, that creature had something to do with Pirate's disappearance. Ollie's friends/ bandmates thought he was losing it so they told Zara (friend and singer of the band). Zara too didn't believe Ollie, but still tried her best to help look for Pirate. Along with another neighbour, they search for Pirate, that eventually lead them to the mysterious interloper on the rooftop.

I was intrigued by the title and the cover of the book. It seemed like a good sci-fi read. I read the blurb and decided to give it a go. I liked the concept of a little mystery in regards to looking for the missing cat, plus that there was an intergalactic creature involved. It was a quirky read, and it does have a bit of humor. There were drawings that represented each character on each chapter. I appreciated that each chapter included a time stamp that gave the story continuity. As someone who usually does not pay attention to such details in books and easily gets lost, this was a nice touch. A problem I had with the book, was that there were a lot of characters involved and the story dives in to each and everyone's back story. I enjoyed how the author states the name of the character per chapter to signify it's POV and the way she introduces the reader to the life of a character vividly. I just felt the in depth descriptions were unnecessary to the story. They did come together nicely as little short story experiences and encounters with the cat and/or alien but I would have liked to see more of the main characters POVs.

Thank you Netgalley, and the author; Delas Heras for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Out of all the indignities he had been subjected to, being outsmarted by the old woman was what bothered him the most. He had always considered humans to be relatively dim-witted creatures, always running around all over the place, never taking the time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. And yet, he, the great garden explorer, had been hunted and caught like a blind week-old kitten. And now he was completely helpless. He knew the old lady was just trying to figure out how to finish him off. He could smell it on her. She was clearly deranged – talking to herself and staring into space as if she were seeing things that weren’t there. Obviously, he had fallen into the hands of a whacko cat killer. Just his luck.”

Synopsis: Down-on-his-luck musician Ollie is just trying to make ends meet in Mid-Nineties New York City, but when his cat disappears and he witnesses a real Alien on a nearby roof, things begin spiraling out of control. With the help of his friend Zara and through some improbable events, Ollie’s hunt for Pirate takes him on a very strange and awkward journey.

Who May Enjoy This Book:

Fans of Christopher Moore (“A Dirty Job”, “Practical Demonkeeping”)
Fans of Douglas Adams (“Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”)
People who like absurd/quirky characters/situations
People who enjoy Comedy

Stephen Delas Heras (going by the nom-de-plume “Delas Heras”) requested an honest review of his debut novel, and I am more than happy to provide it here for you all. At 218 pages, this one was a quick (albeit pleasant) read. I confess to being enraptured by Epic Fantasy (Sanderson’s “The Stormlight Archive” is one of my favorite series), but as I get older and my responsibilities/employment take up more and more of my time, I am increasingly finding it enjoyable to be able to pick up a book I can read in the span of a few days. It allows me to take the time to chew on it a bit, then get on to another text. Good things can and do come in small packages (please don’t destroy me in the comments…). The structure of the text is such that each Chapter focuses on a particular Point Of View character (and there are many! More on this later…); the narration style is 3rd Person, and Heras tends to make us privy to only 1 character’s thoughts at a time (the POV Character’s). This approach is both refreshing and also, occasionally, mildly unsatisfying.

This isn’t to say that I took issue with the writing of the text; on the contrary, I felt the writing was very pleasant, easy to read, and accessible! I’m instead referring to the large cast of characters Heras continually introduces throughout the novel. I felt that the author did an excellent job of giving each character a distinct voice in a short amount of space, but I feel that some of them could have been excluded entirely and it would have left us with a tighter and more cohesive narrative. Constance, a mildly unhinged court stenographer, is a perfect example. If one were to remove her entirely from the story, the primary narrative (the quest for Ollie’s cat) would be exactly the same! And yet… I also feel like some of these nutball characters are more interesting than the primary cast. Constance and her rabbit suit, or Manolo and his perpetual confusion… I found myself gravitating more towards these figures than the well-meaning but dim-witted Ollie (an every-man protagonist worthy of a Christopher Moore novel in my opinion).

The title of the story implies that this novel will primarily feature some sort of Alien plot-line, but instead what we end up with is the hunt for a missing cat wherein Aliens make brief (albeit comical) appearances. When I first put the book down, I was very confused by this fact. It seemed to me that this was a somewhat important oversight! After giving it some thought, I realized that this all made perfect sense: the Aliens are merely an element which touches a certain aspect of each character’s narrative; they are a comedic device. Even the general characters are not the stars of the show, which explains the seemingly disparate narratives. The true star of the show is New York City itself, and Heras is painting the reader an amusing picture of this particular place and time. I liken it to Paul Auster’s “The New York Trilogy”, whereby disjointed narratives are tied together by their geographical connection and the city itself becomes a character. If you can think about the novel in these terms, the structure will seem less confusing and, at least for me, more enjoyable. It’s very clever.

If you fancy a short and sweet piece of writing with some wacky characters, clever humor, and excellent dialogue, I definitely feel like this is one you should give a try. The book releases on August 11/2020 (days away!), and I am certain this debut novelist would sincerely appreciate your support.

Happy Reading!

Despite a promising premise, this multi-perspective speculative fiction novel falls flat due to mediocre writing and structure. The novel follows the twin plotlines of the arrival of an alien spaceship disguised as a water tower on a Manhattan roof and a missing cat. The story unfolds from ten perspectives: Ollie, a down on his luck musician with a missing cat; Zara, his bandmate; Mrs. Butler, a cat-hating birdwatcher; Cassandra, an aspiring actress; Manolo, an apartment superintendent; Natalya, Manolo's cruel wife; Constance, a bunny-loving court stenographer; Roger, a hapless mattress salesman; Pirate, the missing cat in question; and Axzelprova, a two-headed, four-armed alien with a turtle shell. The novel's concept (an alien landing) and the multi=perspective framework seem exciting—plus the illustrations before each chapter are quite cute—but unfortunately, that's where my praise for the novel ends.
The cool concept is betrayed by the writing, which is clumsy, painfully expositional, and sometimes a little sexist. The dialogue, too, is weak, as it is often repetitive, boring, and wooden. Furthermore, the multi-perspective structure, which has been executed well in other novels, falls apart here. Many of the perspectives seem superfluous to the story, and even the ones that are relevant often go off on irrelevant tangents. Having so many perspectives also means that the reader never has time to form an attachment to any particular character, which also makes the romance in the book feel really forced. And oddly enough, in a novel centered around an alien landing, the most compelling plotline is a missing cat.
Overall, I would skip this one.

Thank to NetGalley and Double Six Books for the ARC.

This book was so much FUN! I read through it quickly and it was a delight the whole way. All the characters are a little quirky, a little zany and just fun to experience.

The story bounces around through quite a few different perspectives and it essentially ends up being a day in the life for the whole neighborhood (and some extra guests). You get to see what everyone was doing and how everyone's lives connect, whether they're aware of it or not.

If you're looking for a fun adventure that isn't like every other story you've read before If pick this one up!

The Intergalactic Interloper is a very nice short story that will make you think about life, people and that will make you laugh. It is a very simple story. We follow multiple characters around, we find out about their life, their struggles in an easy, relaxing way. Some are more interesting thant others...and in the meantime we have aliens on the roof and a missing cat. Yep, you heard that right. So it is not just a story about life, it is a bit of a scifi, very funny scifi. I think that the parts I enjoyed the most where the ones where we follow the aliens. They were hilarious.
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There is not really much a of plot here. A guy is missing his cats and witnesses alien activity on the roof of his place and tries to find his cat and a bunch of other poeple happen to hang around... it feels more like a 24h visit into the life of all these people who live in this apartment block where the aliens happen to be. That´s it. Simple writing style, simple characters ... but there is still something in it that makes you wonder - how is this all gonna end?
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So if you want to read this, don´t wait for an awesome mindblowing story. You will get a relaxing summer read that will make you laugh and maybe rethink certain things in your life, maybe treat yourself a bit better, give yourself a chance trying something new. Grab yourself a cool drink, find a comfy space to lie down under the sun and relax with this book.