Operation: Pleiades - Anaz-Voohri by Vijaya Schartz is the first book in the Pleiades series. This story begins with the telling of an old tale about how the great ones came to Earth and took the greatest of the Anasazi warriors away and changed them. That was the beginning of the Anaz-Voohri who overcame their captors and now they have returned to take over the Earth.

Zack is awakened in the dead of night by a vibration throughout his home with his baby sister, Ashley, mentally screaming for his help. Zack saw something human-like floating over her bed, but before he could do anything, he was knocked out. This is the beginning of Zack’s fight against the Anaz-Voohri, to bring her home. At the same time in outer space, Captain Kavak, the Anaz-Voohri leader, is angry about the nearly botched kidnapping of Ashley and the interference of Zack. The kidnapped girls are going to be altered by the alien scientists and used as weapons. Zack spends his youth looking for Ashley on his own until he meets up with his fate, in the shape of one person, Tia Vargas. Luke and Tia join forces with the government and others to fight off the impending alien invasion. There are many twists and unexpected turns in this fast paced book that are riveting to the reader. The unfolding love story between Tia and Zack forms the basis for the unfolding of the plot.

Ms. Schartz has created a fast paced romance with just the right amount of action that will hold the reader’s desire to find out what will happen next. I couldn’t put the book down until I finished it. The romance between Zack and Tia was very realistic in that even though things didn’t work out the way they wanted, they never forgot or truly gave up on each other. To maintain their belief in spite of all the information to the contrary made this book very memorable. I felt the use of the old legends of Anasazi added another level of reality to this book. I liked how Ms. Schartz created both good and bad humans and aliens, just the way it is in real life. I look forward to reading other books in the Pleiades series.

Reviewed by: Teresa