Reader Score
74%
74% of readers
recommend this book
Critic Reviews
Great
Based on 4 reviews on
"An absolute blast with abundant humor, copious references to old westerns, and . . . a delightful, intergalactic twist on the romantic comedy."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR - LOCUS AWARD FINALIST
When level-headed Francie arrives in Roswell, New Mexico, for her college roommate's UFO-themed wedding--complete with a true-believer bridegroom--she can't help but roll her eyes at all the wide-eyed talk of aliens, which obviously don't exist. Imagine her surprise, then, when she is abducted by one.
Odder still, her abductor is far from what the popular media have led her to expect, with a body like a tumbleweed and a mass of lightning-fast tentacles. Nor is Francie the only victim of the alien's abduction spree. Before long, he has acquired a charming con man named Wade, a sweet little old lady with a casino addiction, a retiree with a huge RV and a love for old Westerns, and a UFO-chasing nutjob who is thoroughly convinced the alien intends to probe them and/or take over the planet.
But the more Francie gets to know the alien, the more convinced she becomes that he's not an invader. That he's in trouble and she has to help him. Only she doesn't know how--or even what the trouble is.
Part alien-abduction adventure, part road trip saga, part romantic comedy, The Road to Roswell is packed full of Men in Black, Elvis impersonators, tourist traps, rattlesnakes, chemtrails, and Close Encounters of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth kind. Can Francie, stuck in a neon green bridesmaid's dress, save the world--and still make it back for the wedding?
"A skeptic abducted by an extraterrestrial with a mission finds herself on a road trip around the desert in Willis’ latest cheerily frenetic genre-blending romp... There’s nobody quite like Willis for good-hearted, fast-paced fun."
"It’s a complete and total alien-abduction caper as an RV full of mis-matched found family romps across the American west. You WILL have to embrace a bit of the truth is out there, but with a healthy pile of cynicism and a plot that just can’t stop."
"The Hugo and Nebula award-winning author... takes our collective love of flying-saucer theories for a spin in a new work of comic fiction... “The Road to Roswell” is a perfect summer escapade, free from any message heavier than “The Truth Is Out There” (though it’s probably not)."
"A novelist who can plot like Agatha Christie and whose books possess a bounce and stylishness that Preston Sturges might envy."--The Washington Post
"One of America's finest writers . . . Willis can tell a story so packed with thrills, comedy, drama and a bit of red herring that the result is apt to satisfy the most discriminating, and hungry, reader."--The Denver Post
"A wit with a common touch who's read more great books, and makes better use of them in her work, than two or three lit professors put together."--Newsday
"A national treasure."--San Antonio Express-News
"Willis can tell a story like no other. . . . One of her specialties is sparkling, rapid-fire dialogue; another, suspenseful plotting; and yet another, dramatic scenes so fierce that they burn like after-images in the reader's memory."--The Village Voice
"Willis's fiction is one of the most intelligent delights of our genre."--Locus
"[Willis's] six Nebula Awards and ten Hugo Awards confirm her eminence in speculative fiction, but her versatile range and forthright wit wouldn't be out of place in the literary mainstream."--Publishers Weekly