2007-09-08 A five star read for a younger audience

At the age of eighteen, Camille Robins for the first time lies to her parents and takes off to a club for the night; all in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Eric Troy and gasp ...possibly even talk to him. Although in the same High School, Eric is oblivious to the socially invisible Camille, whilst Camille in turn is hardly subtle in her regard of the young man she loves. When Camille and her friend Shanel manoeuvre themselves to a table next to Eric and his alien friend Silver, Erik at last acknowledges Camille; however her night goes seriously down hill from then on.

Unfortunately Eric Troy is none other than Eric Trinity, the ex AIR (Alien Investigation and Removal) agent fired in "Red Handed" when it is discovered he is dealing Onadyn; a drug needed by many aliens on Earth to survive, but provides a heavily addicting high in humans. Suddenly Camille finds herself involved in Eric's world and on the run from AIR agents believing her to be a drug dealer too.

Although I was proven wrong with my assumption I was too mature a reader for the first "Teen Alien Huntress" novel ("Red Handed" featuring Phoenix Germaine) I was unfortunately proven correct with this book. Camille certainly does not have the worldliness of Phoenix, leaving me feeling "Black Listed" is obviously aimed at a much younger audience. I found Camille to be an incredibly unrealistic heroine; although a self confessed coward with no knowledge of weaponry or fighting, she is suddenly able to stand against seasoned AIR agents even when disadvantaged with a rather nasty injury. GS not only dampened my enthusiasm for her "Alien Huntress" series, she also managed to reduce my liking of several key figures who have featured in earlier books; namely Mia Snow the wonderful heroine from "Awaken Me Darkly" and Phoenix from "Red Handed". In this book both just come across as ruthless; too ready to take Eric and Camille's actions at face value rather than investigate further. In fact every AIR agent acts heavy handed; determined to kill first before asking questions. AIR also seriously loses some kudos as it takes a somewhat immature school girl to highlight the reasons behind Eric's actions. If I was (much) younger I'm sure that I'd rate this book five starts but will now certainly avoid purchasing any "Alien Huntress" novels with "Teen" or "Young Adult" in the title.