Internet innovator Reid (Listen.com) makes his sci-fi debut in a shaky but funny sendup of the music industry and the lawyers who feed off it. Aliens love music, but are dreadfully untalented. When they discover human music, they're ecstatic, until they realize they're on the hook for millions in licensing fees. Their natural plan is to destroy the Earth, but some aliens decide to recruit music lawyer Nick Carter (not the Backstreet Boy) to arrange licenses and avoid disaster. His sexy folk singer/paralegal neighbor, Manda, and his boss, Judy, also get pulled into their misadventures, which are filled with footnotes and musical references galore. Much of the satire is sharp, although how much longevity it has is debatable (sequences making fun of Microsoft Office, AT&T's lack of coverage, and Foursquare already feel obsolete). Still, anyone frustrated by the labyrinthine and often Machiavellian machinations of the RIAA and similar groups will get plenty of laughs, and the comedy more than covers for the relatively thin characters. Agent: Alice Martell, the Martell Agency. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Nick Carter believes his life's most difficult challenges involve surviving as the lowest-rung lawyer at a copyright firm, winning the affections of the beautiful Manda, and sharing the name of a Backstreet Boy. That is until two aliens appear in his office one afternoon and claim that the world is about to be destroyed because of our music copyright laws. In a universe teeming with advanced life, it seems that the best music is produced on Earth. However, the strictest laws governing music piracy are also Earth's, and the entire universe has been downloading and copying our music since the Welcome Back Kotter theme song first broadcast into space. Now Nick must find a diplomatic-and legal-solution before the aliens decide that destroying Earth is easier than paying the outrageous fines owed. Verdict Fans of Douglas Adams will rave about this smart, funny satire. Debut novelist Reid, founder of Listen.com, has crafted a masterly plot that deftly skewers the American obsession with music, money, and power. Fast paced and original, this is highly recommended.-Jennifer Beach, Rice, VA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.