From the back cover:
Preventing his burning fighter from crashing into a neighborhood, Navy Commander Josh Logan ejects...too late. Critically injured, he's offered a new life and mission—exploiting highly classified military technology to stop a global cataclysm. The price? He’ll be dead to everyone he knows.
A year later, he wakes in a city hospital with altered appearance and enhanced abilities. Guided by nothing but a voice, he must infiltrate the military-industrial complex, recruit a team and develop the world’s most powerful weapon—to protect humanity. The more he learns, the more he questions who, or what, is behind his resurrection, as the clock counts down to the end of the world.
* * *
So here we are, at the end of 2012. If the Mayans were correct, we are weeks away from the end of the world. Catastrophe is due to hit us on December 21, 2012. Not buying it? Here’s a possibility offered by David E. Stevens, author of the novel Resurrect: It is entirely possible that a large comet could enter our solar system with little advanced warning, slam into Earth and obliterate life as we know it in the blink of an eye. How could we possibly respond to this? Do we even have the technology and organization to carry out a rescue plan?
In Stevens’ novel, he presents a man named Josh, someone who has been given a second life in order to carry out this seemingly impossible mission to save the human race. Through his knowledge of aircraft, his connections in the military, new enhanced physical abilities, funding from a Sir Richard Branson-type billionaire and help from an all-star team of scientists and specialists, he endeavors to deal with a nearly-invisible “black comet” headed towards the planet. Along the way, he must deal with the loss of his first life (and the wife with whom he shared it), moving on to love again, as well as dealing with trying to understand “Jesse”, the all-knowing voice in his head, feeding him the information about the comet.
Resurrect is a roller-coaster of a story, from the taut opening chapter that had me sitting on the edge of my seat (read it here), to the conclusion that has me looking forward to the next episodes in this planned trilogy. As the wife of a pilot, I couldn’t help but be engaged with Josh’s story and the details surrounding him. Author and Commander David Stevens is an experienced fighter pilot himself, and it most certainly shows in his writing. He pulls back the curtain a bit on the inner workings of aviation, military intelligence and science. I was highly entertained by his story, but I got a bit of an education as well.
Another interesting aspect of the novel is its connections with religion and philosophy, and how they are interwoven through science. One might assume that the “Jesse” character in the novel is God speaking to Josh, although Josh doesn’t seem to acknowledge this much as a possibility. Elizabeth, a nurse with whom Josh has romantic attachments to, seems to hold a Christian faith, relating Josh’s philosophical questions to answers found in the Bible. This intermingling of faith, science and the military makes for some interesting reading, and had me thinking about many of the issues posed in the novel, even when I was away from the book.
Although there are religious aspects to this story, I would not term Resurrect a traditional Christian book. Stevens does not shy away from salty language (although other authors probably would have exploited that more than he did), nor the natural sexual desires of the characters. Everything is kept decidedly low-key in these areas, but it’s not the kind of content I’m used to finding in most Christian titles. To be honest, it’s refreshing. Military guys in particular are not known for their squeaky-clean vocabulary, and to ignore the internal drives of young people attracted to one another would be unrealistic. Yet Stevens handles these matters in a fairly family-friendly way, which I’m sure will keep his possible upcoming cinematic production at a PG or PG-13 rating.
I think my only criticism comes in my distaste for a certain tone that Stevens takes from time to time within his storytelling. Due to the heavy nature of the situation—the possible end of the world—it seems that he wanted to inject a bit of levity once in a while for comic relief. There are frequent quotes from movies offered, as well as many references to current video games. At first I found this trend amusing, but after a while it made his writing seem more juvenile than it needed to be. The motif was just used too often in my opinion, and I hope he tones it down in his upcoming episodes.
That minor issue aside, I offer my hearty review to Resurrect. With the feel of an exciting Hollywood romp, it’s the kind of movie I’d love to watch with my CFI husband, who trains Gulfstream jet pilots on a daily basis. It opens with a great punch and carries the reader through an exciting and thought-provoking narrative that had me looking forward to more. The end of the world may or may not be at hand, but David E. Stevens has given us a fun diversion for the moment, and a number of ideas to ponder for a lifetime.
RESURRECT GIVEAWAY AND FACEBOOK PARTY!
To celebrate the release of Resurrect, David E. Stevens has teamed up with his publisher,
Kregel Publications, for a Kindle Fire Giveaway and Facebook Author Chat Party {12/4}.
One "thrilling" winner will receive:
A Kindle Fire
Resurrect by David E. Stevens
So grab your copy of Resurrect and join David on the evening of December 4th for a chance to connect with David and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book - don't let that stop you from coming!)
Don't miss a moment of the fun, RSVP today.
Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.
Hope to see you on the 4th!
A Navy fighter pilot with hundreds of aircraft carrier landings, Commander David E Stevens holds degrees from Cornell and the University of Michigan with graduate work in astrophysics. He test piloted new fighters and received an aviation patent. With a Top Secret clearance, Dave served as Strike Operations Officer for the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm and led classified defense programs. He’s traveled to over two dozen countries.
I would love to win,Enter me!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway and God Bless!!
Sarah Richmond
sarahrichmond.12@gmail.com
I came from Cym Lowell's Book Review Party Wednesday (BRPW).
ReplyDeleteThis is not my usual read but if the story telling quality is that good I sometimes jump genres. So how would you rate the story telling quality of this book in a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 is the best, jouvenilesm and all?
Cherry Mischievous
www.cherrymischievous.com
Cherry:
ReplyDeleteI don't read much in this genre either-- I'm usually in "bonnet novels" like the Jane Austen spinoffs I review most of the time. This one was fun and light, with lots of action sequences but also moments of philosophy and scientific discussion. It reads very much like a blockbuster movie, so it's not going to win literary awards or anything, but it's fun. If I had to give it a storytelling quality rating, I guess 4 stars.