I’m so excited to introduce our newest contributor to the blog: Melissa J. Troutman. Melissa is a Christ-follower, fantasy writer, and book dragon who proudly hails from rural New Jersey (yes, there is such a thing). She’s been writing stories since she could put pen to paper and is currently hard at work on a four-book fantasy series.
Check out more about Melissa on my contributor page…
2014: Katherine Mueller wants to please her uncle. She also wants a bit of romance. So when she accepts a promotion in her uncle’s organization, she thinks it’s just a formality and continues looking for that special someone–until her first official assignment leads her straight to a good-looking man named Roger Greene.
The Methuselah Project is a great book, one whose reading experience thrilled me and whose characters stuck with me long after. While labeled as Christian fiction, it’s not at all preachy. The book carries Christian themes, but they stay realistic and light throughout the story.
And it’s a clean read: no language, no inappropriate content, no gore or excessive violence. I highly recommend The Methuselah Project to mature teens and adults. Here’s why:
I was hooked from the very beginning. The first few chapters introduce us to two characters in different eras, and I loved switching back and forth between modern times and WWII. How the author wove the two stories together so that I could see common threads even early on was masterful. The characters’ individual stories kept me intrigued, and once the plot consolidated I was hopelessly gripped until the end.
I also appreciated all the details about WWII. I’m not a history buff, but I appreciate realistic details, and I loved learning little things about the era. And all the flight-themed similes and metaphors throughout Roger’s narrative were a treat to read.
I always love reading about characters from other times put suddenly into 21st-century America, and I was not disappointed by the realistic hardships the main character faced in adjusting to a different life and the humor of his (just-beginning) education. The author really thought through everything!
This was a book that carried authenticity in every word, every action, every emotion of every character. I especially appreciated how naturally the characters’ feelings developed for each other. I really, really don’t like the meet-and-fall-in-love-in-a-day set up in so many books and movies, but this was one romance that didn’t frustrate me; by the time the characters had done all that they did together, and knowing them and their personalities, it was just so natural for them to feel the way they did about each other. Their developing romance was very realistic.
The ending was great, with so many aspects that I appreciated. In the last several chapters especially, I was again astounded at the realistic events and characters. I felt as if I were reading the news or a biography rather than a fiction novel.
This was the kind of book that even though I just finished it I want to go back and start from the beginning so I can enjoy it all over again. Rick Barry has proved himself a master of storytelling—from details to characters, from humor to tension—and I will definitely be reading more of his books.
Sounds like a good book!