Now a captain in the Air Force, Roger Greene loves spending his days in the cockpit while helping with a top-secret military project. So when the CIA asks him to leave this perfect life for a temporary government mission against the Heritage Organization, he turns the offer down—until he hears a name from his past. Motivated by a duty now personal as well as civil, Roger agrees to go on the assignment that will place him—and the woman he loves—in greater danger than ever before.
The Methuselah Project was a fabulous book. But SOS takes “fabulous” to the next level, with higher stakes, multiple plot twists, and (I thought) even more humor than the first book.
I specifically enjoyed the following parts of this sequel:
The Tension
The stakes were high enough in The Methuselah Project, but in SOS the overall tension and urgency increase, both for the individual characters and on the global scale. The stakes kept rising even within the book, which held my attention as “This is bad” went to “This is really bad” to “This is really REALLY bad.” I could not put this book down.
Additionally, SOS offers not just one but several plot twists, leading one to the other like a chain detonation, that left me reeling. Near the end of the book I gave up even trying to predict who would do what or what would happen because it was obvious whatever I expected wasn’t going to happen. But I loved it—there’s something satisfying about a good twist (or a few) in a story.
More subtle but just as gripping was the romantic tension between Roger and Katherine throughout the story. While at various points I wanted to slap both of them upside the head, I couldn’t really because in their place I would probably do the same thing. Their behavior was perfectly natural, and albeit maddening, it did make me want to keep reading in hopes of an eventual reconciliation.
The Realism
The author fills in his story with all sorts of little details: quick-thinking survival skills, makeshift booby traps, last-minute hiding places, and more. I was thoroughly impressed by the author’s research and learned some pretty cool things!
The author also includes entire phrases and sometimes sentences of foreign languages, all short enough and in context that we understand the gist of what’s being said. I loved “hearing” the language itself as opposed to reading “He said something in German.” Great authenticity.
The Depth
This book shows us both extremes of humanity: its very best in the protagonists and its very worst in the Heritage Organization. Granted, the main characters aren’t perfect, and they don’t make perfect choices. But they want to do right, and their motivations and actions give us a glimpse of the highest morality possible among humans.
Then we see the Heritage Organization, whose evil members and unnatural projects plunge into the deepest, darkest potential of the same human soul. Though based on speculation, these projects aren’t far removed from reality (if removed at all), and I think that’s why I found them so repulsive. Though a work of fiction, SOS accurately exposes the best and the worst sides of humanity–then lets readers decide which side they’ll choose.
The Humor
The Methuselah Project made me laugh, but I’m pretty sure SOS made me laugh even more. One part in particular had me DYING—in public. I was waiting for a friend in a café and had to stop reading more than once because I was laughing so hard. Kudos to the author for fabulous humor and wit. These light moments balance the tension nicely, and who doesn’t like a book that will give some hearty (and clean) laughs?
The Ending
At first I was disappointed by how Roger ends the book. I was also worried about him and sorry for the change to his character. But the more it sank in, the more I appreciated it and felt relief rather than disappointment. (To say why would give spoilers, so I’ll stop here.) It was bittersweet to me, but I savored it all the same.
The Faith
I liked seeing Roger’s trust in God and seeing God work in divine but realistic ways. There were evident answers to prayer that affirmed his trust and can prove to readers that even in a fiction story God is real, hears our prayers, works on our behalf, and is/would be good and trustworthy no matter what happens.
I also appreciated another character’s prayers and budding faith. The way these characters reached out to God was appropriate to their personalities and circumstances (and appropriate to the story, without digressing into sermons or spiritual treatises), and the way they saw God’s responses, acknowledged them to Him, and grew because of them was truly a blessing to read.
Overall, I highly recommend The Methuselah Project: SOS to any mature teen or adult looking for a gripping read with high stakes, realistic characters, laugh-out-loud humor, and faith-based themes.
(I was given an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review, but I went and bought my own hardcopy anyway!)
