RELEASING: October 8.
Master of suspense (and dang good writing conference speaker/teacher) Steven James shows he can thrill and send chills up the spine in the future, too.
There were a lot of reasons to snag this book to read, starting with the fact that I've been in one of his classes, I have a few of his writing books, I've read and made notes on his Writers Digest articles, and my publishing partner fan-girls over him. And yeah, I wanted to see what all the hype was about regarding his fiction.
Deserved!
SYNAPSE is set in the near-future, where Artificials (androids, artificial intelligence, whatever you want to call them) are evolving and becoming Human enough to make people nervous. They're asking the big questions about life and death and life after death.
Enter Kestrel, a minister who has just lost her child at birth. She's asking questions, but maybe not the right ones. On the way home from the hospital, a terrorist attack occurs in front of her and she jumps in to help, since that is where she is trained. The terrorists are Purists, who are resisting the "rise of the machines," to use Terminator parlance. This brings her to the attention of the authorities, who are investigating. Her background isn't clean, so she's suspect for a while.
Things get even more complicated when her estranged brother sends her a "gift" in the form of Jordan, an advanced-model Artificial. Jordan is asking questions about forgiveness, life-after-death, if he has a soul, and why God allows horrible things to happen ... Kestrel isn't in the best emotional shape to take on an Artificial in her life -- especially when her parents were murdered by one years ago. She gives Jordan a chance, though, and they change and challenge each other, while getting in the way of the wrong people.
Other reviewers refer to James' stories as a roller coaster ... yeah, but the roller coaster starts slowly, subtly, and you're hooked before the big drops and sharp turns hit. Hang on! Don't bang your head if you get thrown out of your seat. Just when you think you have all the players identified and you know what teams they're working for, the field and the uniforms change.
In some ways, this is a story about attitudes and actions and reactions all around us today, including the brutality, hatred, and fear that arise when people force their vision of the world on everyone who disagrees with them.
So many layers. So many different speeds and textures, all woven together into a complicated picture that I sure hope will have a sequel. Thanks.
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