Book Review | What if…? by Steve N. Lee

Rating

4 stars – a book that makes you think

Description

During the Presidential election, while two billion people exist on just $2 a day, species extinctions are escalating, and climate change is threatening our very existence, Mary befriends a stranger and embarks on a life or death race against time to change the world for the better.

Why did you choose to read this book?

The author, Steve Lee, wrote to me and asked if I would review his book – previous reviewers had compared it to The DaVInci Code and the TV show Heroes so I said I would happily give it a go.

The Book Review

I was looking forward to reading this book – until it appeared in the post… The cover of the book is really bad – possibly the worst I’ve ever seen – just something about text with a drop shadow and the religious painting filled me with dread! My plea to Steve is this – if there were ever a book that the saying never judge a book by its cover was meant for it is this one. If you want people to pick this book off the shelf in the store then get a new cover artist for the paperback!

Luckily I’d promised to read the book – and I don’t go back on promises – so I sat down and started what I thought was going to be a painful exercise… but by the end of page 2 I was sucked in and more than happy to devote time to the book.

At the beginning of the novel we are introduced to Mary; a New York journalist who experiences a horrific car accident and to the surprise of witnesses and doctors alike lives to tell the tale. Before too long she hooks up with John Connolly, a vagrant who has a powerful gift, and plans to make the world a better place.

This isn’t another DaVinci Code – the characters are not on a search for the Holy Grail – instead Steve builds a fast-paced story around one man’s dream to create Utopia, a world where there is no poverty or disease, where people prosper and live in peace. While many people believe that this could become a reality and rally their support their are others who believe Connolly is some kind of Anti-Christ, sent to destroy America if not the World with his actions.

This book has all of the hallmarks of an action-packed novel; conspiracies, shootouts, double-crosses and car chases – throw in religious unrest and a presidential election and you’ll find yourself caught up in an exciting tale that also forces you to think about the way we live our lives and whether we are killing the planet with our actions.

I’ve awarded the novel 4 stars instead of 5 simply because I’m not too sure about the end – there are some details that I just can’t tie together and I’m not sure I wouldn’t have preferred for it to end differently.

That said it does not take away from the novel as a whole and I am happy to recommend it to you.

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