Book Review: Exodus 2022 by Kenneth G. Bennett

This is an action packed sci fi thriller with an unusual character element.
Exodus 2022
by Kenneth G. Bennett

• File Size: 2264 KB
• Print Length: 350 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1620152126
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Booktrope (May 20, 2014)
• ASIN: B00IRL8O2U

Genre: Sci Fi, Thriller
My Rating 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: May 20, 2014 
Joe Stanton is in agony. Out of his mind over the death of his young daughter.
Unable to contain his grief, Joe loses control in public, screaming his daughter’s name and causing a huge scene at a hotel on San Juan Island in Washington State.
Thing is, Joe Stanton doesn’t have a daughter. Never did. And when the authorities arrive they blame the 28-year-old’s outburst on drugs.
 What they don’t yet know is that others up and down the Pacific coast—from the Bering Sea to the Puget Sound—are suffering identical, always fatal mental breakdowns.
 With the help of his girlfriend—the woman he loves and dreams of marrying—Joe struggles to unravel the meaning of the hallucination destroying his mind. As the couple begins to perceive its significance—and Joe’s role in a looming global calamity—they must also outwit a billionaire weapons contractor bent on exploiting Joe’s newfound understanding of the cosmos, and outlast the time bomb ticking in Joe’s brain.

Review:
Joe Stanton is a young, enthusiastic and adventurous Episcopalian Priest. He is visiting San Juan Island off the coast of Washington State with his sweetheart, Ella, a registered nurse. Joe has a strange episode at their motel and he begins raving that his daughter has been murdered. His behavior is upsetting to the the motel owner and even more so when the police arrive and determine that Joe doesn’t have a child. Joe and Ella don’t understand what happened but it is more than a dream as it is impacting Joe’s health.

Others have suffered from the same hallucinations that have led to fatal breakdowns. The events are being investigated by a wealthy, power-mongering weapons contractor, Beck. Beck and his team of scientists have developed a means to follow the brain thoughts of men and they are trying to figure out the telepathic phenomena that has been effecting the other men, and now Joe. Joe seems to be reacting better than the others but it is still making him sick. If he follows pattern he only has a week or so to live. Beck has brought Joe and Ella to his military facility in the pretense of providing medical care. Instead they are stealing his subconscious thoughts and trying to discover the ‘entity’ on the other end.

That entity, Mia, is a surprise and a major character of the story. The opposing presence is the greed and evil that consumes men and especially Beck. It is difficult to give more detail without moving into spoilers other than to say the story has an ecological focus. Ultimately Joe’s faith and spirit turn Mia from enemy to friend. Joe and Ella share a strong love that pulls them through fear and faith that leads to hope and sacrifice. This is not a romance but it is a love story of sorts for mankind.

The writing is descriptive and direct. There is reality and harshness in cruel and evil characters. However, there is joy and light in the good characters. There is action and an interesting plot to keep the reader engaged as this progresses. It is an unusual story and I appreciated the mystery, the change of emotions and the ultimate hope. I recommend this to readers who enjoy good sci fi, action thrillers.

I received this title through NetGalley for an honest review. This qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge and "E" on Alphabet Soup.