Review: Invasion by Jon S. Lewis (+ Mini Interview!)

Invasion by Jon S. Lewis
(C.H.A.O.S. #1)

5 out of 5 stars

Published by Thomas Nelson
ARC received through Netgalley

It's been a while since I've read such a powerful science-fiction book. Invasion is a surprisingly gripping read. The second an alien that looked like Bigfoot came up, I was hooked.

When his parents die in a strange car accident, Colt has to live with his WW2 veteran grandfather. Yet he cannot get the idea out of his head that something about his parents' death isn't right. He suspects that one of the worlds largest companies, Trident Biotech, has something to do with it. While trying to uncover the truth about his parents' death, Colt discovers a world normal human beings never see...

Young-adult science-fiction is not an easy genre to write in. Because the story needs to be fast-paced so the younger readers don't lose interest, there is not much room left for extensive world building. I love the way how we learn about the aliens together with Colt. What I also really like is that this isn't about the standard green-men-in-suits-from-space kind of aliens. It actually reminded me a lot of the movie Men in Black.

And with all those aliens, we of course have to have some very, very awesome gadgets. I mean, souring through the air on a motorcycle with retractable wings? No one can convince me that isn't really cool. I had such a great time reading about this and jetpacks and special weapons that made my inner geek very excited.

The only problem I had with this book is one I seem to be having quite often these days. Sometimes is astonishes me how naive one can be. In this book though, this was only a minor annoyance, because most of those moments could easily be explained by the age of our main characters. You can't really expect from a bunch of teenagers to grasp the extend of the situation right away. And in the end, they do, it only took them a while.

I think this is a wonderfully fast-paced book that a lot of young-adults, both boys and girls, will enjoy. And as an adult, I think you would be equally entertained by this book. I definitely recommend this to anyone that loves science-fiction.

Blurb

He didn't ask for the job, but now all that stands between us and chaos... is Colt

Colt McAlister was having the summer of his life. He spent his days surfing and his nights playing guitar on the beach with friends. He even met a girl and got his first car. But everything changes when his parents are killed in a freak accident.

He's forced to leave his old life behind and move to Arizona with his grandfather. The only person he knows at the new high school is a childhood friend named Dani. And Oz, a guy he's sure he's never met but who is strangely familiar.

But what if his parents' death wasn't an accident? His mother, an investigative reporter, was going to expose a secret mind-control program run by one of the world's largest companies. Before she could release the story, what if agents from Trident Biotech made sure she couldn't go public?

Vowing to uncover the truth, Colt gets drawn into a secret world of aliens, shapeshifters, flying motorcycles, and invisible gateways.

The Invasion has begun.

Mini interview

Jon was so nice to answer three of my questions, even though he is in the middle of finishing his second novel!

• NBR: Did you read a lot of comics when you were young?

Jon: All the time. It probably started with the Super Friends cartoon. I'd wake up early every Saturday morning, grab a bowl of Captain Crunch (with crunch berries, of course) and I'd be glued. Then I started to buy comics at convenience stores on those old spinner racks. And I still buy them today. I go to my local comic shop every Wednesday.

• If you could have one of the CHAOS gadgets in real life, which one would that be and why?

A jet pack, hands down! I can only imagine the incredible sensation of flying without the aid of an airplane to protect you. It would be like a roller coaster ride times infinity!

• You're currently in the middle of finishing the second book in the series, what adventures will there be in store for us the next book?

We just came up with the name -- FLIGHT -- and it's going to pick up where INVASION took off. Colt and Oz are transferring to the CHAOS Academy where they'll be trained to save us all against the coming invasion by a bunch of shapeshifting aliens that look a little like walking lizards with six arms. But trouble follows Colt, and pretty soon what he thought were a series of unrelated accidents start to look like an assassination attempt.

If you want to know more about Jon or his books, you can check out his site.