Synapse by Steven James - ADVISABLE

Synapse by Steven James, 384 pages. Thomas Nelson, 2019. $17.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG13 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Kestrel and her brother, Trevor, haven’t spoken in a very long time, but the tragic events unfolding lead them to start reaching out again. Jordan is an Artificial—a machine with AI capabilities—who just wants to experience being human. Nick, tracking down the perpetrators of the most recent terrorist attack, isn’t sure if he wants to let himself love another woman after his last wife left him. All thrown together by unpredictable circumstances, these people will find they need each other through the difficult week ahead of them.

Honestly, reading this book was kind of an odd experience because of all the issues and contradictions of different points of view brought up. If you want a book to make you think, this one is for you. I had to put the book down several times to ponder my own views on questions about technology and emotions, belief in God, the origin of justice, hope and lies, ethics and integrity dedicated to various forms of belief, and more. I can’t imagine the time and skill it took James to craft so many varying viewpoints and beliefs for his various characters, and I thoroughly enjoyed each new perspective and how the perspectives complemented and contradicted the others. The story itself, too, kept building and becoming more complex until I was sure it couldn’t all be resolved together. Reading this book was mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting—and it was worth every page. The violence rating is for terrorism, murder, and gore.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen