Review of ALIENATION by Jon S. Lewis

Photo Credit: Thomas Nelson

In INVASION, the first book in the C.H.A.O.S. Trilogy by Jon S. Lewis, teenager Colt McAlister discovers that aliens are real and that his grandfather was once a superhero. After discovering that the accident that claimed his parents' lives wasn't an accident, Colt is thrust into the world of C.H.A.O.S., a secret government military organization whose purpose is to protect our world from alien invasion.

ALIENATION continues the story of Colt and his two best friends Oz and Danielle. The three of them are accepted into the C.H.A.O.S. Military Academy where they and their classmates will be trained as the last line of defense against the oncoming invasion by the lizard-like shape-shifting Thule. The Thule have nearly destroyed their own planet and seek the destruction of earth's inhabitants to make our planet their new home. As Colt dodges a number of attempts on his life, he must learn to cope with the truth of an ancient prophecy concerning him and the destruction of the Thule.

ALIENATION is an action-packed young adult novel that clearly takes its inspiration from comic book heroes. Jon S. Lewis, in addition to penning the C.H.A.O.S. Trilogy, is also a writer for DC Comics. He even includes an interesting essay at the end about writing comic books and learning the economy of words. As a writer, I found this part especially helpful.

The book's story feels like an adventure, and we learn more about Colt's unique role in protecting the world. There is a bit of tension between Colt and Oz as Colt struggles with learning who he can trust. Danielle is the ultra-intelligent computer geek who can hack into anything, a skill that becomes incredible helpful to the trio as the story unfolds.

The setting of the military academy was very interesting. Though the stories are vastly different, the whole concept of the three friends going away to be trained to be heroes at a specialized school reminded me a bit of Harry Potter.

There's a lot of fun a stuff going on in ALIENATION, including hover boards and realistic combat simulations. I'm excited to see what Lewis has in store when the final book in the C.H.A.O.S. Trilogy releases.

I receives this book for free for review from Thomas Nelson through booksneeze.com