Book Crash Review: The Prodigy Project by Doug Flanders

by Doug Flanders
© 2010 by Douglas R. Flanders
Published by Prescott Publishing



Doug Flander's, The Prodigy Project , is a medical thriller crafted around the author's personal experiences and lifestyle. Flanders utilizes 15 years of experience as an Army reservist and almost two decades of medical practice to write an intriguing story with excellent, thorough, and believable detail.

The story captivates the imagination of readers with a plot centered around an operation to awaken dormant viruses within human DNA in effort to create a biological weapon powerful enough to give its master control of the globe and the future of humanity. The discovery of the operation by two young Chinese researchers leads them to contact the United States with information about the operation and attempt to flee China before their actions are realized. Jon Gunderson, a doctor and an expert in bio-weaponry, comes to their aid with his wife and nine children in unknowing accompaniment. When plans for rescue begin to go awry, Jon must face his family and admit his dishonesty about his work but his family must reconcile their anger and disappointment if they are to rescue the young informants and leave China with their family intact. As the large and closely-knit family seeks to leave China in safety, Jon must also be mindful of the earth shattering consequences of failure to remove the researchers and foil the virus-reviving operation.

The novel is 327 pages of exciting and realistic detail complemented by a thrilling storyline and the broad knowledge base of the author. Flanders clearly describes scenes with excellent detail of landscapes, physical and emotional conditions, relationships, and communication between characters. He develops his characters extensively allowing readers to feel as though they know them but not to the extent that their actions and decisions are predictable. Flanders' attention to detail and medical expertise also contribute to the quality of this novel as he is able to craft scenes of medical complexity that can be easily understood by lay readers. The author's love for family (and big ones!) is clearly communicated in this novel and he is able to draw from firsthand experience in organizing and portraying a large family within the pages of the work.

Although an excellent novel, the author is somewhat emotional in his descriptions at both the beginning and the end of the work. There are a few instances in which he seems to be writing scenes as he would like them to (or perhaps as they have) played out in his own family. Additionally the author seemed to be attempting to include every good idea he could conceptualize within his book and seems to rush to cram as many as possible into the story near the end. Although this makes the work seem somewhat over-dramatic in its final pages, it does not reduce the overall quality of the novel.

In addition to offering readers excitement and great detail, Flanders also carefully weaves family values and the importance of faith, trust, and forgiveness into the pages of his novel. He easily integrates his faith and beliefs into the story and characters but also allows characters to make mistakes and experience failures in their own faith and family.

Overall this is an excellent novel. Readers will be easily caught up in the excellent story-telling and will experience difficulty setting the book aside. The work is well suited for both teenaged and adult readers.


I received this book from the publisher through the BookCrash program at no charge in exchange for this review.

Tyndale House Publishers Review: Oops! by Bill Myers

Oops!
by Bill Myers
© 2011 by Bill Myers
Published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc

Oops! is the third book in Bill Myers' newest series for kids, TJ and the Time Stumblers. TJ (also known as Thelma Jean Finkelstein) continues in her pursuit to fit in at her new school in Malibu, California while attempting to keep the pesky time stumblers from the 23rd century, Tuna and Herby, from completely ruining her life with their crazy antics. In Oops! TJ learns to appreciate the people around her, despite their rude behavior, oddity, and strange habits, as the individuals God created them to be. But thanks to the 23rd century invention of the thought-broadcaster pen (which makes the thoughts of anyone it hits audible), TJ finds herself in some precarious situations that only seen to get worse with her attempts to fix them. In addition to hampering her struggle to fit in at school, the pen also creates havoc in TJ's developing friendship with cute-boy, Chad Steele. In a conversation with her dad, TJ learns how her mother had handled problems and situations that she did not like and she realizes that it is best to try to see what God sees in others, not only what she sees. TJ also learns that regardless of an individual's behavior or attitude, each person in the world needs to be loved.

This book is written for ages 8 (3rd grade) and up. It is comprised of eleven chapters in 158 pages. The book offers a great deal of dramatic design in it's pages with regard to fonts and spacing for effect, and gives young readers the opportunity to use their imaginations when reading particular words from the pages. The author uses a great deal of contemporary humor and made-up words that will appeal to readers in the 8-12 year age group as well as captivate their imaginations and leave them wanting to read more about this sort-of-crazy girl and her almost-out-of-control life.


Check out this trailer for the series:




The author shares the story well and uses characters that young readers will find amusing and to whom they can most likely relate. He uses characters and situations that most readers will find relevant and easy to imagine as well. Myers blends these elements with biblical principles that urge readers to consider what God would want them to do in similar situations.

Although this book is part of a series readers do not need to have read the previous books to keep up with the characters or storyline. Myers masterfully conveys the events and character development in such a way that allows readers new to the series to effortlessly follow the story and want to read more.

The author uses a variety of interpersonal relationships to tell TJ's story, but some of the situations and the context of certain relationships may be slightly too mature for readers closer to 8 years old than 12 years. Parents who are concerned with early exposure to relationships with the opposite sex should be aware that there is a great deal of emphasis on boy-girl relationships and the terms boyfriend and girlfriend are used in a mature context.

Overall this book is enjoyable to read, entertaining, and promotes a biblical message to kids in a fun way. I recommend this book and the series for young readers ages 10-12 years.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for this review.