SYNAPSE by STEVEN JAMES is a thriller with a difference. The story takes place thirty years from now, complete with Artificials, Plussers, Purists and other humans; and technology having reached unbelievable levels. It is fast paced and hard to put down.
It is an exciting book in which things are not always as they seem, making it difficult to know whom to trust. There are interesting characters - Jordan, an Artificial that is really close to being human, Kestrel Hathaway, a preacher who is pretty disillusioned in her relationship with God after her baby daughter is stillborn, and NCB agent Nick Vernon - to name a few.
I particularly enjoyed the conversations between Kestrel and Jordan, where, amongst other topics, he asks questions about God and the afterlife, and during which she slowly comes back to her faith in the Lord.
One could say that the plot is far-fetched, but with the way things are moving nowadays one never knows what the future holds!
I enjoyed the book for the exciting story and the excellent Christian message.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Thomas Nelson. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

The opening was strong but painful. It's just 30 years from now. Pastor Kestrel decided to have a baby, minus the usual methods. Those must not have been working for her, though we don't have the backstory on what happened or why. However, her baby didn't make it. This was a hard thing for me to deal with for an opening. Her brother decides to help her copy by giving her a humanoid robot. More like I-Robot than any other famous one, this one hails to more an of Asimov type robot, but then going to some extra levels due to the Christian content of the book.

So while Kestrel is having a major crisis of her faith, Jordan is dealing with all too human issues. He has questions that open up more questions and discussion and thinking for the characters and hopefully more humans; the ones reading this novel. As an Artificial, Jordan tends to steal the "show". I love all the questions he asks about being human as we go on this journey with him. Oh, and not to leave out, there's tons of action happening too because of some bombings and Kestrel's being a witness to that. There's more to that, so much more, but I'm not telling you because I want to you read this book! What I will tell you is that I didn't want to put this book down, I didn't want it to end. I would read an entire series with this premise. I think James did a fantastic job with this story. I can see it being a format for so many group discussions if it's used for that.

Thank you to Celebrate Lit for my copy. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and this review is left of my own free will.