Greg Watson

"It Could Happen Here" is a Christian current events thriller that isn't really all that far fetched, despite one of its genres being sci-fi and another dystopian. With all of our social media and technology one does sometimes begins to wonder if all the comments we see communicated are actually from real people. With facebook admitting to censoring posts (LA Times article: https://www.latimes.com/business/tech...) and Google playing with algorithms (Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/technolog... article : https://www.engadget.com/2015/03/20/f...) one has to begin to wonder if our opinions aren't being manipulated with what others want us to believe.

That is what the book is about, with its focus on Christianity and how some elements in the world would like to alter the theology of modern christian faith. An IT giant, Proteus, with oodles of money to play with, starts creating "false" chats with AI, called Evangel Blend, that people respond to and think it is real people talking. Proteus then infiltrates churches, spying on the clergy and members, recording conversations, to see how effective their subterfuge has been. Proteus is evil in other ways too-- from trafficking in young teen girls, kidnapping them to be "nice" to potential clients, and then abusing them. The invasion of privacy Proteus likes to conduct also extends to its own employees. Churches, through Proteus' efforts, do start to see changes in the way their members think.
Also, another point made is the overwhelming desire for acceptance. It portrays Brother Davis, with good motives, starts a program through his church and with support of his community, focusing on anti-bullying. Through Proteus' sponsored articles, the church and the program gains national attention, and initially Brother Davis think this is a blessing for the program and his church, until he feels pressured to alter his opinions to conform.
I liked Alex, the local teen and member of Brother Davis' church who is computer savvy and creates the computer software involved in the anti-bullying program, and takes a stand for what is right, risking harm to himself.
What disappointed me at the end-- I was waiting for justice for the young girls that Proteus had abducted and abused. The girls were delivered from that horrible situation-- but at the end of the book, Proteus was business as usual, still making their terrible, nefarious plans-- and no charges against them or attention brought to their horrible activities. Given, the author has stated that this is the first book in the Proteus series, so possibly justice will be seen for the girls in following books, but if a reader goes into it hoping to read it as a stand alone, I at least, was left hanging. If there was some type of resolution, or the hint that something legal was put into motion for Proteus' demise, I would have been happier and given the book a higher rating. All in all, I liked the book and its message, just wished for some closure at the end. So, if goodreads had 1/2 stars, it would be 3.5.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!… (more)

It Could Happen Here is a fiction book I'd best describe as loosely falling into the dystopian genre, except that in many ways it's bordering between fiction and reality. Being agnostic myself (my beliefs are not quite atheistic and not quite religious) I don't often read faith-based books, but I really enjoyed this one. Just as the plot describes, the story is "unabashedly preachy" - in a good way. It's inspiring and interesting and a really passionate story that I could still see as having an appeal to readers whether they're Christian or not, even if they don't necessarily agree with every statement made in it.

I immediately liked Alex; he's a lovable character with his variety of hobbies and his brave companion dog. The book begins with quite a harrowing scene - Alex is out with Rex on an overnight camping trip when he walks into a horrific scene of his own high school classmates attacking a girl. Worse still, they're filming it - luckily one of these boys leaves his phone behind which has recorded the evidence. Still, it makes Alex both disturbed and curious. Why would they want to do a thing like this, especially if they're members of the school's anti-bullying program?

The book makes many good points about religious and secular values, propaganda and our increasingly digital world. I really liked the suspense element - it was a surprising story and you never know what's going to happen next in it. Having read a lot of books which portray religion in a negative light and highlight corruption and hatred, it was a welcome change of pace to read a book which goes down a different route. Exploring heavy themes such as violence, It Could Happen Here keeps a good balance between more serious topics and lighter moments of love and respect. I also definitely identified with some of the book's quotes, especially "for me, really, the key was 9/11. It was on that day sitting at a lunch counter watching the video of that terrible attack with other patrons that I reached a turning point." I think many people can relate to wanting to bring good into the world in the wake of tragedy, be it through faith, creativity or simple acts of kindness. Many of the characters are like this - very good-hearted people who want to help others.

I especially loved the ending. I'm glad that for Alex, Becky, Brother Davis, Eian and many of the other characters found a sense of peace in their lives, and that Brother Davis's ministry was bringing people closer together. I'll definitely be reading the mentioned follow-up novel, Proteus, when it's released.… (more)