Book: The Methuselah Project: A Novel

What do you do with someone who does not age, and would only die under certain specific conditions? What would that life be like? These are the bigger questions found in Rick Barry’s The Methuselah Project: A Novel. (The “A Novel” part is necessary because there is already, apparently, another book with The Methuselah Project as its title. I digress.)

Barry’s not writing philosophy, though, so you experience those questions in the narrative of the life of a man. A man who simply had his duty set before him, and then it all went wrong. That man is Roger Greene.

This is a fairly straight forward science fiction/thriller novel. Is the science plausible? Possibly, though Barry is vague enough on the science that you realize it’s fictional. Then you have the thriller elements as Greene approaches the new world he lives in.

I was surprised at the smaller number of fish-out-of-water moments for Greene. The focus was more on the survival/action of the moment. Which is a fine focus. It just wasn’t quite what I expected.

In the current Marvel-dominated media world, the comparisons between The Methuselah Project and Captain America can’t be ignored. Barry has enough differences, though, to separate the two. The first being Greene’s forced involvement, the work of a classic mad scientist, compared to Rogers’ voluntary work. Other items will be clear to the reader.

I have no qualms recommending this as a sci-fi thriller to you, my readers. This includes a willingness to hand off my copy to youth readers like my children. There are some heavy plot moments, but all are handled with a respect for many people’s preference not to have all of the details of love or death.

I like it. It’s a good diversionary read, though wondering “what’s next?” is the way this one leaves you…

I did receive a free copy in exchange for this review.