Title: Alien Within
Author: Lawrence Burk
Publisher: Greenberry Publishing LLC
ISBN: 1947995553
Pages: 212
Genre: Science Fiction
Reviewed by: Jennifer Weiss
Pacific Book Review Star
Awarded to Books of Excellent Merit
Lincoln Cross is your everyday average man who is coming face to face with his mortality as he ages. During this time he finds himself coming in contact with angels, God, and even beings from another planet. While he wants nothing more than answers to all his questions, all he gets is more questions. During a particular encounter with God, Lincoln is transformed physically and mentally. Now he is able to tap into unfounded powers and abilities that only the aliens have knowledge about. As he goes through his life living side by side with aliens, he begins to be able to define his spirituality and purpose in life. He continues to search for answers to the unknown, all the while aiding in the salvation of the human race as well as assisting aliens with their integration into life on earth.
Alien Within is an epic tale which takes readers into the mind of an average man just trying to learn answers before he leaves this earth. It’s a tale that takes readers on a journey in the spiritual and scientific unknown. Burk takes an interesting genre and idea and turns it into something unique and new by combining the extraterrestrial elements with the spiritual elements, yet by no means does this book “preach” nor try to sway its readers in one way or another. In the prologue alone, Burk raises questions such as “What if we can relearn what the ancients knew?” Questions are brought up which draw the reader into the story wondering not only what the book is about, but also if there could be an answer to these questions. Could there have truly been alien encounters we never knew happened? He teases his readers with something more than just a story. He teases them with the idea of something beyond our reaches, or knowledge as well as the possibility of this idea being something we can achieve.
The author continues this teasingly interesting way of writing throughout the rest of the story. Burk writes with a mixture of long extensive sentences as well as shorter simplistic sentences. This doesn’t make the flow of the novel feel choppy, nor does it feel like it drags on. While it does progress slowly for the first couple of chapters, once you get through three or four chapters the story really begins to pick up. It will have you clinging to your chair waiting for what will happen next. The character of Lincoln Cross is one everyone can relate to and empathize with. Everyone has someone in their lives that Lincoln reminds them of: a father, grandfather, uncle or even a co-worker.
Alien Within is a book unlike any other on the market; it is truly in a class of its own. If you enjoy science fiction, fantasy, or alien encounters then this would be a great book to add to your book shelf. The cover art is interesting, the story engaging, the writing without error, what more could you want from a great book.
