Book Two is releasing next week! But before I tell you about the sequel, let me tell you about the original:

1943: Pilot Roger Greene goes down in a dogfight over Nazi Germany, but he survives the crash–and the odd experiments the Germans put him through. The years pass, and he shows no signs of aging as he tries to find his way back to freedom.

2014: Katherine Mueller wants to please her uncle. She also wants a bit of romance. So when she accepts a promotion in her uncle’s organization, she thinks it’s just a formality and continues looking for that special someone–until her first official assignment leads her straight to a good-looking man named Roger Greene.

The Methuselah Project is a great book, one whose reading experience thrilled me and whose characters stuck with me long after. While labeled as Christian fiction, it’s not at all preachy–the Christian themes stay realistic and light throughout the story.

And it’s a clean read: no language, no inappropriate content, no gore or excessive violence. I highly recommend The Methuselah Project to mature teens and adults both Christian and not Christian. Here’s why:

I was hooked from the very beginning. The first few chapters introduce us to two characters in different eras, and I loved switching back and forth between modern times and WWII. How the author wove the two stories together so that I could see common threads even early on was masterful. The characters’ individual stories kept me intrigued, and once the plot consolidated I was hopelessly gripped until the end.

Why does my life have to be a tightrope? Lately that metaphor seemed the perfect word picture: she constantly tiptoed a slender line between the wishes of her one living relative–the man who loved her and had reared her from a toddler–and her own desires. Couldn’t she figure out a way to reconcile the two?

The Methuselah Project, Rick Barry

I also appreciated all the details about WWII. I’m not a history buff, but I appreciate realistic details, and I loved learning little things about the era. And all the flight-themed similes and metaphors throughout Roger’s narrative were a treat to read.

I always love reading about characters from other times put suddenly into 21st-century America, and I was not disappointed by the realistic hardships the main character faced in adjusting to a different life and the humor of his (just-beginning) education. The author really thought through everything!

Roger glanced at the napkin, then back at Ginger’s coy smile. “Let me get this straight. This is your cell number? Your very own cell?” . . . Judging by the length of the number, the Atlanta prison must be gargantuan.

The Methuselah Project, Rick Barry

This was a book that carried authenticity in every word, every action, every emotion of every character. I especially appreciated how naturally the characters’ feelings developed for each other. I really, really don’t like the meet-and-fall-in-love-in-a-day setup in so many books and movies, but this was one romance that didn’t frustrate me; by the time the characters had done all that they did together, and knowing them and their personalities, it was just so natural for them to feel the way they did about each other. Their developing romance was very realistic.

Her suggestion lifted his spirits like a firm wind under an airplane’s wings.

The Methuselah Project, Rick Barry

The ending was great, with so many aspects that I appreciated. In the last several chapters especially, I was again astounded at the realistic events and characters. I felt as if I were reading the news or a biography rather than a fiction novel.

This was the kind of book that even though I just finished it I want to go back and start from the beginning so I can enjoy it all over again. Rick Barry has proved himself a master of storytelling—from details to characters, from humor to tension—and I will definitely be reading more of his books.