Review by adria_charles -- The Johnson Project
Posted: 22 Jun 2016, 19:29
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Johnson Project" by Maggie Spence.]
4 out of 4 stars
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The Johnson Project by Maggie Spence is a captivating novel about what the world would be like if one day every woman on the planet became barren. With no remedy in the beginning of this catastrophe, the world goes into mayhem until a member of the popular Johnson family finds a cure. The only problem is that the cure isn’t for every woman, only the women who meet the criteria that the Johnson Family generates. The plot of this novel alone helps captivate the reader, but the conspiracy that ensues makes this a story that can’t be put down. Maggie Spence does a masterful job at making the reader question what they would do, if they too held the cure to such an epidemic.
The year is 2017 and Mary Johnson is a widowed multibillionaire philanthropist who works to fight against child trafficking around the world. Her children Ted, Rafael, Nora, and Penny were all adopted from devastating situations and broken families. All but Penny followed career paths similar to their mother. The Johnson family is known across the world, as one of the most compassionate families with all the work they do.
When the Aqar297 virus hits, making every woman infertile on the planet, Mary Johnson is asked to be on the Task Force 200. The United States government set up the Task Force 200 with the top economists, sociologists, and financial experts in America. Once the epidemic hit, the stock market crashed, open immigration occurred, and regimes around the world began deteriorating. America set up this team to protect their future from the repercussions of the virus. While the world is trying to save itself Dr. Ted Johnson, a fertility specialist and Dr. Pierre Charbot, a world-renowned scientist, are both racing for a cure.
The world’s attention is on Dr. Charbot to find a cure but when he loses Lily, one of his esteemed scientists, to Dr. Ted Johnson, everything changes. Ten and a half months after the virus appeared, Ted finds a cure known as ‘the secret sauce’. The world is in an uproar of excitement when the Johnson family breaks the news. However, with a limited supply of this ‘secret sauce’, the Johnson family is only allowing women who meet certain requirements to get pregnant. A few include couples without children or felonies. As well as couples with a steady income and health insurance. Once they pass the application process, the women are then sent to the Johnson Fertility Center where they can start a family. Even with the world angered at the Johnson family for playing God, they remain convicted that children should only be born in safe situations, regardless of culture, religion, or values.
With all the child abuse that the Johnson family has seen and experienced during their lifetime, they stand by their belief that they think it best to keep the cure secret and safe from the rest of the world. But when alliances shift within the Johnson family, not only is the ‘secret sauce’ threatened, but also skeletons in the family’s closet are at risk of being revealed. The Johnson family has always wanted to do best by all the children in the world, but would the world feel the same if they were to find out who the family really is?
This book had me enthralled from the first page. I feel Maggie Spence did an excellent job capturing the real life scenario of what could possibly happen to the world if such an epidemic occurred. I give The Johnson Project a 4 out of 4 stars. There is a part while reading where I felt as if I were being persuaded to believe that only certain people in this world should be allowed to have children. This was about ¾ of the way through the book where there are 18 pages of graphic authentic accounts of child abuse that occurred in the year 2015. These pages can be bypassed within the book; the reader does not have to read them.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this creatively realistic story. I would highly recommend anyone who enjoys science fiction to read this book. Maggie Spence was able to develop a story with such realistic depth that it made me question how I would react if such an outbreak occurred. There is the disclaimer to those interested that some graphic content is in this book, but is able to be skipped if the reader chooses. I will surely be adding the author’s other book to my reading list.
******
The Johnson Project
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The Johnson Project by Maggie Spence is a captivating novel about what the world would be like if one day every woman on the planet became barren. With no remedy in the beginning of this catastrophe, the world goes into mayhem until a member of the popular Johnson family finds a cure. The only problem is that the cure isn’t for every woman, only the women who meet the criteria that the Johnson Family generates. The plot of this novel alone helps captivate the reader, but the conspiracy that ensues makes this a story that can’t be put down. Maggie Spence does a masterful job at making the reader question what they would do, if they too held the cure to such an epidemic.
The year is 2017 and Mary Johnson is a widowed multibillionaire philanthropist who works to fight against child trafficking around the world. Her children Ted, Rafael, Nora, and Penny were all adopted from devastating situations and broken families. All but Penny followed career paths similar to their mother. The Johnson family is known across the world, as one of the most compassionate families with all the work they do.
When the Aqar297 virus hits, making every woman infertile on the planet, Mary Johnson is asked to be on the Task Force 200. The United States government set up the Task Force 200 with the top economists, sociologists, and financial experts in America. Once the epidemic hit, the stock market crashed, open immigration occurred, and regimes around the world began deteriorating. America set up this team to protect their future from the repercussions of the virus. While the world is trying to save itself Dr. Ted Johnson, a fertility specialist and Dr. Pierre Charbot, a world-renowned scientist, are both racing for a cure.
The world’s attention is on Dr. Charbot to find a cure but when he loses Lily, one of his esteemed scientists, to Dr. Ted Johnson, everything changes. Ten and a half months after the virus appeared, Ted finds a cure known as ‘the secret sauce’. The world is in an uproar of excitement when the Johnson family breaks the news. However, with a limited supply of this ‘secret sauce’, the Johnson family is only allowing women who meet certain requirements to get pregnant. A few include couples without children or felonies. As well as couples with a steady income and health insurance. Once they pass the application process, the women are then sent to the Johnson Fertility Center where they can start a family. Even with the world angered at the Johnson family for playing God, they remain convicted that children should only be born in safe situations, regardless of culture, religion, or values.
With all the child abuse that the Johnson family has seen and experienced during their lifetime, they stand by their belief that they think it best to keep the cure secret and safe from the rest of the world. But when alliances shift within the Johnson family, not only is the ‘secret sauce’ threatened, but also skeletons in the family’s closet are at risk of being revealed. The Johnson family has always wanted to do best by all the children in the world, but would the world feel the same if they were to find out who the family really is?
This book had me enthralled from the first page. I feel Maggie Spence did an excellent job capturing the real life scenario of what could possibly happen to the world if such an epidemic occurred. I give The Johnson Project a 4 out of 4 stars. There is a part while reading where I felt as if I were being persuaded to believe that only certain people in this world should be allowed to have children. This was about ¾ of the way through the book where there are 18 pages of graphic authentic accounts of child abuse that occurred in the year 2015. These pages can be bypassed within the book; the reader does not have to read them.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this creatively realistic story. I would highly recommend anyone who enjoys science fiction to read this book. Maggie Spence was able to develop a story with such realistic depth that it made me question how I would react if such an outbreak occurred. There is the disclaimer to those interested that some graphic content is in this book, but is able to be skipped if the reader chooses. I will surely be adding the author’s other book to my reading list.
******
The Johnson Project
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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