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JoJo Maxson

Step into a world were the truth is slant.

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2019

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The Life Engine by Rick Baker is an adventure just waiting for you to read. April Gentry, an ethno botanist who has discovered a product that has promising pain killing qualities. Her influential connections want it for themselves. The profit would be substantial, but April is looking at the larger picture. The damage done to her friends and the rain forest this product is found would be destroyed. Ian Wolfe, a previous Olympic decathlete, works for the CIA. Using his shameful past against him at times, he runs through the rainforests to obtain the objective. Time will tell if he makes decisions he can live with.

Rick Baker places you right in the middle of jungle warfare from the beginning. The Life Engine is not only a compelling novel, but it is an eye opener for the way greedy organizations work to obtain their prize. This story raises provoking questions as his characters rule the page. The complexity of this novel is astonishing as the author uses his characters to get a message across.

‘When it came to environmental issues, nothing was black and white.’

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2019

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Kentucky author Rick Baker offers his novel publishing debut with this stunning book THE LIFE MACHINE – a novel that closely reflects his commitment to environmental issues. He has founded several tech companies, invented water-saving gardening products now in use globally, has earned a black belt in Shaolin Karate, and has written screenplays. His first novel embraces his passion as an environmentalist as well as his ability to sculpt a cinematic politically shaded drama thriller.

Acknowledging the reader’s need to enlist attention for the first page, Rick accomplishes this with a voice in a dark auditorium, the voice belonging to Dr. April Gentry: ‘Imagine you’re on a long space voyage with your family and ten thousand other. You kiss you daughter goodnight. Then, as she lies sleeping, you destroy one-fifth of the ship’s oxygen-generation system…’ This degree of imaginative writing flows throughout this superb novel that has the courage to expose such contemporary controversial issues as ecology, climate change, pharmacological giants, ‘organic food’ and more. Rick addresses these issues in a manner that challenges us to think, all the while presenting them in the context of a well-conceived and executed thriller.

Opening this tale in Brazil, Rick introduces a main character skillfully: ‘At three in the morning, April Gentry was still waiting for her pilot at the Homoxi airfield in northern Brazil. The place was little more than a 100-yard strip of dusty hardpack. No lights. No terminal. Just an old shanty to keep the rain off the shortwave radio, hand-cranked Texaco gas pumps left over from World War II and a field littered with abandoned aircraft bodies scavenged for parts to patch up machines still worthy of the sky.’ Scene painted and the high tension story begins.

The plot is complex with numerous characters and momentary diversions, but the concept is distilled well in the synopsis: ‘Ian Wolfe is a man disgraced. The former Olympic decathlete went from cereal boxes to tabloids after a doping scandal, and he hopes a second career as a CIA officer can get him back in America's good graces. April Gentry is a woman on a mission. She's a world-renowned ethnobotanist, and she's made it her calling to fulfill her late father's legacy by bringing a life-altering medication from the Amazon to the general public. And though he is the last person on earth she wants to trust, when Gentry's close associate is accused of hacking into a CIA satellite, Wolfe is the only person who's willing to fight to clear her name. There's just one catch: he'll have to defy the agency that gave him a second chance to do it. Pursued by every law enforcement agency in America, as well as a mysterious man who thinks he's one of the angels of the apocalypse, Wolfe and Gentry must race across two continents calling on ancient arts to advanced tech to survive. Failure won't just put them in danger. April's very life is in Wolfe's hands.’

Brilliant debut novel from an author of distinction, and as the book is labeled Book One, we can thankfully await more from Rick Baker. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, July 19

Sdan12

Thought-provoking

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2019

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The Life Engine by Rick Baker is a very good thriller written with intelligence and realism even if it could be mainly included in fiction genre. This is Baker's debut novel and he has a fairly nice and fluid style. The main characters of the book are Ian Wolfe, a previous Olympic decathlete who now works for the CIA and April Gentry, an ethno botanist who discovered a product with pain killing qualities. The story is set in the Amazon rainforest but also in Kentucky and Cincinnati. While the novel goes on you can find there's a very good characters' development, they are strong and impressive. They are trying to do something for the earth and it's impressive how a book can be so thought-provoking... This novel really made me think about how we actually are treating our planet, I wonder now do we really care about the environment that surrounds us?

Anastasiia

Journey in tropical forests

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2019

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I really love when I come across amazing books, because reading them I find myself in a different world where I can relax, or vice versa be tense and follow fast-paced events. The Life Engine is just one of those and I just finished reading it and I’m happy I got it, one friend advised me. Despite the fact that in the book the constant movement, all actions take place far from civilization, namely in nature in tropical forests, what could be better?! Here the danger and the beauty of nature play together. Also, from the beginning to the end I was intrigued. I really liked the description of the action and the description of the characters April and Ian. I really enjoyed the book. In the future, I will definitely pay attention to the works of this author. I recommend the book because it’s worth, you’ll spend your time with pleasure.

Great Spy Thriller with an Environmental Slant

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2019

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The Life Engine by Rick Baker is a great environmental thriller just waiting to be opened up and devoured. The writing is lush just like the scenery contained within the Amazon, and the main characters Ian and April are interesting and well described. Supporting characters were in fact almost more intriguing in a way than the main protagonists, while rounding out the story. With a fast pace momentum, and a compelling plot, this book propels you along as you get immersed in the story. A thought provoking story, that while not entirely new in premise, is executed so well, you forget it has kind of been attempted before. As the author's debut novel, this is one that you won't want to miss. Highly recommend.