- Publisher: Windstream Publishing Company
- Publication date: February 1, 2016
- Length: 189 pages
- ISBN: 978-0-9643926-6-3
- ASIN: B017KRJ66E
- Author: Richard Botelho
Reason For Existence by Richard Botelho tells the tale of David Jordan, an extraterrestrial who appears human other than the unusual sparkles in his eyes. He is a very successful entrepreneur living on the West Coast of the USA as the world seems to be spiraling out of control. Multiple international conflicts threaten to escalate into nuclear war, and a hostile race of Nazi-like aliens is trying to spark a bio-weapon release to destroy humanity.
David went to college with the current UN Secretary General, Nicholas Straka. Straka does not know he is an alien, but he approaches David and asks for his help in diffusing the global crises. This begins David’s search for answers which leads him to talk to several ‘experts’ in different fields who give him their perspectives on the underlying causes of humanity’s disconnections and problems which have led to the current set of crises.
Most of the book is taken up with the protagonist going from one specialist to another, and receiving their thoughts on the causes of the crises, but nothing is really accomplished by any of these lectures. There are some interesting thoughts presented, but none of it would actually help in diffusing any of the major immediate issues that the world is facing. The book seems to be an excuse for the author to present his ideas on the origins of human conflict, but it really does nothing to drive the plot forward in this particular story. After going from one expert to another for most of the book, there is secret society that provides the deus ex machina resolution, and David Jordan learns a powerful lesson about the true value of humanity and human emotion.
It is listed as a ‘thriller’ but even though the world is on the brink of destruction, there is surprisingly little thrills in the story. Even still, it did hold my interest fairly well. The little lectures were interesting, even if they did little to advance the plot. The ending was sweet and heartening in its own way. This is not a great book, but it is not a bad book either. I can’t say you should run out and purchase it immediately, but if you run across it in the aisles of your local library like I did, you could do worse than to ponder your “Reason For Existence“.
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A better science fiction story with potential societal collapse, but without the aliens…
Plastiphobia – aka Plastivore by Matt Truxaw
Matt Truxaw’s newest book is Monster, which released on 1/12/2026. This urban fantasy, horror, thriller will keep you turning the pages.
He is also the author of the hard science fiction thrillers: “Plastiphobia/Plastivore” and “Anthrophobia: A Teacher’s Tale”
You can find them all on Amazon in Paperback, Hardback, Kindle and/or free to read with Kindle Unlimited.
When you read any of them, he would really appreciate a review/rating on Amazon or your favorite book seller/book reader site.
More about Matt:
He was born in Orange County California many years ago and he still lives there. He has been reading books for most of those years and writing up book reviews for the last few years. He gets MANY of his books out of the library/Libby so expect a lot of old science fiction classics book reviews and other science related reviews in addition to newer books he comes across.
If you want to be ‘in-the-loop’ on these and other works, you can follow his author’s page on Amazon or his Facebook page.
For more reviews and articles by Matt here on Amazing Stories (Click here).
Monster: A Novel by Matt Truxaw
