I read this book way back in 2020, but only just gotten around to writing my thoughts on it.

Some things I loved about this book were its explanation on scientific and technical aspects. Sprinkling some fast-paced action on top of it creates a movie-like effect, which helped grip my attention. The mystery and revelation aspects of the plot were satisfying, too.

Although this book is the second installment in the Civil Terror series, I had no problem engaging with the story right from the start. However, I didn’t feel any real connection with our protagonist, Jake Bendel, which was probably the reason this book couldn’t get a 4-star rating from me.

Thanks to Jaytech Publishing for providing me with a copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own and are based on the advanced digital review copy.

“Civil Terror – Waterborne” Is book two in the series, but there is a quick review of past events so new readers will easily follow along. The plot is current and believable; it deals with a critical social, environmental, and political problem – water.

Bennecke structures the book to depict the same scene multiple times, from the point of view of each participant. Readers learn what all the characters see, hear, and feel, and know what other characters do not. Jake Bendel engineered the concept of treating seawater with energy created by a new form of inexpensive, safe nuclear power. Water is a precious commodity, a basic human resource needed for California’s booming population. Three plants are finished and ready to go online. These will provide clean purified water that just a few weeks previously had contained ocean fish contently swimming.

The pace is frantic; the abduction that took less than ten seconds, hangs over everything. Tension mounts, and things happen that no one expects. There are explosions, near death events, threats, financial identity theft, surveillance, murders, and worst of all, a dead cat. The danger finally becomes clear; everyone is getting sick, but the resolution is not easily accomplished.

Bennecke created a non-stop thriller with the feel of a nightly news incident. There is action, drama, and peril on every page. I received a review copy of “Civil Terror Waterborne” from J. Luke Bennecke, and Jaytech Publishing. It was compelling and terrifying in its implications. I could not put it down, and I certainly did not stop to get a drink of water (shudder).

The water, the food chain, had been poisoned and they were trying to kill the person who could fix the problem. The big question, then, who is “they”?

Jake Bendal had designed a system that could produce clean water from the Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of California and cheap and safe energy using Molton Salt Reactors which recycled the salt from the waste created while purifying the ocean’s saltwater. A win for many, but “they” wanted to put a stop to it by creating a virus that changes the sperm that would create the next generation of children and would destroy the next year’s crop production - a virus that was spread through a poison found in the freshwater coming from Jake Bendal’s facilities that created both freshwater and clean/safe energy.

The book was a good story from the very beginning. Part of a series, the book can almost be read alone - yet by not reading the earlier book in the series and missing the next book in the series, this reader felt like he was missing parts of the story. I will be watching for the next book. Part 1, Civil Terror:Gridlock was published in 2018. No hint as to when to expect book 3 of the series was provided. I am hoping that I will not have to wait for the two to three years that separated book 1 and book 2.

For the reader looking for his or her next thriller, J. Luke Bennecke’s Civil Terror:Waterborne would make a great choice.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Dumping you right into the story, Bennecke does a nice job of setting the tone of the novel immediately - heavy on the action, light on the character development. The second in the series, Civil Terror: Waterborne assumes you're well versed in the first, throwing characters and plot developments at you without easing you in. While I enjoyed the action (Bennecke can definitely build a scene), the whole book felt like it was being written to be turned into a movie script or tv show; the characters made decisions that felt counter to their personalities, tropes abounded, and overall the story seemed to move with little regard to the choices of the protagonists and their counterpoints. It was an ok read, but it didn't leave me wanting to go back and read book one, nor watch for any more.

So the first thing that I want to say about Civil Terror: Waterborne is that it is part of a series, book 2 in fact, even though it isn't linked as a series on Goodreads. This meant that I went into the book at a disadvantage. It definitely felt like I was stepping in to the middle of a story so I wouldn't recommend to anyone to try to read it as a standalone.
I'd read the synopsis a few times before requesting and then reading the book and I still hadn't figured out where it was going to fall, whether it would be an action novel or a virus outbreak story.
Civil Terror: Waterborne tells the story of a civil engineer, Jake, who is trying to create systems to provide water to the residents of California, where there has been a shortage for some time. As his system starts to provide the water a virus is put in to the system by terrorists meaning that contaminated water is being provided and drank by unsuspecting citizens who then become unwell with flu type symptoms. The virus is designed to genetically modify males in order to create an elite race of men in generations to come. Jake is helping the FBI to investigate and is getting close to uncovering some leads when he is injected with the virus and becomes unwell. The race to solve the mystery as to who did it and create a cure is on!
The book landed firmly on the action side of things. It basically felt like the book version of an Arnold Schwarzenegger film i.e there was lots of macho action moments and it was all a bit unrealistic.
I really struggled with Paige, one of the other main characters. She just came across as quite undeveloped and her repeated use of the word 'Dude' drove me crazy.
Overall this book left me feeling a bit underwhelmed although I think that was possibly partly down to the fact that I was hoping it would focus more on the virus/epidemic rather than macho action.
It just wasn't my type of book in the end but if you do like action novels then this has a good story line and would probably hit the sweet spot for you.

This is quite good. It has all the right elements -- engaging plot, good dialog, interesting characters, etc. The story is complicated enough to be engaging plus there are some good twists along the way. A solid thriller. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!