Silent Invasion by Chris Shockowitz is a fast-paced, modern day sci-fi story. Jeff Smith is a senior CIA agent. When he hands in a scientific report on a strange metal found at the bottom of the ocean to his superior, his life is turned upside down. The alien metal is the first clue in a conspiracy that could destroy all of humanity. Assigned to run interference on a pesky reporter threatening to expose CIA shell companies, he finds more than he bargained for in Burkina Faso. Amber van Hosteen has been investigating a shadowy organization called the Hidden Hand. Her search for truth leads her to Burkina Faso where an entire village has gone missing. Jeff and Amber soon find that their mutual enemy may not be human at all. With a bounty on their heads, they must race against time to save the world from annihilation.

Chris Shockowitz begins his story with an interesting paragraph. To quote: ‘Since the 1950s, humanity has explored the many ways aliens could invade Earth, but the ugly truth is that no intelligent race need risk their own lives to kill humans while humans are still so willing to kill each other.’ This statement is so true to the spirit of Silent Invasion. Man's worst enemy is man himself. The villains in this story have real-life comparisons. Multinational companies that would do anything to make as much money as possible, politicians who are fighting for more power no matter the cost, and mad scientists who dash conscience to the rocks in the name of advancement. On the positive side, evil couldn’t win because there were good guys willing to do right by the world even at the cost of their lives. Looking for a thrilling read with aliens and lots of action? Silent Invasion is the book for you. Conspiracy theorists will eat this one up like catnip. Silent Invasion is one of those books that would make a great movie. Fans of the television series V will enjoy this book.

Silent Invasion by Chris Shockowitz once again exhibits a new facet to visionary science fiction, as is being done time and again by the fertile imaginative minds of new generations of authors. The book begins with one of the main protagonists, Jeff Smith, a senior CIA agent, meeting Alon, an emigre from Israel, in a maximum security high-tech lab located 100 stories under the rolling hills of Virginia. Alon informs Jeff that even after intensive tests the metal sample - found in a remote underwater location - that Jeff had brought defied analysis and was made of material created from some new, hitherto unknown technology. After Jeff leaves the lab, he is suddenly redeployed to keep tabs on a New York based journalist. Amber van Hosteen, an attractive young woman often turning heads where ever she goes, enters the fray. Gifted with an inquisitive mindset, which compels her to dig really deep to search out elusive truths, Amber is an unforgettable protagonist. Silent Invasion is a fascinating account of the course of events initiated by her ad hoc investigative trip to one of the poorest African nations, Burkina Faso. She meets her contact, a local Catholic priest named Jean-Paul Mulifi, to investigate disappearances of prominent people and why so much money is flowing into the country from more than one of the holding companies she tracking. What is being built there?

Jeff and Amber have met before in circumstances that have left no love lost between the two, but yet again destiny (or could it be the machinations of corrupt agencies, corporates and/or governments) intervenes for their paths to cross in the remote African nation. The pace of the tale soon accelerates to exhilarating levels, with mystery and mayhem in a continuous stream. What initially appears to be a simple story of investigative journalism develops rapidly into a century-old time line, with a galaxy-sized canvas, in which many nations are deeply involved in a dystopian world. The cover is attractive. The development of the book is good, and the many protagonists and their roles are believable. Chris Shockowitz skillfully knits together an intricate web of intrigue, adventure and suspense as numerous scenarios are brought together. A memorable tongue in cheek quote from Silent Invasion sticks in the mind: '“Because space funding in the US is political, it could take years to launch a detection device,” Jeff explained. “The Russians do not have that problem.”' This is an exciting tale and recommended as a 5 star read.