The Hollywood Book Reviews commends “The Coming” by A. Ben Bacon

The Hollywood Book Reviews commended A. Ben Bacon’s “The Coming,” saying that it “is a story that transcends the word unique in its storytelling and message. That doesn’t mean that there are a few missteps along the way, but nobody is perfect.”

You can search the aisles of your local bookstore all you want, but you won’t find another book like this. The story starts with strong religious tones—as it should—but those start to slip away throughout the book. Religion is incredibly important to this story, so it doesn’t disappear completely, but the story feels more like a lifetime channel at the beginning and more like a sci-fi channel toward the end. If that hasn’t sold you yet, know that this book gets delightfully strange without crossing the line.

Author A. Ben Bacon was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, in July 1953. When he was five, his family moved to Farmington, New Mexico, where he lived for almost fourteen years. He was married to his first wife, Connie, there. Now, as a widower from his second wife, Doreen, of nearly eighteen years, he lives in Colorado with his partner of five years, Sandra Hays. He has lived in 26 states and six countries during his lifetime. In January 1973, he enlisted in the US Navy, where he sailed on the USS Camden off the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. After he left the US Navy, he went to the University of Utah, where he received his Bachelor of Science in meteorology in March 1979. In 1983, he joined the US Air Force as an officer.

Subsequently, he became a typhoon chaser (hurricane hunter in the United States) flying as an aerial reconnaissance weather officer/instructor out of Guam, a US territory. To him, it was the job of a lifetime. To be a meteorologist and be able to fly a four-engine turboprop C-130 Hercules into the eye of the world’s worst storms was heaven on earth to him. During almost three years of flying into typhoons, he penetrated the eye of the typhoon 39 times, which awarded him three Air Medals. The Black Swan Squadron was inactivated on September 30, 1987. Upon squadron inactivation, Ben was accepted to the US Navy’s prestigious Naval Postgraduate School, a NATO school located in Monterey, California, where he received his Master of Science degree in meteorology in June 1989.

Ben’s love for the outdoors is a cornerstone of his life, a passion that led him to settle in the picturesque state of Colorado. His favorite pastimes include hiking, snow skiing, road trips, and fishing, all of which allow him to connect with nature and rejuvenate his spirit. When he’s indoors, he indulges in a variety of creative pursuits, such as reading, writing, cooking, watercolor painting, and collecting barometers. These diverse interests reflect his multifaceted personality and his constant quest for new experiences.

“The Coming” by A. Ben Bacon is dedicated to God and his saving the author. In 2017, the author was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury after multiple falls. His neurologist told me that the odds were that I would probably never function normally. But for some reason, after about four months of heavy sedation with 3600 mg/day of gabapentin, something or someone in his head said, “Stop!” And taking that as a possible interjection from God, after one month, he was off the medication and feeling more like himself.

Here’s an excerpt from the review written by Hollywood Book Reviews that highlights:

“ Books like this remind you that someone doesn’t have to be a trained author to write the story in their heart. The Coming is a fantastic novel but a little rough around the edges. One common theme that takes up too much space in the book is constant references to alcohol, which seems to be a go-to transitionary trope for the author. The cadence of the book is also a little different; it feels as though the action stops and starts instead of a slow build to crescendo over three acts. Readers will notice how the book starts with heavy religious overtones, but as the book progresses, that starts to fade a bit, and towards the end, there are detailed love scenes and graphic descriptions of violence. None of this is meant to discourage the reader; it only serves as a gentle warning that the book’s content seems to shift as it progresses.

The Coming is a story that transcends the word unique in its storytelling and message. That doesn’t mean that there are a few missteps along the way, but nobody is perfect. This book very much feels like the first of a series, so if you enjoy the story, it is safe to guess there will be more in the Everlasting collection. This story perfectly manipulates genres to give those who love reading lighter stories just a taste of darkness and those who enjoy reading darker stories a bit of hope in their dystopia. The Coming is a marvelous story that should excite everyone about what is to come for the Everlasting family and A. Ben Bacon.”