I first bought this book in 2012 but I'd not had a chance to ready it yet. Michael Walker would say I wasn't quite ready yet and he'd have been correct. Having spent most of my half century of life looking for answers, I was finally truly ready to read this once I had the answers I sought and so much more. A steady diet of "Eastern Mysticism," Joseph Campbell, and Quantum Physics left me very much awakened enough to really enjoy this lovely book.

The Fourth Awakening is more than just a fiction novel, it really is a glimpse into where humanity is going, and one of the way the awakening could happen. A mind, like a parachute, only works when it's open. Please place your seats in an upright position, stow you gear, be sure your tray table is up an locked, your seatbelt fastened, and your mind open. Enjoy the flight and remember, there is no try, only do. The force can be strong with you too

"The Fourth Awakening" crackles with tension, right up to the end--where, unfortunately, the lack of a credible villain unravels the tightly woven story. However, the strong writing and spiritual depth are more than enough to make the novel an entertaining and enlightening read.

Story: A reporter gets to cover a story so sensitive that the President of the United States personally asked the Washington Post to leave it alone. With rumors of 30 top scientists missing and rich industrialist being held in a prison typically used for terrorists, the story is too big to ignore. On one level it is a straightforward suspense story with plenty of action, a healthy dose of humor and a pinch of sexual tension. On another it is a spiritual quest by a remarkable woman who meets an enlightened man the likes of which have never been seen in fiction before. (Description from Amazon.com)

Spiritual/metaphysical content: High. Penelope is on the path to to enlightenment via yoga and meditation and practices the Law of Attraction. When she meets Michael, she learns that thoughts have power. "Thought is thought. There is no good or evil. . . . Emotionally charged negative thoughts tend to be more strongly felt than positive ones. You run the risk of manifesting something that you really don't intend."

The story gets interesting when the authors introduce the idea of the Fourth Awakening: The number of individuals who can reach a state of non-symbolic thought (aka enlightenment) has reached critical mass. The book likens this state to the Internet--a giant field of energy, full of information, open to anyone who has the right connection.

My take: I enjoyed the novel as a new age thriller. The quick-paced plot keeps you turning pages as the stakes grow higher and the fate of the human race is in peril. Penelope's character is well drawn and entirely believable. The rationale explaining the Fourth Awakening is fascinating. I devoured the first two-thirds of this novel in one sitting, reluctant to put it down. Unfortunately, a good thriller requires a significant threat, and that's where the book fell apart for me. The authors ran into the basic problem that confronts every metaphysical writer: How to you spin positive development in a negative way in order to manufacture believable conflict?

In my opinion, Pennington and Martin handled that specific problem more gracefully than James Redfield did in his Celestine Prophecy books. It's a difficult problem to overcome. However, the book succeeded as an entertaining thriller even though the "villain" fell short for me. The book was well written, fast paced, and well crafted. Their spiritual principles are sound, and I look forward to seeing where the series will lead.

I don't read a lot of fiction and when I do I want to get something from it other than just entertainment. I want something that will help me grow in some way. I downloaded this novel to my Kindle knowing not much about it other than it contained some Buddhist thought/philosophy. What I found is a compelling story of human enlightenment that falls very closely in line with what I believe is happening to the human race.

The book is part science fiction but much of it is not too far beyond the realm of belief. More interestingly the authors explain to us how human beings are evolving and being enlightened collectively and in phases the protagonist in the book calls "awakenings". As each awakening occurs there are, of course, benefits but there are also drawbacks and the old guard who does not want to change.

Frankly, I didn't find the story itself to be all that compelling. Maybe not enough sex, violence and romance ;-). But, I find myself telling people about the book over and over. So, it must have made more of an impact on me than I realized. I just downloaded the second book in the series.

I don't usually write long reviews, why tell the plot when a simple recommendation can get one reading for themselves and enjoying the whole scene. But, this book is different. It has a story line based on suspense, twists and turns, but there is an element to this book that at the end will leave you thinking and coming back to it, time after time. You will read news articles, read other books, but something will ping and your memories and your thoughts will come back to the backbone of what this novel is all about. Sometimes a writer inadvertently or with considered thought writes on a subject that may be it fiction or fact that you need to sit up and think about, take in, consider and keep in a special place in your psyche because you are going to hit reminders of the reality they have hit on all along your every day life. An enjoyable read, four instead of five stars because at times they could have given just a little more depth to the whys and wherefores, but never the less, an excellent read and a train of thought you won't set aside long after you have laid the book down as read.