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To Preserve, Protect and Destroy
NASA Geologist Unearths Deadly Martian A Race Against Time to Thwart Catastrophic Mission and Save Millions from Imminent Disaster!
In To Preserve, Protect and Destroy, we follow the gripping journey of Terrence Sullivan, a dedicated NASA geologist, as he is thrust into an unexpected mission of universal importance. Tasked with the perilous job of collecting volatile stones from the hostile terrain of Mars, Terrence is initially led to believe that his mission is purely for the safety of the universe. These are no ordinary stones, but the very same that caused the catastrophic end to the first terraforming mission on the red planet.
As the narrative unfolds, Terrence uncovers the chilling truth behind his mission's ultimate goal. The stakes are higher than he could have ever imagined, with the fate of his crew and millions of innocent lives hanging in the balance. The ship is set to return to Earth, but with a deadly cargo that could cause it to crash land in the Middle East, resulting in an unimaginable disaster.
Caught in a web of deceit and danger, Terrence must navigate the treacherous path of duty, morality, and survival. With time running out, he is forced to make decisions that will not only determine his fate but that of humanity itself. Will he be able to thwart the impending catastrophe and reveal the truth to the world, or will he become another casualty in this deadly game of power and control?
To Preserve, Protect and Destroy is a thrilling exploration of space travel, the fragility of life, and the lengths one man will go to protect it. It is a testament to the human spirit's resilience and the power of truth in the face of overwhelming odds. This gripping tale is sure to captivate fans of space exploration and those who relish in seeing the mighty fall. Prepare for a journey that will take you to the edge of your seat and beyond, as you delve into the heart-stopping world of To Preserve, Protect and Destroy.
In To Preserve, Protect and Destroy, we follow the gripping journey of Terrence Sullivan, a dedicated NASA geologist, as he is thrust into an unexpected mission of universal importance. Tasked with the perilous job of collecting volatile stones from the hostile terrain of Mars, Terrence is initially led to believe that his mission is purely for the safety of the universe. These are no ordinary stones, but the very same that caused the catastrophic end to the first terraforming mission on the red planet.
As the narrative unfolds, Terrence uncovers the chilling truth behind his mission's ultimate goal. The stakes are higher than he could have ever imagined, with the fate of his crew and millions of innocent lives hanging in the balance. The ship is set to return to Earth, but with a deadly cargo that could cause it to crash land in the Middle East, resulting in an unimaginable disaster.
Caught in a web of deceit and danger, Terrence must navigate the treacherous path of duty, morality, and survival. With time running out, he is forced to make decisions that will not only determine his fate but that of humanity itself. Will he be able to thwart the impending catastrophe and reveal the truth to the world, or will he become another casualty in this deadly game of power and control?
To Preserve, Protect and Destroy is a thrilling exploration of space travel, the fragility of life, and the lengths one man will go to protect it. It is a testament to the human spirit's resilience and the power of truth in the face of overwhelming odds. This gripping tale is sure to captivate fans of space exploration and those who relish in seeing the mighty fall. Prepare for a journey that will take you to the edge of your seat and beyond, as you delve into the heart-stopping world of To Preserve, Protect and Destroy.
Kindle Edition
Published June 4, 2024
2558 people want to read
About the author
Matthew D. Saeman
1 book15 followersMatthew D. Saeman is a Special Education teacher in San Diego, California. Growing up in Orange County, he developed an appreciation for nature and love of the ocean at a young age. A believer in the wonders of animal companionship, he resides with a Great Dane, a Corgi, and three rescued cats. Matthew has published six short stories and written eight novels.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 9, 2024
Check out all my reviews at: https://www.avonnalovesgenres.com
TO PRESERVE, PROTECT AND DESTROY by Matthew D. Saeman is a fast-paced, escapist suspense/thriller. A discovery on Mars becomes the key to a narcissistic US President’s personal revenge on a Middle Eastern terrorist. With space travel to Mars, continual action and intrigue, and an unlikely hero’s journey this is a fast, exciting read.
NASA sends astronauts to Mars to begin a terraforming mission for future colonization and disaster strikes, but what appears as a disaster to the world reveals a key to a President’s personal revenge on a terrorist. As a second mission is sent to Mars, geologist Terrence Sullivan believes he is sent to make Mars safe for future missions, but the SEALs on the spacecraft have a different mission task straight from the President.
This is an action-adventure suspense/thriller that is character driven with a good vs. evil hero’s journey more than a technology driven science fiction story. Terrence is an everyman who must step up during extreme circumstances and make decisions that could change the world. I found Terrence very relatable and believable, but the President and leader of the terrorist regime felt to me like caricatures. While I enjoyed this story and found it an exciting good vs. evil thriller read, there are many times I had to suspend belief while reading. Overall, an entertaining
suspense/thriller read with a protagonist to cheer for.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars (Rounded Up)
TO PRESERVE, PROTECT AND DESTROY by Matthew D. Saeman is a fast-paced, escapist suspense/thriller. A discovery on Mars becomes the key to a narcissistic US President’s personal revenge on a Middle Eastern terrorist. With space travel to Mars, continual action and intrigue, and an unlikely hero’s journey this is a fast, exciting read.
NASA sends astronauts to Mars to begin a terraforming mission for future colonization and disaster strikes, but what appears as a disaster to the world reveals a key to a President’s personal revenge on a terrorist. As a second mission is sent to Mars, geologist Terrence Sullivan believes he is sent to make Mars safe for future missions, but the SEALs on the spacecraft have a different mission task straight from the President.
This is an action-adventure suspense/thriller that is character driven with a good vs. evil hero’s journey more than a technology driven science fiction story. Terrence is an everyman who must step up during extreme circumstances and make decisions that could change the world. I found Terrence very relatable and believable, but the President and leader of the terrorist regime felt to me like caricatures. While I enjoyed this story and found it an exciting good vs. evil thriller read, there are many times I had to suspend belief while reading. Overall, an entertaining
suspense/thriller read with a protagonist to cheer for.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars (Rounded Up)
August 7, 2024
Do I think we’ll ever set foot on Mars? Yes. But not for a long time. There’s too much still to learn about traveling such a long distance. Do I think once we do go there it will be exploited? Yes. There’s always those who hunger for power and wealth waiting for a new way to get it.
To Preserve, Protect And Destroy. Such an apt title. Something is discovered on Mars. People are sent to retrieve it. Some want to study it. Some want to bury it. And some want to use it. There’s that saying…” just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
I was pulled in right from the first couple of sentences. Those brief descriptions put me there. I learned what was on Mars. Thought about what it might mean and formed my own opinions. Shared the excitement, fears and desires along with the crew. And kept turning the pages. I needed, no, had to know what the outcome was.
As I neared the end of the book all I thought was, “there’s no place like home.” And I hoped the last few pages showed me it was still there.
I enjoy science fiction stories. Especially those that might be able to happen. Throw in characters I grow to care about and some bad guys I’d like to drop kick, and I’m a happy camper.
I received a complimentary copy. My review is voluntarily given.
To Preserve, Protect And Destroy. Such an apt title. Something is discovered on Mars. People are sent to retrieve it. Some want to study it. Some want to bury it. And some want to use it. There’s that saying…” just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”
I was pulled in right from the first couple of sentences. Those brief descriptions put me there. I learned what was on Mars. Thought about what it might mean and formed my own opinions. Shared the excitement, fears and desires along with the crew. And kept turning the pages. I needed, no, had to know what the outcome was.
As I neared the end of the book all I thought was, “there’s no place like home.” And I hoped the last few pages showed me it was still there.
I enjoy science fiction stories. Especially those that might be able to happen. Throw in characters I grow to care about and some bad guys I’d like to drop kick, and I’m a happy camper.
I received a complimentary copy. My review is voluntarily given.
August 17, 2024
3.5 stars. This second novel from Matthew D. Saeman shows some promise and some good writing, but it unfortunately doesn’t know what it wants to be. It’s marketed as both “hard science fiction” and “political thrillers & suspense.” It wants to be both, but turns out not to execute either as well as the author could have. In the end, despite a plot with plenty of action and elements of suspense that drew me in, I was not satisfied with the characters, the story, or the ending. And yet, I did not hate this book and I’m not ruling out reading more of Mr. Saeman’s work as he develops as an author.
Start with the political thriller, which is the better-executed of the two genres/stories. William Doud is the President of the United States in a near-future time when Mars missions are happening and terraforming the planet for future colonization is in progress, but otherwise things (including technology) are unchanged from 2024. The Middle East is still in turmoil when a new leader, al-Hussein, rises up to unite ISIS, the Taliban, and Al Quida into a kind of super-villain Muslim army that takes over the entire Middle East, torturing and killing non-believers, and generally posing an existential threat to the rest of the world. Despite President Doud’s warnings to the UN and NATO, the world’s leaders do nothing, allowing al-Hussein to run rampant like Hitler prior to World War II. Doud orders a SEAL team to fly into Iraq to assassinate al-Hussein, but the mission is a failure when he CIA’s mole inside al-Hussein’s operation turns on the US and alerts the enemy to the plan. Everyone is killed, including one SEAL who is beheaded on video. One member of the team, Jack, is set free so he can tell the tale and bring the video back to Doud and verify its authenticity. OK, interesting start. What will Doud do in response? Will the world survive the imminent war? What will Jack’s role be? Political thriller, indeed.
The President has access to a super-bomb that can vaporize everything within a hundred miles or more. He plans to drop the super-bomb on the region – wiping out al-Hussein and the entire Middle East, eliminating the terrorist threat. He makes this plan in secret, hoping to execute it without anyone else knowing other than his CIA director, his Vice-President, and Jack, who will lead the bombing mission along with a crew of four dishonorably discharged SEALs who are willing to sacrifice themselves in order to destroy the evil empire. Will Doud’s plan succeed? Will others find out about it? This plot is center-cut political thriller. The idea of genocide and the murder of millions as a pre-emptive strike against al-Hussein’s fledgling empire is a radical move, and one sure to draw negative attention if known in advance or afterwards, is a bit far-fetched, but certainly fine for thriller fiction.
Now, here comes the science fiction element. The super-bomb is a rock discovered on Mars by a mission two years earlier. The mission was to begin terraforming Mars, but a geologist found an unusual rock, very light, as if hollow, and hard as diamond on the exterior. When he put the football-sized stone in an oven to see how it reacted to heat, it exploded (when the temperature reached 71-degrees Fahrenheit), leveling the entire expedition and a massive Martian crater. The scientists at NASA could not be sure if the explosion was just the single stone, or if the ignition of the one triggered the detonation of more of them in the vicinity that created a chain-reaction. But it was massive and deadly.
Upon hearing about this exploding stone on Mars, Doud orders NASA to send up another mission to collect more of them and bring them back to Earth. Although it is obvious to the reader that Doud’s plan is obviously to use the super-bombs as a weapon, nobody on Earth objects and the claimed purpose of the mission is to clear out Mars of these hazards so that the terraforming operation can continue. The new mission team consists of a four-person flight command crew (whom we never really meet), one geologist named Terrance, and five Navy SEALs, led by Jack, armed to the teeth with assault rifles and ammo. Why send the armed SEALs into space? Why send only one geologist, charged with finding every exploding stone on the planetary surface? And why risk bringing these super-bombs back to Earth? None of these questions are asked by the press, politicians, foreign leaders, or anyone else.
The Sci-Fi portion of the book is the weakest. The author repeatedly forgets about the physics of a zero-gravity environment and describes action as if it were happening aboard the starship Enterprise with an artificial gravity in place. The ship itself is never described, except that it has re-entry ability like a Space Shuttle, has a mess hall where the crew all eats at the same time like a high school cafeteria, and there is a ladder connecting the lower level to the flight deck. When the ship reaches Earth, it is somehow able to fly like an airplane, change course (under the direction of the NASA command center, which can control everything remotely and lock out the crew from having manual control of the flight path) so that Doud, with the assistance of the NASA director, can re-route the incoming bomb-carrying shuttle toward the Middle East.
The science doesn’t entirely make sense, the actions of the characters on the ship don’t make sense, the configuration of the mission crew in the first place makes no sense, and the descriptions of Mars and the process of having Terrance single-handedly try to find the buried stones like a prospector on the beach with a metal detector, don’t make sense. The characters on board the space shuttle somehow have the ability to send emails to colleagues on Earth and have secret video phone calls to Earth without NASA mission control knowing about them. Metal objects stay seated on tables until needed for a fight scene, when they can be picked up and used as weapons in a zero-G environment. Characters float around, but also can drink from standard liquor bottles, swish liquid around in their drinking glasses, and leap toward each other and plant punches that knock out their opponent. There is some manufactured suspense, but these devices feel like filler rather than true suspense.
So, we have the political thriller plot and the poorly-executed sci-fi mission-to-Mars plot, all of which converge in the exciting climax when we learn whether Doud’s plan to destroy the entire Middle East will succeed or not. In the end, the story is at once compelling and also frustrating as the author’s execution of the story elements makes for an unsatisfying conclusion.
The writing is often good, but at other times the dialogue is stilted and the descriptions don’t make sense. There are huge leaps forward in time (necessary since the mission lasts 18 months) without any explanation of what has happened in the interim. There are also a few too many copy editing errors. But there is also some promise here for an author who certainly can create interesting situations and keep the reader turning pages. There are plenty of examples of clever language, apt similes, and decent dialogue. This author has the ability to spin out an interesting story and write well enough to keep his readers interested. A little more work on the plot, a few more beta readers who can help with the plot holes, a little more care concerning the details, and perhaps a better focus on just one genre at a time, could make Mr. Saeman’s next book much better. Keep an eye on this author, and feel free to read Serve, Protect, and Destroy if you enjoy an action-packed political thriller and don’t mind overlooking the details for the sake of the thrill ride.
Start with the political thriller, which is the better-executed of the two genres/stories. William Doud is the President of the United States in a near-future time when Mars missions are happening and terraforming the planet for future colonization is in progress, but otherwise things (including technology) are unchanged from 2024. The Middle East is still in turmoil when a new leader, al-Hussein, rises up to unite ISIS, the Taliban, and Al Quida into a kind of super-villain Muslim army that takes over the entire Middle East, torturing and killing non-believers, and generally posing an existential threat to the rest of the world. Despite President Doud’s warnings to the UN and NATO, the world’s leaders do nothing, allowing al-Hussein to run rampant like Hitler prior to World War II. Doud orders a SEAL team to fly into Iraq to assassinate al-Hussein, but the mission is a failure when he CIA’s mole inside al-Hussein’s operation turns on the US and alerts the enemy to the plan. Everyone is killed, including one SEAL who is beheaded on video. One member of the team, Jack, is set free so he can tell the tale and bring the video back to Doud and verify its authenticity. OK, interesting start. What will Doud do in response? Will the world survive the imminent war? What will Jack’s role be? Political thriller, indeed.
The President has access to a super-bomb that can vaporize everything within a hundred miles or more. He plans to drop the super-bomb on the region – wiping out al-Hussein and the entire Middle East, eliminating the terrorist threat. He makes this plan in secret, hoping to execute it without anyone else knowing other than his CIA director, his Vice-President, and Jack, who will lead the bombing mission along with a crew of four dishonorably discharged SEALs who are willing to sacrifice themselves in order to destroy the evil empire. Will Doud’s plan succeed? Will others find out about it? This plot is center-cut political thriller. The idea of genocide and the murder of millions as a pre-emptive strike against al-Hussein’s fledgling empire is a radical move, and one sure to draw negative attention if known in advance or afterwards, is a bit far-fetched, but certainly fine for thriller fiction.
Now, here comes the science fiction element. The super-bomb is a rock discovered on Mars by a mission two years earlier. The mission was to begin terraforming Mars, but a geologist found an unusual rock, very light, as if hollow, and hard as diamond on the exterior. When he put the football-sized stone in an oven to see how it reacted to heat, it exploded (when the temperature reached 71-degrees Fahrenheit), leveling the entire expedition and a massive Martian crater. The scientists at NASA could not be sure if the explosion was just the single stone, or if the ignition of the one triggered the detonation of more of them in the vicinity that created a chain-reaction. But it was massive and deadly.
Upon hearing about this exploding stone on Mars, Doud orders NASA to send up another mission to collect more of them and bring them back to Earth. Although it is obvious to the reader that Doud’s plan is obviously to use the super-bombs as a weapon, nobody on Earth objects and the claimed purpose of the mission is to clear out Mars of these hazards so that the terraforming operation can continue. The new mission team consists of a four-person flight command crew (whom we never really meet), one geologist named Terrance, and five Navy SEALs, led by Jack, armed to the teeth with assault rifles and ammo. Why send the armed SEALs into space? Why send only one geologist, charged with finding every exploding stone on the planetary surface? And why risk bringing these super-bombs back to Earth? None of these questions are asked by the press, politicians, foreign leaders, or anyone else.
The Sci-Fi portion of the book is the weakest. The author repeatedly forgets about the physics of a zero-gravity environment and describes action as if it were happening aboard the starship Enterprise with an artificial gravity in place. The ship itself is never described, except that it has re-entry ability like a Space Shuttle, has a mess hall where the crew all eats at the same time like a high school cafeteria, and there is a ladder connecting the lower level to the flight deck. When the ship reaches Earth, it is somehow able to fly like an airplane, change course (under the direction of the NASA command center, which can control everything remotely and lock out the crew from having manual control of the flight path) so that Doud, with the assistance of the NASA director, can re-route the incoming bomb-carrying shuttle toward the Middle East.
The science doesn’t entirely make sense, the actions of the characters on the ship don’t make sense, the configuration of the mission crew in the first place makes no sense, and the descriptions of Mars and the process of having Terrance single-handedly try to find the buried stones like a prospector on the beach with a metal detector, don’t make sense. The characters on board the space shuttle somehow have the ability to send emails to colleagues on Earth and have secret video phone calls to Earth without NASA mission control knowing about them. Metal objects stay seated on tables until needed for a fight scene, when they can be picked up and used as weapons in a zero-G environment. Characters float around, but also can drink from standard liquor bottles, swish liquid around in their drinking glasses, and leap toward each other and plant punches that knock out their opponent. There is some manufactured suspense, but these devices feel like filler rather than true suspense.
So, we have the political thriller plot and the poorly-executed sci-fi mission-to-Mars plot, all of which converge in the exciting climax when we learn whether Doud’s plan to destroy the entire Middle East will succeed or not. In the end, the story is at once compelling and also frustrating as the author’s execution of the story elements makes for an unsatisfying conclusion.
The writing is often good, but at other times the dialogue is stilted and the descriptions don’t make sense. There are huge leaps forward in time (necessary since the mission lasts 18 months) without any explanation of what has happened in the interim. There are also a few too many copy editing errors. But there is also some promise here for an author who certainly can create interesting situations and keep the reader turning pages. There are plenty of examples of clever language, apt similes, and decent dialogue. This author has the ability to spin out an interesting story and write well enough to keep his readers interested. A little more work on the plot, a few more beta readers who can help with the plot holes, a little more care concerning the details, and perhaps a better focus on just one genre at a time, could make Mr. Saeman’s next book much better. Keep an eye on this author, and feel free to read Serve, Protect, and Destroy if you enjoy an action-packed political thriller and don’t mind overlooking the details for the sake of the thrill ride.
December 20, 2024
Terrance Sullivan is a dedicated NASA geologist. His mission is to collect stones from Mars. Little does he know that these stones are the same ones that caused a catastrophic end to the first mission on Mars. This is a thriller as we follow Terrance and the lengths he will go through to protect life and the exploration of space travel. Thank you for the opportunity of receiving this book. I have already passed it on.
August 9, 2024
I really liked this book as it opens with a NASA space mission and astronauts. I rarely get to read a book with NASA involved in it so I found that awesome right off the bat. AND the author did a tremendously great job with telling the story of Terrence and everyone else in the book, there are several different characters the various chapters follow.
President Dowd reminds me of a bit of a loose thinking president, he is hoping that everything will work out when he does missions and anything really. And it doesn't always as we find out in one of the very first chapters. I also LOVED that ending in this book with the wrap up of what happens to President Dowd and all the other players in this book.
The author wrote a truly engaging story about Betrayal, action, danger, intrigue, and more in this novel. This is such an interesting story with NASA as a part of the core plot and also the current president of the United States. This is such a heart stopping action fast paced read, that I could not put it down once I started reading! I really hope that this author will be writing more books in the future as the style is my favorite.
I highly recommend to fans of thrillers and action reads!
President Dowd reminds me of a bit of a loose thinking president, he is hoping that everything will work out when he does missions and anything really. And it doesn't always as we find out in one of the very first chapters. I also LOVED that ending in this book with the wrap up of what happens to President Dowd and all the other players in this book.
The author wrote a truly engaging story about Betrayal, action, danger, intrigue, and more in this novel. This is such an interesting story with NASA as a part of the core plot and also the current president of the United States. This is such a heart stopping action fast paced read, that I could not put it down once I started reading! I really hope that this author will be writing more books in the future as the style is my favorite.
I highly recommend to fans of thrillers and action reads!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews