Mission Trip: Genesis and Exodus

​Before Josiah left the apartment, he glanced one last time out the living room window. There were two sparks of light a few miles in the distance. Trails of smoke followed the flashes through the early morning skyline.
The tablet in his hand spoke in a calm male voice. "Warning. Incoming rockets.”

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John Theo's latest novel released yesterday with Clean Reads! I thought my readers would like to see about his newest release and get the latest intel on John's work.

MISSION TRIP, GENESIS AND EXODUS is the sequel to John Theo's MISSION TRIP. In 2077, doctor Kyle Faison remains trapped on the west coast of New America with a group of villagers he came to help. His father, Landon, races from their hidden underwater city to rescue his son. When Kyle goes missing, Landon tracks him to the city of New Sacramento, where a charismatic leader holds him captive. Landon must find a way past an army of soldiers to reach Kyle before the onset of another nuclear war.
 
The origin of the underwater city known as the Atoll is revealed in a prequel flashback woven throughout the story.  In 2040, technocrat Josiah Saunders has wealth and power and invests much of his resources into life extension technology. He ruins countless lives trying to reach this goal. The combination of a hostile takeover by his competitor, and a failed assassination attempt, send Josiah fleeing into the subway system of New York where he is attacked and left for dead. The narcissistic man soon realizes God has other plans for him, but first he must be broken and rebuilt as a new creature.

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​John Theo, Jr. has published numerous articles in New England based newspapers and magazines, and has taught screenwriting at the college level. MISSION TRIP, GENESIS AND EXODUS is his fifth fiction novel and the sequel to 2016’s MISSION TRIP (Clean Reads Press). John holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, MA.

I asked John a few questions about this release and his writing. He had some great answers and I'm rooting for Josh or Hugh too!

1. 1) Who is your favorite character in the book and why?

My favorite character is the main protagonist Landon Faison. He’s a military officer, pilot, and Senator in the underwater city called the Atoll. He spends the entire first novel trying to talk his scientist son (Kyle) out of going on a dangerous Mission Trip, and the entire second novel trying to rescue Kyle who ends up captured. Landon carries a ton of baggage. He lost his wife decades earlier on a previous mission trip that turned violent along with his right lower leg. He now has a robotic leg and has survivors guilt. I can relate to his flaws as well as his desire to want to shelter and protect your children regardless of their age.
 
2) What's a favorite line or paragraph from the novel?
The line at the end when Landon realizes God performed miracles to save his (Landon’s) son but did not spare His own son. At this point Landon’s “arc” is complete and he has healed from his past trauma.
 
“He had not spared His only son, but made a point to spare Landon’s. It was as if Landon fully understood the cross of Christ for the first time.”
 
 
3) How many books have you written? When did you begin writing?
I started writing back in high school for fun, but did not take it seriously until my mid twenties. I’ve written five books and one novella that cover a broad range: I have a young adult fantasy, a nautical murder mystery, a Tom Clancy-esque conspiracy thriller, the two Mission Trip stories as well as a prequel novella. All of which are available online or www.johntheo.com.
 
4) What inspired you to write MISSION TRIP?
I wanted to write a sci fi story for a long time. I grew up a complete nerd reading comic books and watching every sci fi show, and movie, imaginable. I wanted to tell a sci fi story that had not been told yet, which is hard to do. If nothing else, Mission Trip is a unique tale because it is a futuristic re-telling of the Pilgrims story.  At the time I wrote MT (2015) the world was in a bad place. Christians were (and still are) being persecuted all over the world. According to PEW research, Christians are the most persecuted group on the planet. They were also (to a lesser extent) being persecuted here in the US legally. This got me thinking about the future as well as the past. What prompted the pilgrims to flee Europe and what would it take for Christians to flee the US, and where would they go?
 
 
5) Do you currently teach screenwriting? Have you written any scripts recently? If you could turn MISSION TRIP into a movie, who would you cast as the lead?
 
I’ve written multiple screenplays, but currently I’m marketing only two of them with my agent Pierre Rumpf.

Nicky and the Saint, A Christmas Story is a screenplay about the historic Saint Nicholas and a modern day boy named Nicky, and how their symbiotic “hero’s journey’s” overlap. The trailer (or sizzle reel) is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMePOl_KK_Q&list=PLSogEOVpzTJHtXpPlfUJCNiO2Rs7a0Bnv&index=32
 
Christmas by The Sea is a straight up Hallmark Channel-esque romance set in a quaint New England seaside town. Unlike other made-for-television Christmas movies I instilled some comedy, and even a little action to broaden the audience base. The sizzle reel is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUtYScVghpI&list=PLSogEOVpzTJHtXpPlfUJCNiO2Rs7a0Bnv&index=2
 
Christmas seems to be a theme in a lot of my writing. I guess it’s the kid in me.
 
As for teaching: I taught screenwriting off and on for five years at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. Prior to that I was a movie critic for a local paper and even acted a little on TV. I recently left my teaching job to move my family south. My wife and I punched out of the “rat race” and purchased a small business allowing us to be together more as a family. In the future I may create an online screenwriting class on Udemy.
 
As for the MISSION TRIP books as a movie: I’ve often thought of who could play the lead. I think Hugh Jackman is the size and age of the main protagonist. He would make a great Landon. With that said, I love underdogs and going against the grain. I think an actor like Josh Duhamel is an underrated actor who (for some reason) was never given the opportunity to take-off as an A lister. This is all fun stuff to think about.


For more information on John check out www.johntheo.com.

You can get MISSION TRIP, GENESIS AND EXODUS for only $3.99 on Kindle Unlimited by clicking here!
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YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_tXTp-mEENYHe2Ex3LJeXg
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FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=579062130

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