Aliens we’d be wiser not to deport

The following is a book review from the Ogemaw Herald, dated Oct 17, 2025

By Douglas P. Marsh
dmarsh@cherryroad.com

“Project Earth,” (2024) by Lupton-based author Jay Fiondella, is a plot-driven thriller with elements of science fiction. With a central thesis that the human species needs a serious intervention, Fiondella brings an ambitious if familiar tale of extraterrestrials walking among us and attempting to give us a nudge in a better direction at a critical moment in time.

The unsustainability of human life in the 21st century is taken mostly as a given. More than that, the titular project is brought to the brink by a full-on assault on everyone involved — aliens, their security personnel, and several key, in-the-know humans — that the reader is thrown into from the book’s opening pages.

The pacing and the action is urgent throughout. The story’s protagonists are men’s men, classic good guys, with most the aliens presenting that way at least, in their human disguises. The novel’s cast of characters expands rapidly as the plot unfolds, involving men and women ranging from federal agents to preeminent geneticists.

Fiondella’s space aliens are relatable but definitively superior. And why not? If E.T. finds us before we find them, and they proceed to pass among us unnoticed for generations, what are they if not superior?

Settings, like characters, quickly multiply with the unfolding narrative. With so many places and people coming and going, a flight attendant contracted to work full-time on a private jet becomes a throughline character.

The work, which Fiondella says is the first in a series, was something of a departure. His first book, “But Dad” (2013) was nonfiction, a reflection on fatherhood. Concepts for “Project Earth” began to take shape as he was finishing that first book, ultimately taking Fiondella 13 years to produce.

“I wanted to write something that’s — I hate to use the word profound — but that really is a commentary on human nature and society,” he said.

Tackling these big questions, Fiondella’s presentation remains entertaining and approachable. Find “Project Earth,” recently released in audio book format, as well as Fiondella’s other work and more at JayFiondella.com