Slatewiper

Rating:
Summary: Chewing gum
Review: Just finished this book in paperback, and all I can think is "I paid $8.47 for this" ?
I don't read much modern fiction and this book has reminded me why.
It reads just like a movie script and I've noticed this is typical of today's lightweight fiction.
The hero of the story is basically a female Batman.
Mr. Perdue, you should've just thrown in a superhero costume !
She's 29 yrs old and gorgeous. Her father was a Navy SEAL. She knows karate. She won an Olympic silver medal in rowing. She then started up a extremely successful genetic medicines lab. She developed cutting edge genetic disease treatments and is destined for the "Nobel Prize". She's a millionare. She spends her downtime (how does she have any?) taking part in "great solo around-the-world races" aboard her 56ft yacht, which she co-designed at Norway's most prestigious shipbuilding yard. At the "excitng" end of the novel, she becomes a ninja-like ruthless killer.

And the bad guys can't shoot !

Here are the three somewhat interesting things found in "Slatewiper";
1. A suggestion that Japan is experiencing a renewed nationalistic/racial supremacist movement. Mr. Perdue even includes reference to several racist articles that are widely read in today's Japan. I "Googled" these articles and they do indeed exist.
2. The concept of a ethnic targeting bio-weapon is intriguing.
3. The heroes develop an E-Bomb in latter chapters. Popular Mechanics magazine did a cover story on the E-Bomb, I believe in it's Dec.2001 issue. What significant about this EMP weapon is that it maybe of interest to terrorists (a fact that Mr. Perdue repeats many times) and that it's relatively cheap and easy to construct.

Ok, I gave it away. Now you don't have to waste your money.

Rating:
Summary: Some interesting points made....some unjustified worry too.
Review: Genetic engineering has served as a source of many storyline plots in the last twenty-five years. Many of these stories want to play on the fears of those who feel anxiety by the current technologies in this field. It is difficult to say whether they succeed in their goals, but it is fair to say though that genetic engineering is getting some bad press, in spite of its tremendous potential in medicine and agriculture.

Slatewiper can be classified as one of these books, but it also qualifies as a fairly good action story. It is fast moving, with few resting places, and it keeps the reader on edge. One does not have time to collect one's thoughts while reading it. This was no doubt the purpose of the author, as careful consideration of the real issues in genetic engineering and its future possibilities might nullify the message of fear that proliferates through its pages. From a scientific viewpoint it is weak, but this is not a detriment to the book since it is fiction, and any scientific misrepresentations or inaccuracies can thus be forgiven. If the book does in fact cause myriads of readers to have distorted views on genetic engineering, it is up to the scientific community to counter these views.

The characters in the story are well defined as is to be expected in a story of this kind. The intent of the story is to instill particular attitudes and anxieties about genetic engineering, and so taking the time to develop the characters would detract from this purpose. The main character and heroine Lara Blackwood, the founder and GEO of a biotechnology firm called GenIntron, with her dual athletic and intellectual capabilities, and her steadfast integrity, stands well above the others in the book. Totally self-reliant, and with personal achievement her only source of self-esteem, Lara represents the best (and very common) qualities in human beings. Her antagonists in the story consider these qualities as weakness however, and misjudge her ability to fight back when she is removed as CEO from her company and her research corrupted to make 'Slatewiper', a kind of 'genome bomb' that has the ability to wipe out certain groups of people with particular types of genes. In the story these are the Korean people.

There are some familiar (and somewhat comical) personalities expressed by some other characters in the story, one of these being Jason Woodruff, banker and board member of GenIntron. Woodruff is described as someone who found Lara's "ambiguity subversive and spontaneity unsettling". Lara made him feel uncomfortable since "women shouldn't be like that." Woodruff is a good representative of the conservative businessman, who has an anathema to change and whose neuronal processes are overtrained. Woodruff has found conceptual equilibrium and is resistant to any external perturbations, such as the dialog of the free-thinking, highly creative Lara Blackwood. Another character that briefly appeared is the parasitic Elliot Sporkin, who organizes an anti-biotech rally against GenIntron, and is described in the book as someone who has made a "profitable career off the fears of a scientifically illiterate populace." There are many who follow Sporkin today unfortunately. Some of them populate the highest levels of government, but luckily for every Sporkin there is one highly competent individual who counters his shallow and unsubstantiated opinions.

In her morally justified war against the vile Edward Rycroft, the new heads of GenIntron, and Rycroft's partner in crime Tokutaro Kurata, head of the Daiwa Ichiban Corporation, Lara fortunately has the help of Akira Sugawara, nephew of Kurata, and one whose self-esteem was not dependent on the actions of his ancestors. Ismail Brahimi, Lara's cofounder of GenIntron, was not up to the task, for he believed it was the "will of God" for Rycroft to be head of the company. Beliefs in determinism always dissuade appropriate moral action. Sugawara was a most effective ally, for his mannerisms and respect for Japanese culture did not negate his belief that it was the path of one's own life that determined self-worth. The present needed fixing, and Sugawara acted with resolve, ignoring the natural feelings of guilt that accompany a conscious rift from the culture one is embedded in.

Along with the chain-smoking, narcissistic hit-woman Sheila Gaillard, Kurata is a caricature of evil in the book. Believing in the superiority of the Japanese, in both culture and genes, and xenophobic to the core, he felt the need to counter the "cultural erosion" coming from the outside. The genetic purity of the true Japanese, along with the "code of Nihonjinron" is to be preserved. The Slatewiper was to be the ultimate ethic cleanser. Since Sugawara was educated in the West, Kurata distrusted him intensely. But Sugawara was not to fall to the perverted thinking of Kurata, who admonished him for not being true to "racial purity". In the best line of the book, Sugawara countered by saying 'I am not a machine rented by my genes; I am not a passive urn made to carry the ashes of the past into the future. I control my destiny; I refuse to have my life dictated by dead men.'

In an afterward to the book, the author makes supplication to God that the book is not prophetic. But prayer will not suffice to nullify any threat from bioterrorism. To make sure weapons such as Slatewiper are inert, we need to build the BSL 4 labs of the book. We need to find out what is possible with genetic engineering, what can help us and what can hurt us. We need to find out what is effective and what is not. We must understand how to engineer dangerous organisms so they can be countered. We need to find out how genetic engineering can optimize our health and comfort. This research must be done, and this does not mean years down the road. It must be done right now. Today.

Rating:
Summary: Would Have To Improve To Be Called "Bad"
Review: I am a huge fan of political and end-of-the-world thrillers so I was looking forward to this book. However, shallow uninteresting cartoonish characters caught in ridiculously inplausible situations made this book agony to read, I couldn't even finish it. It only gets one star because the bad guys [Kurata and Rycroft] were so wonderfully evil. As for Shirley, the well-stacked [albeit "surgically augmented"] chain-smoking assassin, well our hero is lucky that burning building just happened to collapse on her just in the nick of time. Whew! I was worried there for a nanosecond.

Rating:
Summary: Would Have To Improve To Be Called "Bad"
Review: I am a huge fan of political and end-of-the-world thrillers so I was looking forward to this book. However, shallow uninteresting cartoonish characters caught in ridiculously inplausible situations made this book agony to read, I couldn't even finish it. It only gets one star because the bad guys [Kurata and Rycroft] were so wonderfully evil. As for Shirley, the well-stacked [albeit "surgically augmented"] chain-smoking assassin, well our hero is lucky that burning building just happened to collapse on her just in the nick of time. Whew! I was worried there for a nanosecond.

Rating:
Summary: Almost OK
Review: I chose the book because it's about gene-tampering to produce a plague (just my cuppa!) but it was disappointing in terms of story and not well written. Although I did learn quite a lot about WWII atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army. This happens to be one of Perdue's buttons but he does make a good case that whilst we Westerners are fairly well informed about the Holocaust, we are much less aware of 6 million killed by the Imperial Army in China, Korea, the Philipines and other Asian locales.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting, plausible perhaps even today
Review: Perhaps the only female superstar in the molecular genetics world, CEO Lara Blackwood runs GenIntron, a bioengineering lab, a firm developing cures or treatments for diseases using synthetic genes made from DNA. Lara feels good about her work and even serves as an advisor to the president. However, her perfect world crumbles when GenIntron's new parent company board fires her and Tokyo is devastated by a deadly disease that uses a person's DNA to kill he or she.

SLATEWIPER contains a synthetic gene similar to Lara's work that destroys people from within by converting them into slime. The Korean population residing in Tokyo is being eradicated as a genocide conspiracy of biblical proportion is happening. Lara is the only hope to stop Tokutaru Kurata from ethnic cleansing that will leave Japan for the Japanese. The quest becomes even more personal when Laura finds out that a hitwoman is killing off Lara's scientific associates.

Exciting, plausible perhaps even today, SLATEWIPER is a superb thriller starring a strong woman who, except for the macho male muffins, readers will appreciate. The story line is action packed yet the author makes sure the scientific basis for the theme is presented, easily understood in spite of the complexity of the topic, yet interwoven into the plot so nothing slows it down. Fans of scientific based thrillers will quickly realize that this book is worth setting aside several because once you start, you are hooked at a microbiological brain level to finish it in one sitting.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Great thriller
Review: See book summary above.

I was very surprised by this international thriller. There wasn't much said about it, yet it ranks right up there with one of the best I've read recently. It's based on the interesting premise of creating a genetic virus that attacks (with 100% fatalities) only certain ethnic groups. The leader of that group is a powerful neo-nationalist japanese industrialist.
As well as being very suspenseful and well written, Lewis Perdue has done a lot of research regarding Japan's atrocities during WW2, ranking very near the cruelty of the Nazis. The science is solid, too.
I recommend this to anyone who likes a good scientific/medical thriller with international locales.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling, really moves fast.
Review: Slatewiper is a chilling tale, especially the parts that seem to have come true since Perdue's writing of it. The Red Cross, Brotish Medical Association and others are now warning about the sort of race weapon in Slatewiper. I particularly liked the Heroine and how she struggled with her body image even after success in athletics and being an entrepreneur. She is not beautiful in a typical sense, but has a womanly beauty that appeals to me.

I think a strong woman like Kate Blackwood frightens men. I like that too,

The writing in this book is superb and the tension and action make it a top action thriller.

Rating:
Summary: Good history, OK science, but huge plot holes
Review: This was certainly a good book for helping to pass the time on a long flight, but it has some major flaws that had me rolling my eyes and groaning. First, the history bit. I'm impressed that Perdue has taken the time to extensively document the history of Japanese war atrocities, and the failure of the U.S. and our allies to pursue the war criminals is another atrocity. Perdue knows enough biology to hang his plot on--I think only someone with at least a master's in biology would find his "slatewiper" endogenous retrovirus idea to be too shaky of a concept. It's plenty good enough for this thriller.

But oh, the plot holes! The heroine Lara and the hero Akira are just too unbelievable. Both of them are described as having "designed most of the electronics and written a majority of the code" in their respective laboratories (actually it is on Lara's sailing yacht). Suuuuure. Yes, there are plenty of biologists who can also design circuits and write code. But if someone is brilliant enough to run a startup company, they're also smart enough to know that you can buy 99% of the electronics you need, and can hire programmers that can save you time and can probably write far better code too. Perdue just didn't have to go this far in making these two look like superhumans.

The hired killer, Claudia, was supposed to have wreaked a horrible revenge on her attackers, long before the events of the book. I won't give away the details, but she tortures the attackesr in the same way, and gets them all. Yet no investigators ever caught her, even though she was the obvious link between all those gruesome deaths? C'mon, if you're going to ask the reader to suspend disbelief, then be reasonable.

Lastly, the hero Akira Sugawara manages to find Lara and her Dutch pals in a remote hideaway, even though the bad guys can't find them. This made no sense at all. Sugawara has no way of getting in touch with Lara, and in fact his arrival was described as a complete surprise, so how the heck did he find them in all of Holland?

If these kind of plot holes irritate you, then don't bother with Slatewiper. They're no bigger than the plot holes in, say, Stephen King's "The Stand". And otherwise, Slatewiper is an enjoyable read, and definitely keeps the pages turning.

Rating:
Summary: Wipe the slate clean on this one
Review: Usually I'm a sucker for novels that combine cutting edge science with doomsday scenarios and conspiracy theories. They make perfect reads for the beach or for long winter days spent sick in bed with a cold. With a plot that sounds like something out of tomorrow's headlines, Slatewiper looked like it would fit that bill perfectly. It's got genetic engineering, conspiracy theory, racial and ethnic hatreds, and a doomsday scenario realistic enough to give one nightmares. With all this going for it, "Slatewiper" should be a dynamite read. Unfortunately, it falls far short.

So what went wrong with the book? First of all, the charaacters are weak. The main character, Dr. Lara Blackwood, is just too good to be true. Beautiful (of course) and a brilliant scientist-entrepreneur, she's also an Olympic sailor. When I read the book, I kept picturing Laura Croft, although she doesn't fit Blackwood's physical description. The villain, a fanatic Japanese neonational businessman, is equally stereotyped in his racism, ethnocentrism, and general evilness. His heir, a brilliant computer security specialist, is conflicted over his loyalty to his family (including his uncle's extreme view of Japanese racial superiority) and his horror at his uncle's plans. And then there are the sleazy scientist and his business partner, both willing to sell anyone or anything down the river to further their own ambitions. Other characters are brought at the drop of a hat and equally quickly removed. Toward the end of the story, each new character starts looking increasingly like a proverbial deus ex machina, appearing conveniently just when needed. None of these problems would be fatal, however, if the plot didn't suffer too many holes to carry the weight of the wooden characters.

It's unfortunate, because Perdue does have a point to make in "Slatewiper"-actually several points, all of them worth making. The first is the abysmal history of atrocities committed by the Japanese during World War II, for which, he and others have contended they were given what amounts to a "get out of jail free" card. Unrepenent ultranationalist and ultraright wing movements do exist in Japan today, but Perdue takes their existence and exaggerates them to horrendous proportions. He's using them to make a specific point about racial hatred and its futility in light of modern genetics. However, he depicts them as being so deeply and insidiously entrenched in positions of power, that it feels like overkill. At times I wondered if Perdue might be working out personal grudges here as well as making fiction. Nonetheless, many of the most effective scenes in the book were descriptions of traditional Japanese culture.

Perdue's second point, namely the stupidity of racial and ethnic hatreds and the essential genetic unity of the human species, is even more important. Unfortunately, he doesn't handle it as well. Much of the plot turns on the ability of modern genetics to discern genes that separate one ethnic group from another and to target genetic bombs to attack specific groups. Here, his science (or at least his presentation of it) is muddled. Yes, there are genetic differences between groups and some genes are more common in one group than another, but it's extremely unlikely that geneticists will ever find a way of identifying genetic boundaries between groups. We're just too much alike as a species and there's been too much interbreeding throughout history (and prehistory) to be able to make hard and fast distinctions. Race remains important, but largely for cultural rather than biological reasons. I think Perdue knows this (at least judging from his treatment of Arabs and Jews), but he leaves it unstated so as not to undermine the device upon which his plot rests. Overall, his explanation of the underlying genetic theory underlying the plot is brief. It's adequate, but barely. I wish that he had expanded it to something more than a two page summary near the beginning of the book. Better presentation of the science would have made for a more credible plot.

"Slatewiper" is an attempt to warn readers about the dangers of genetically-engineered bioterrorism. To some extent it's successful. Unfortunately, the failures of the novel undermine the points Perdue wants to make. "Slatewiper" is an ok book, but it's not the wake-up call Perdue would like it to be.