Rating: 
Summary: Thrill Me!
Review: "Raising Abel" doesn't waste any time delving into the moral issues surrounding genetic manipulation and cloning. And what a timely book, what with the cloning matters that are springing up in the media every day. A small group of secretive genetic scientists are hell-bent on proving Creationists wrong by cultivating DNA from a 60,000 year old neandertal found frozen in ice in arctic wastelands, perfectly preserved. Hypothetically, this idea isn't that farfetched. But when the scientists are found brutally tortured and murdered, the mystery begins! The husband and wife team of Michael and Kathleen Gear write a believable and thrilling journey into the ethics of DNA replication, the moral quandary that comes with it, and manages to deliver a brilliantly written slam-bang novel that doesn't relent for any of its nearly 600 pages. While obviously not fans of the "religious right", as the characters in the novel are fairly stereotypical, the Gears still thrill with "Raising Abel". This one will make it onto my "best reads" list, for sure!
Rating:
Summary: Thrill Me!
Review: "Raising Abel" doesn't waste any time delving into the moral issues surrounding genetic manipulation and cloning. And what a timely book, what with the cloning matters that are springing up in the media every day. A small group of secretive genetic scientists are hell-bent on proving Creationists wrong by cultivating DNA from a 60,000 year old neandertal found frozen in ice in arctic wastelands, perfectly preserved. Hypothetically, this idea isn't that farfetched. But when the scientists are found brutally tortured and murdered, the mystery begins! The husband and wife team of Michael and Kathleen Gear write a believable and thrilling journey into the ethics of DNA replication, the moral quandary that comes with it, and manages to deliver a brilliantly written slam-bang novel that doesn't relent for any of its nearly 600 pages. While obviously not fans of the "religious right", as the characters in the novel are fairly stereotypical, the Gears still thrill with "Raising Abel". This one will make it onto my "best reads" list, for sure!
Rating: 
Summary: Premise was good
Review: Actually, I can't really say the premise was that good because I was unable to finish. I know, or suspect, what was supposed to happen, but the prose and certain other elements stopped me. The dialog was terrible, so canned it made me wonder if they've ever heard normal people speak. It sounded like a high-school English student wrote it. Then...then I get to the part where Abel is narrating or thinking or whatever. Indescribably bad. Like they tried to imitate a speech impediment but had never heard one, and it's one that apparently comes and goes with different sounds unable to be produced. No flow at all. Read Trueblood's story in "Invisible Man" and you can almost hear him talk. This made me wish I was flexible enough to kick myself, really hard, in the forehead. And then we have the story. Everything came across as so yuppie-pretentious it became comical. Capresso machines and anasazi mugs and opera that characters can sing along with and reenact in their minds while driving. Everybody has hardwood floors and nice cars and attended private schools. No big public universities here. I believe they actually went so far as to comment on a character's "University eduction," as in "He's not so bad, even with his public school background. Have another sip of the 1956 vintage, Buffy. It's dazzling." They use adjectives like ravishing, characters didn't have relatable flaws (at least not to me, but I was University educated), and there was minimal character development. I didn't care what happened to any of them, I didn't want to care, and I didn't intend to read on to find out of this firestarter of a book got better.
Rating:
Summary: If you're a religious fanatic you'll hate this book!
Review: By now you know the subject of this intelligent thriller, so I'll just add some parenthetical comments. For one thing,these two authors work together seamlessly,but they've had lots of practice,as this is their 14th joint endeavor. Besides an absorbing plot that sugar-coats a lot of fascinating science, the characters they care to develop compel your interest and actually do change in striking ways. One of the bad guys --Paxton--also turns in a novel performance as an ex-hero with a conscience. "Raising Abel"'s true "villain" is religious zealotry, the kind that spurs book-burning and torture for people who voice unacceptable opinions. The authors don't hesitate to paint these fanatics as either crazy ignoramuses, or power-mad hypocrites. (See comments by the critic who can't spell "bigoted" and can't get his verbs straight, and you get the idea.) One amazing aspect is the book's length. it runs to almost 600 pages, but you won't be tempted to skip a single scene. If you like the story as much as I did, you'll eat up Lincoln Child's & Douglas J. Preston's "The Ice Limit" and "Rip Tide." Am I planning to read the Gears' other books? You bet!
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: Character development is excellent, as is with their other books. Plot, and edge of the seat story development keeps you reading. Short book.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read!!!!!!!
Review: I picked this book up one day just wandering around the bookstore. I was getting a bit tired of reading the same old stuff and I wanted something with a new twist to it. I'm one of those people that almost immediately puts the book back on the shelf if I read "police detective so-and-so" or "news reporter so-and-so" because there's just so many of them! Anyway, this book tweaked my interest after reading the back. I had already read two of the Gear's books before (People of the Wolf and People of the Fire) and really enjoyed them so I figured I would give this one a try. Wow. It was great! I never got bored reading this. They did a great job of making me want to know what was going on, who was doing what, and what would happen next. If you're looking for something different and new, read this. A fair warning, though: If you are a very religious person, this may offend you. I'm not so it didn't bother me. I found the whole idea very interesting and happen to agree with most of it. I just finished it so it's still very fresh, but I believe this one's going down as one of my favorite books. Swan Song by Robert Mccammon still tops that list, though.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read!!!!!!!
Review: I picked this book up one day just wandering around the bookstore. I was getting a bit tired of reading the same old stuff and I wanted something with a new twist to it. I'm one of those people that almost immediately puts the book back on the shelf if I read "police detective so-and-so" or "news reporter so-and-so" because there's just so many of them! Anyway, this book tweaked my interest after reading the back. I had already read two of the Gear's books before (People of the Wolf and People of the Fire) and really enjoyed them so I figured I would give this one a try. Wow. It was great! I never got bored reading this. They did a great job of making me want to know what was going on, who was doing what, and what would happen next. If you're looking for something different and new, read this. A fair warning, though: If you are a very religious person, this may offend you. I'm not so it didn't bother me. I found the whole idea very interesting and happen to agree with most of it. I just finished it so it's still very fresh, but I believe this one's going down as one of my favorite books. Swan Song by Robert Mccammon still tops that list, though.
Rating:
Summary: Bigotted
Review: If this book were written condemning Jews, Muslum, or homosexuals it would not have been published. But since it attack Christians and mocks their beliefs it is supposed to be OK. I am glad I did not waste my money on it and borrowed it from the library.
Rating:
Summary: Loved It! Science, Suspense, Mystery, Murder, Has it All.
Review: If you enjoy medical thrillers/suspense/mystery books, you'll love this book. I had a hard time putting it down. The twists and turns really hold your interest and the science in it is well explained so it doesn't slow the story down. And with all this is going on today w/genetics and DNA it's a very timely thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Loved It! Science, Suspense, Mystery, Murder, Has it All.
Review: If you enjoy medical thrillers/suspense/mystery books, you'll love this book. I had a hard time putting it down. The twists and turns really hold your interest and the science in it is well explained so it doesn't slow the story down. And with all this is going on today w/genetics and DNA it's a very timely thriller.
| 
