Rating: 
Summary: thought-provoking!
Review: RAISING ABEL is riveting reading! Well researched & very well written. Filled with scientific data about the history of cloning, anthropology & Creationism vs Evolution. It has lots of delicious red herrings & action as well as plausible, healthy personal growth, as well as a fascinating glimpse into how our world is experienced from another sentient being's point of view.Engrossing, sizzling & satisfying!
Rating:
Summary: Loved it.
Review: See storyline above. With W. Michael Gear's masters in Physical Anthropology and Kathleen O'Neal Gear's work as historian and archaeology, you just know you'll get a highly fascinating story based on facts in science and biology, and with it, a lot of thrills. The kind of story I just love to read. There will be feathers ruffled with some of the facts/scientific theory, but as quoted in the book "Sometimes extra measures were necessary to make the glazed-eyed acolytes of ignorance accept reality".
From Anthropological Geneticists (looking for the rosetta stone of evolution) to information on the Teshik-Tash, this book is loaded with thrills and science. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A great book with depth
Review: This is the story of four year old boy who discovers who he is and why evil people are murdering those around him and trying to kill him. He (and his stuffed toy Chaser) are at the center of a well written and engaging story. At times it feels like a murder mystery, and at other times like a science class. Nonetheless it all fits together in a very entertaining package. The main evil characters are deluded fanatics who have no idea about genuine Christianity, but rather are religious nuts. Indeed, there are too many corrupt people in church! Beware, you may think that you know where this story is headed, but there are unexpected twists and turns. It held my attenton right down to the end. Good reading. Might offend flat earthers but as a Christian Pastor, I found nothing offensive.
Rating:
Summary: A great book with depth
Review: This is the story of four year old boy who discovers who he is and why evil people are murdering those around him and trying to kill him. He (and his stuffed toy Chaser) are at the center of a well written and engaging story. At times it feels like a murder mystery, and at other times like a science class. Nonetheless it all fits together in a very entertaining package. The main evil characters are deluded fanatics who have no idea about genuine Christianity, but rather are religious nuts. Indeed, there are too many corrupt people in church! Beware, you may think that you know where this story is headed, but there are unexpected twists and turns. It held my attenton right down to the end. Good reading. Might offend flat earthers but as a Christian Pastor, I found nothing offensive.
Rating:
Summary: If you're a religious fanatic you'll hate this book!
Review: You know those science articles on page2 of the A section of the newspaper that you always mean to read but somehow skip? You know, the ones about how physical anthropologists have discovered that there really WAS an Eve, or that Ghengis Kahn is directly related to one third of Asia Minor, or that Neanderthals weren't a separate race but got absorbed into Homo Sapiens? Well, cross those stories with pot shots at several flavors of fanatic (Christian, Native American, and Marxist) fervor, mix with debate about cloning and you have this up to the minute science thriller. The protagonists in this novel are: the unwary (duped) collegue
Bryce Johnson, the grieving family member Veronica Tremaine, and an unknowing child/victem, Abel. Supporting cast includes the FBI, a multinational physical anthropological research group, and intrepid reporters. The Antagonists are a cardboard target: a Christian Fundamentalist group. It's a good read with current anthropological debates and findings slipped easily into the text. The Gears have done a better job of characterization of their protagonists and plotting in this novel than I have read in their other novels. But, the characters of the Antagonists are not sufficiently developed to show the complexity of the issues that are addressed in this novel. While they based their characterization of the antagonists on tabloid headlines, they took the easy way out and moved from writing a good novel to an average novel that pits science against cardboard characters and simplistic views.But their writing is still good enough to engage the reader into caring for the protagonists. Worth reading, and enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: An Anthropological approach to a Cloning Whodunit
Review: You know those science articles on page2 of the A section of the newspaper that you always mean to read but somehow skip? You know, the ones about how physical anthropologists have discovered that there really WAS an Eve, or that Ghengis Kahn is directly related to one third of Asia Minor, or that Neanderthals weren't a separate race but got absorbed into Homo Sapiens? Well, cross those stories with pot shots at several flavors of fanatic (Christian, Native American, and Marxist) fervor, mix with debate about cloning and you have this up to the minute science thriller. The protagonists in this novel are: the unwary (duped) collegue
Bryce Johnson, the grieving family member Veronica Tremaine, and an unknowing child/victem, Abel. Supporting cast includes the FBI, a multinational physical anthropological research group, and intrepid reporters. The Antagonists are a cardboard target: a Christian Fundamentalist group. It's a good read with current anthropological debates and findings slipped easily into the text. The Gears have done a better job of characterization of their protagonists and plotting in this novel than I have read in their other novels. But, the characters of the Antagonists are not sufficiently developed to show the complexity of the issues that are addressed in this novel. While they based their characterization of the antagonists on tabloid headlines, they took the easy way out and moved from writing a good novel to an average novel that pits science against cardboard characters and simplistic views.But their writing is still good enough to engage the reader into caring for the protagonists. Worth reading, and enjoyable.
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