Mutant

Rating:
Summary: Whistle-blowing Can Be Fatal!
Review: Ray Bradbury once defined Science Fiction as "a logical extension of reality". In his spell-binding, stand-alone thriller MUTANT, best-selling physician-author Dr. Peter Clement relentlessly takes his readers one horrifyingly-logical step beyond today's scientic realities of laboratory-controlled genetic manipulation into an absolutely plausible and terrifyingly probable consideration of their what-if's should amoral men deliberately set out to unleash cross-specie genetic mutations for purposes of mass destruction. His heroine, Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, a brilliant research geneticist, has become increasingly alarmed by the lack of environmental curbs imposed on multi-billion-dollar corporate enterprises which utilize unmonitored genetic alteration techniques on plants for commercial purposes. Her fears crystalize shortly after the sudden, horrible death of a child in Hawaii has been attributed to a deadly strain of "bird flu", a disease which has somehow passed from its chicken carrier to a human host. After she's almost killed while trying to uncover hard evidence to prove that genetically-tainted feed (which may have originated at Agrenomics International, one of her targeted corporations)was the lethal link, she shares her fears and suspicions with Dr. Richard Steele, a burned-out ER doctor...in recovery from a heart attack brought on by overwork and personal stress...during a chance encounter at a convention and piques both his professional and personal interest. Once he becomes convinced that her fears are entirely justified, they join forces only to discover that whistle-blowing can be deadly business as the appalling, utterly damning evidence begins to emerge from a tangled web of false leads and corporate misdirection. Caught up in what soon proves to be an international terrorist conspiracy, they ultimately find themselves in a race against time to stop the implementation of a doomsday scenario aimed at the heart and heartlands of North America. The cliff-hanger uncertainties of the will-they-won't-they ramifications of its final pages make this brilliant novel's unforgetable denouement a genuine milestone in the genre.

MUTANT quite literally leaps from today's headlines into the heart and mind of its reader. One of Dr. Clement's rare talents as a writer is his ability to make highly technical material completely understandable in lay terms without sacrificing any of the elements of superb storytelling. His characters are solidly-realized and intensely real; he has a positive genius for pushing his plot action to its utmost limits without ever violating our sense of cedibility, and I find it impossible to believe that anyone can come away from this literary experience entirely unshaken or unmoved by his shattering vision of an all-too-possible, near-future America.

Rating:
Summary: Whistle-blowing Can Be Fatal!
Review: Ray Bradbury once defined Science Fiction as "a logical extension of reality". In his spell-binding, stand-alone thriller MUTANT, best-selling physician-author Dr. Peter Clement relentlessly takes his readers one horrifyingly-logical step beyond today's scientic realities of laboratory-controlled genetic manipulation into an absolutely plausible and terrifyingly probable consideration of their what-if's should amoral men deliberately set out to unleash cross-specie genetic mutations for purposes of mass destruction. His heroine, Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, a brilliant research geneticist, has become increasingly alarmed by the lack of environmental curbs imposed on multi-billion-dollar corporate enterprises which utilize unmonitored genetic alteration techniques on plants for commercial purposes. Her fears crystalize shortly after the sudden, horrible death of a child in Hawaii has been attributed to a deadly strain of "bird flu", a disease which has somehow passed from its chicken carrier to a human host. After she's almost killed while trying to uncover hard evidence to prove that genetically-tainted feed (which may have originated at Agrenomics International, one of her targeted corporations)was the lethal link, she shares her fears and suspicions with Dr. Richard Steele, a burned-out ER doctor...in recovery from a heart attack brought on by overwork and personal stress...during a chance encounter at a convention and piques both his professional and personal interest. Once he becomes convinced that her fears are entirely justified, they join forces only to discover that whistle-blowing can be deadly business as the appalling, utterly damning evidence begins to emerge from a tangled web of false leads and corporate misdirection. Caught up in what soon proves to be an international terrorist conspiracy, they ultimately find themselves in a race against time to stop the implementation of a doomsday scenario aimed at the heart and heartlands of North America. The cliff-hanger uncertainties of the will-they-won't-they ramifications of its final pages make this brilliant novel's unforgetable denouement a genuine milestone in the genre.

MUTANT quite literally leaps from today's headlines into the heart and mind of its reader. One of Dr. Clement's rare talents as a writer is his ability to make highly technical material completely understandable in lay terms without sacrificing any of the elements of superb storytelling. His characters are solidly-realized and intensely real; he has a positive genius for pushing his plot action to its utmost limits without ever violating our sense of cedibility, and I find it impossible to believe that anyone can come away from this literary experience entirely unshaken or unmoved by his shattering vision of an all-too-possible, near-future America.

Rating:
Summary: disappointing and a slow read.....
Review: The premise behind this book, genetic engineering and food supplies, promised an interesting read... but sadly I was disappointed in the book. I had to push to finish the book which is unusual. The technical jargon was unnecessary. For a reader with a medical/science background, the definitions after the jargon were distracting. For a reader without a medical/science background, the jargon would be hard to follow. At times I felt like I was reading my virology textbook again esp. with the stuff at the end about the neuraminidase inhibitor as a possible treatment for avian flu. The environmentalist plot line was getting old by the middle of the book. The novel felt like a long flyer/pamphlet full of clichés about the dangers of genetic engineering. The romance between Dr. Steele and Sullivan was also unnecessary. At times the romance was so featured that I felt like I was reading a romance novel... esp. with the explicit details between and Steve. The characters were unrealistic in their zeal to uncover this "mastermind" terror plot to use engineered crops as a weapon. The focus on Dr. Sullivan's doubts about her protégé was troubling as well. She doubted the integrity of Azrhan because he spoke Farsi. I found this offensive. Overall the book was, in my opinion, one of the worst medical thrillers I've read in a long time. The writting style was horrible. Even the science behind it was weak with Kathleen crying wolf about vectors every couple of pages. If you want a good medical thriller I would recommend Robin Cook.... His books remain the most interesting to read and the medical terms are kept to a minimum so that the majority of readers will not need a medical dictionary to understand what is going on.

Rating:
Summary: Alarming subject, uneven writing
Review: This thriller is basically a warning about the dangers of genetic tinkering. In this case, a "genetic vaccine" which is to be inserted into corn by a virus gets out of control; the virus jumps the species barrier. People and animals who eat contaminated corn get sick, and some die from ebola. The amateurs who investigate this situation discover that the main villain is using terrorist tactics to force the American public to address the issue of genetic engineering, particularly the transfer of genetic material from one species to another. The evil one exploits unsuspecting environmentalists to support his plot and causes more than four hundred deaths.

Calling attention to this problem is a worthy goal. However, the paragraphs of technical explanations will go over the heads of most readers. The two main investigators seem unbelievably reckless. While the action scenes are written effectively, the love and sex scenes are unconvincing.

Rating:
Summary: Alarming subject, uneven writing
Review: This thriller is basically a warning about the dangers of genetic tinkering. In this case, a "genetic vaccine" which is to be inserted into corn by a virus gets out of control; the virus jumps the species barrier. People and animals who eat contaminated corn get sick, and some die from ebola. The amateurs who investigate this situation discover that the main villain is using terrorist tactics to force the American public to address the issue of genetic engineering, particularly the transfer of genetic material from one species to another. The evil one exploits unsuspecting environmentalists to support his plot and causes more than four hundred deaths.

Calling attention to this problem is a worthy goal. However, the paragraphs of technical explanations will go over the heads of most readers. The two main investigators seem unbelievably reckless. While the action scenes are written effectively, the love and sex scenes are unconvincing.

Rating:
Summary: Alarming subject, uneven writing
Review: This thriller is basically a warning about the dangers of genetic tinkering. In this case, a "genetic vaccine" which is to be inserted into corn by a virus gets out of control; the virus jumps the species barrier. People and animals who eat contaminated corn get sick, and some die from ebola. The amateurs who investigate this situation discover that the main villain is using terrorist tactics to force the American public to address the issue of genetic engineering, particularly the transfer of genetic material from one species to another. The evil one exploits unsuspecting environmentalists to support his plot and causes more than four hundred deaths.

Calling attention to this problem is a worthy goal. However, the paragraphs of technical explanations will go over the heads of most readers. The two main investigators seem unbelievably reckless. While the action scenes are written effectively, the love and sex scenes are unconvincing.

Rating:
Summary: Thrilling and eerily prescient
Review: Thrilling and eerily prescient. Writes like a young Robin Cook. A must read.

Johanna - Canada

Rating:
Summary: Possibility????
Review: What can I say. This book starts off with every Mother's nightmare, a sick child, as you turn each page the child is getting worse, although the mother is a doctor she's a mother first and can only think of getting her son to the hospital, which is many miles away.

As you continue turning the pages you start to wonder if this could really happen! With all the new technology these days, this could happen, and I think that's the most terrifying thought that you'll have as you read this book. Wonderful! Not too technical, great detail, easy to follow, lots of suspense and a great read!

Drs. Steele and Sullivan make a good team, I'm hoping Mr. Clement will write more books with these two characters.

Rating:
Summary: Unfortunate Coincidence
Review: While I know little about the biology-side of existance, I felt that the Clement did an excellent job creating an air of realism and gave life to the possibilities he presented. All science fiction is about possibilities based on current science and technology.

I could not put this book down and read the last 200 pages in one weekend. As a person concerned with my health and what I eat, this book made me wonder just what I'm buying in the grocery store.

On top of that, Clement kept me guessing and changing my mind as to who the real mastermind behind the great conspiracy was. It was definitely worth my time and money.

Rating:
Summary: page-turning suspense
Review: While I know little about the biology-side of existance, I felt that the Clement did an excellent job creating an air of realism and gave life to the possibilities he presented. All science fiction is about possibilities based on current science and technology.

I could not put this book down and read the last 200 pages in one weekend. As a person concerned with my health and what I eat, this book made me wonder just what I'm buying in the grocery store.

On top of that, Clement kept me guessing and changing my mind as to who the real mastermind behind the great conspiracy was. It was definitely worth my time and money.