Review: The Moses Virus by Jack Hyland

 

In sci-med thriller The Moses Virus, Dr Tom Stewart, a professor and trustee of the American Academy in Rome, stumbles upon an ancient virus, more deadly than the Spanish Flu and becomes the one man who can protect the virus from falling into the wrong hands.

I do like my deadly pathogen thrillers, and The Moses Virus certainly fits into this category, although is a bit slower than most novels in this genre, with a lot of focus being put on the history side of the story especially earlier on. Like many books since Dan Brown, there is a bit of an ‘evil Vatican’ sub-plot that will appeal to fans of that ilk. One of the highlights of The Moses Virus is that it is beautifully written and features well researched descriptions of modern Rome.

My big problem with The Moses Virus was that the plot is flawed, why is Dr Stewart the one to investigate the virus? There is a weak reason given in passing but it doesn’t really make sense. Neither does the fact the police and the Vatican seem completely happy to have him investigate seemly with very little official investigation going on particularly on the part of the police. Then there is the fact that he realises that there are people who will kill to find out what is going on and that he needs to be discrete but then goes any around telling all and sundry about the virus. Later in the book, he seems to manage to organise a cross border raid in very little time, with his only contact in government seemingly a Rome based director of the Laboratory for Communicable Substances. I realise that being utterly realistic wouldn’t work, but the lack of realism really bothers me and detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book.

Overall, an okay read which general fans of thrillers will enjoy, particular those who like a bit of history in the plot. Those who enjoy a bit more science in their thriller will probably be a bit disappointed with the lack of substantial science but The Moses Virus will still make for a pleasant afternoon’s read.

The Moses Virus is available in dead tree format from Amazon.com (January 7th) and from Amazon.co.uk(March 7th).

[An ARC was provided through NetGalley]

Review: Blood and Stone by Chris Collett

 

DI Tom Mariner decides the perfect cure for his grief after the death of his ex-girlfriend is to take a walking holiday in Wales. Unfortunately trouble seems to follow Tom and in short succession several people around him are dead. Is it the work of a recently released convict, a criminal from Mariner’s past or someone else entirely?

Blood and Stone has everything you need from a crime thriller – a realistic lead character, an interesting setting and so many interweaving threads that you’ll be kept guessing until the end. Tom Mariner is a very fallible character and like most in the book is characterised well. Collet switches between several characters when telling the story and so leads you on a merry chase which will have you swearing blind that you know who the killer is several times before the truth is revealed in a surprise ending. For those of you who have an aversion to gore, Collet gets the balance just right, not glossing over it but not going into every little detail.

This is sixth book in the DI Mariner series, and whilst past events are mentioned several times, I did not feel like I missed out having not read the previous five books, so Blood and Stone is fine when read as a stand alone novel.

Overall a very well done crime thriller which whilst thrilling leaves you with a nice cosy feeling at the end. Highly recommended for all readers – there is romance, murder and suspense.

Blood and Stone is available in dead tree from Amazon.co.ukfor £14.99.

[An ARC was provided through NetGalley]

Review: Frozen Solid by James M. Tabor

Having thoroughly enjoyed The Deep Zone, I really wanted to like Frozen Solid, the second Hallie Leland book in the series. In Frozen Solid Hallie Leland is dispatched to Antarcticaafter her friend, carrying out research there, suddenly dies. Hallie is asked to take over the research with only a week to go before the research station is all but shut down for the winter. Almost as soon as she arrives people start dying. Will Haillie be able to find out the cause before everyone leaves?

The plot of the book was very much my cup of tea, and I did enjoy the idea of an outside group trying to control overpopulation in a ‘humane’ way but it all going wrong. The psychological aspects of the plot such as the isolation, the fear of being watched and the ‘accidents’, serve to heighten the tension, and I very much enjoyed this aspect of the book.

The character of Hallie Leland is well written and believable. She is strong, but not overwhelming so. She is intelligent but not all knowing, and there are some moments of weakness which add to the depth of the character. The characterisation of Hallie is a strength of Frozen Solid, and there are clear improvements to her character since The Deep Zone.   

Frozen Solid is not without its frustrations. As a fan of the more fast-paced thriller, and The Deep Zone certainly came under this banner, Frozen Solid was a bit too slow to get started for me. Things don’t kick off till over half way through. The first half of the book is a confusing kaleidoscope of different characters, almost random scenes and the author going off on tangents; this makes it quite hard work to follow and often left me feeling frustrated. It is a shame that while Hallie is very well characterised; the other characters are mostly unmemorable, which also contributes to the confused feel of the book, as you try to remember who’s who.  There is also frequent bad language, now I am not a prude and feel that using swearing can enhance the story if used correctly and sparingly, in this case it was not. 

The science is there for fans of Sci-Med, and in the whole is written in a way that shouldn't present a problem for readers who are not of a scientific or medical bent, although don’t expect the science to be explained every step of the way as it is in McClure or Crichton books. There are some more technical terms but one of the benefits of reading on a Kindle is that any terminology you don’t know can easily be looked up. Overall the science used is believable but there are some subtle mistakes – for example, the events are set in February and this is described as being dark and very cold, when in reality there is 24 hour sunlight and the temperatures at the South Pole are a more balmy -38°C rather than the -58°C found in winter.  I can see that having 24 hour near darkness is essential to ramp up the psychological tension, so why not set it during March-September during southern winter. It makes no sense to say February and then claim its winter, and it makes me wonder how well researched the book was.

Overall, a pleasant Sci-Med thriller that fans of the genre will want to read. Action/adventure fans may also want to give Frozen Solid a go but may be put off by the amount of science and the slow, confused start. This was a very hard book for me to rate as I did enjoy the story but it also frustrated me, I settled for a 3 in the end as I did enjoy it but would caution readers to be aware of some of the book’s issues before purchasing.  

Frozen Solid is available from Amazon for £14.97 for the Kindle Edition. 

[A ARC was provided by NetGalley] 

Review: The Cure by Doulgas E. Richards

 

The Cure follows graduate student Erin Palmer who due to a close encounter with a psychopath in her childhood now studies them to determine what makes them different to ‘normals’. Unbeknown to her supervisor she is not just studying psychopaths but is experimenting on them, and with her mysterious partner has finally discovered a genetic cure for the condition. There are some who would do anything to stop Palmer succeeding, and soon Palmer is on the run and unsure who to trust. Will she chose the right allies?

I really liked how The Cure began as it had a good balance of exciting action and science, we get to know and feel for Erin early on and this helps draw the reader into the story, which in the first third of the book is very believable. I was a bit perturbed when the story suddenly took a fantastic leap into the unknown and introduced not one but seventeen races of extra-terrestrials and a plot to save the Earth from humankind and an overwhelming alien threat. As a fan of more realistic Sci-Fi this jolted me, and whilst I did enjoy the rest of the story, the alien plot was just a little too unbelievable for me and also a bit clichéd. The sudden introduction of all of this lead to lots of exposition, which did become tedious after a while but there was plenty of action which kept me going, in addition to several interesting twists and terms.

Whilst not what I was expecting, The Cure turned out to be very readable, as long as you checked your disbelief in at the door. Aside from the psychopath thing, the plot is pretty run of the mill for Sci-Fi but works well. I would recommend this to fans of action-based alien Sci-Fi.

The Cure will be available in dead tree format from September 18th from Amazon.co.uk and from Amazon.com

[An ARC was provided through NetGalley]

Review: Living Proof by Kira Peikoff

Living Proof is set a in a world where the church and the state are closer than ever. In a very religious society the progress made by 2012 in stem cell treatment has all but been forgotten; embryos cannot be used for experimentation or treatment, only their use in procreation is allowed. However even in this world there are those who remember the potential benefits of stem cell treatment, people like Arianna, a fertility doctor with a personal motive to continue the research, no matter what the cost. But will her new boyfriend be a blessing or a curse to her cause?

The subject matter of Living Proof is very relevant in today’s society and the book portrays both sides of the controversy. It is obvious the author favours science, as at times the religious argument is put across in a somewhat flippant manner through the way the religious characters are portrayed.  I personally didn’t like this, as a constant thread though the book was essentially that the religious characters were extremists and almost stupid because of their beliefs. I did however enjoy the way Trent, who works for an enforcement agency protecting embryos, questions his faith in an intelligent and fascinating way which came across as very real because you could feel his confusion. From the science side, which I personally support, some arguments were ‘preachy’ and very run-of-the-mill. I would have preferred, from both sides, for characters other than Trent to have more varying opinions and degrees of belief; this would have made the characters more interesting and complex.

There is a romantic sub-plot in this thriller. Whilst I’m not normally a fan of romance, it was done well and I did find myself routing for the couple by the end. Again, this is something that could have been taken further, and whilst there was some conflict, this could have been more complex to make it more interesting and less predictable.

The book was somewhat let down by the drop in pace in several parts which detracted from the suspense and left me slightly bored. Despite these slow parts, usually where characters were introduced or explored, there were still some characters, such as those in Arianna’s lab team, that I felt I didn’t know by the end of the book. Along side this there are small plot problems that make Arianna less believable as a character – why would she trust Trent so fast? Why does her MS progress so quickly in a matter of weeks?

Overall this book is an interesting look at a possible and realistic future. I enjoyed reading it, as I think other science/medical thriller fans will, due to the ethics involved. The plot does take a backseat to the pro-choice agenda and this may put some readers off. Christians and those who are strongly pro-life will also probably want to avoid this due to the characterisation of religious people; whom in this book are definitely the bad guys. I would especially recommend this for book clubs and school groups due to the discussions it will spurn, in fact I would have liked to see a ‘questions for discussion’ section or similar, which can often be found in similar books.

Living Proof is available from Amazon UK for £16.41 (hardback) and £5.08 (paperback), hopefully an e-book version will be released soon. 

[A review copy was provided by the publisher]