An action-packed thriller that stars an unsympathetic protagonist who turns into a mad scientist.
A brilliant researcher seeking a cancer cure makes a startling discovery in this novel.
American research scientist Dr. Todd Richards, who’s also a renowned plastic surgeon, has synthesized an elixir for eternal youth. Richards started out meaning well, trying to find a cure for cancer to save his wife, Molly. An unexpected byproduct of his research is a formula that slowly reverses the aging process, using “a specific combination of fetal stem cells combined with the subject’s modified DNA.” Soon, Richards further improves the serum so that he can transform into other people. For this process to work, he needs fetuses with his DNA. So he makes an arrangement with five female celebrity clients. He will impregnate them and illegally abort their fetuses to create personalized serums for them and himself. (A “new Federal Anti-Abortion Law” is in effect.) Then, a distracted Richards accidentally gives one of them an overdose and dumps her body at sea. Driven mad by his latest formula, he starts killing off his other patients to keep his secret. The CIA, which funded Richards’ original research, continues to tail him because the American president wants to use the formula to create “covert operators.” FBI agents Matt St. Claire and Jill Emerson are assigned to the missing celebrities case. Emerson is a dead ringer for Molly, and Richards, using one of his aliases, seduces and impregnates her. He is determined to retrieve Emerson’s unborn child before he changes his face and disappears for good.
Jaffe’s lively tale delivers plenty of action. But the author creates a narrative problem early on, as his novel’s main character isn’t very likable. Sure, Richards begins his research to save his wife’s life. And, yes, he wants to keep his formula out of the hands of the United States military, which would use it to shift the global balance of power. Yet his reason for doing so is largely self-serving. Richards is solving an intellectual puzzle. Once he perfected his serum, he could become anybody, living or dead, that he wanted. But using himself as a guinea pig begins to take its toll, and the genius starts making huge mistakes. Why else would he draw attention to himself by leaving a trail of bodies in his wake? In addition, stalking an FBI agent is just asking for trouble. The author’s portrayal of Richards’ dogged pursuers is the most captivating part of the book. It is hard to fault the skeptical law enforcers, as the scientist’s serum is like something out of an SF movie. And they must deal with the CIA spooks who are determined to keep Richards to themselves, despite his murders. It would have been intriguing for Jaffe to delve into the effects on society of abortion’s being outlawed instead of the restriction’s serving as just another obstacle for Richards to overcome. In addition, at nearly 500 pages, the volume feels overly long, with the doctor continually slipping away just as the police close in. The author resolves little at the end, so a sequel certainly would be viable.
An action-packed thriller that stars an unsympathetic protagonist who turns into a mad scientist.Pub Date: April 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9819410-7-3
Page Count: 481
Publisher: Bowker
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Gloriously artificial, improbable, and ingenious. Fans of both versions of Horowitz will rejoice.
What begins as a decorous whodunit set in a gated community on the River Thames turns out to be another metafictional romp for mystery writer Anthony Horowitz and his frequent collaborator, ex-DI Daniel Hawthorne.
Everyone in Riverview Close hates Giles Kenworthy, an entitled hedge fund manager who bought Riverview Lodge from chess grandmaster Adam Strauss when the failure of Adam’s chess-themed TV show forced him and his wife, Teri, to downsize to The Stables at the opposite end of the development. So the surprise when Kenworthy’s wife, retired air hostess Lynda, returns home from an evening out with her French teacher, Jean-François, to find her husband’s dead body is mainly restricted to the manner of his death: He’s been shot through the throat with an arrow. Suspects include—and seem to be limited to—Richmond GP Dr. Tom Beresford and his wife, jewelry designer Gemma; widowed ex-nuns May Winslow and Phyllis Moore; and retired barrister Andrew Pennington, whose name is one of many nods to Agatha Christie. Detective Superintendent Tariq Khan, feeling outside his element, calls in Hawthorne and his old friend John Dudley as consultants, and eventually the case is marked as solved. Five years later, Horowitz, needing to plot and write a new novel on short notice, asks Hawthorne if he can supply enough information about the case to serve as its basis, launching another prickly collaboration in which Hawthorne conceals as much as he reveals. To say more, as usual with this ultrabrainy series, would spoil the string of surprises the real-life author has planted like so many explosive devices.
Gloriously artificial, improbable, and ingenious. Fans of both versions of Horowitz will rejoice.Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780063305649
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
Squeamish readers will find this isn’t their cup of tea.
Dexter meets Killing Eve in Wallace’s dark comic thriller debut.
While accepting condolences following her father’s funeral, 30-something narrator Claire receives an email saying that one of her paintings is a finalist for a prize. But her joy is short-circuited the next morning when she learns in a second apologetic note that the initial email had been sent to the wrong Claire. The sender, Lucas Kane, is “terribly, terribly sorry” for his mistake. Claire, torn between her anger and suicidal thoughts, has doubts about his sincerity and stalks him to a London pub, where his fate is sealed: “I stare at Lucas Kane in real life, and within moments I know. He doesn’t look sorry.” She dispatches and buries Lucas in her back garden, but this crime does not go unnoticed. Proud of her meticulous standards as a serial killer, Claire wonders if her grief for her father is making her reckless as she seeks to identify the blackmailer among the members of her weekly bereavement support group. The female serial killer as antihero is a growing subgenre (see Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer, 2018), and Wallace’s sociopathic protagonist is a mordantly amusing addition; the tool she uses to interact with ordinary people while hiding her homicidal nature is especially sardonic: “Whenever I’m unsure of how I’m expected to respond, I use a cliché. Even if I’m not sure what it means, even if I use it incorrectly, no one ever seems to mind.” The well-written storyline tackles some tough subjects—dementia, elder abuse, and parental cruelty—but the convoluted plot starts to drag at the halfway point. Given the lack of empathy in Claire’s narration, most of the characters come across as not very likable, and the reader tires of her sneering contempt.
Squeamish readers will find this isn’t their cup of tea.Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780143136170
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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