The Chimera Seed [Paperback]

Matthew Tully (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2009

Richard Tiernan created a bridge to immortality. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack before he had a chance to drink the elixir that would have prevented his demise. Now his son Matthew, who was unaware of the discovery until his father's death, must decide its fate. When large pharmaceutical companies learn of its existence, a struggle develops to determine who will acquire the chemistry that would make them billions of dollars. But Richard Tiernan had a partner and co-developer of the immortality elixir. Upon realizing that a disastrous world situation could develop, he reverses his opinion about releasing the elixir to the public and conspires to destroy it. Matthew Tiernan becomes caught between the desire to mass produce the elixir for profit, or preserving it for a select few. The Chimera Seed is a story of greed, power and pharmaceutical espionage that attempts to shape the quality of life for those who can afford it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Chimera Seed can best be described as a taut, energetic thriller. From its opening pages where you learn that a famed, visionary scientist has died and left his son, Dr. Michael Tiernan, a huge inheritance, the story rolls along and gathers speed like a snowball starting an avalanche down a mountainside. Matthew Tully is a writer skilled at developing suspense...Unquestionably, the fast pace of The Chimera Seed is hypnotic...This book is a must read for those seeking an extremely fast paced story of espionage, intrigue, murder, and at times, deliberately imposed physical pain. The main characters are well developed, showing both their self-interest and also their redeeming humanity. Matthew Tully's tale displays real ingenuity with fascinating twists and turns. I will personally await his other stories. Dan Brown, make room for Matthew Tully. --Regis Schilken, Blogcritics.org

Incredible...I highly recommend The Chimera Seed. It forces the reader to think about how progress can be both good and bad. The reader will experience internal ethical and moral debates about how much control humans should have in changing the future. This book will definitely produce heated and thought-provoking discussions. --Leslie Granier, Armchair Interviews.com

Remember Michael Crichton's The Terminal Man? A bit of mind-bending science mixed with some seriously intense scenes of blood and guts and horror? It worked like a charm for Mr. Crichton and it works for Mr. Tully's The Chimera Seed.
Michael Tiernan, the bourbon-swigging CEO of Oisín Pharmceuticals, discovers after his father's death that Tiernan the Elder had stumbled onto an amazing little find while researching resveratrol, the compound in grapes thought to have strong anti-oxidant properties --a purplish concoction named Dionysinol that doesn't only stop aging, it reverses it. And is a powerful aphrodisiac. Talk about a Viagra effect.
Tiernan the Younger wants to sell Dionysinol and make a gazillion dollars. Tiernan the Elder's former partner, Ivan Falters, wants to destroy it. And everyone else involved in the fracas wants to either drink it, steal it, or use it for their own devious ends.
Ladies, if you've never read a science-y suspense thriller, this is the place to start. Two of the characters, Lori Adams and Mary McKenna, are the most interesting gals I've seen in popular fiction for a while. They are intelligent and polite and pretty and gracious and will smile while sewing your mouth shut. Or torching a gentleman's junk off. Or cutting their own legs to fake a miscarriage on the spur of the moment. Whoa.
Verdict? Mr. Tully's writing puts me in mind of Michael Crichton: a little, but not too much, science, memorable characters, and a plot that trots along at a nice pace. An excellent addition to the freaky science novel genre. And did I mention there will be a sequel? --Examiner.com

Review

Incredible...I highly recommend The Chimera Seed. It forces the reader to think about how progress can be both good and bad. The reader will experience internal ethical and moral debates about how much control humans should have in changing the future. This book will definitely produce heated and thought-provoking discussions.
Armchair Interviews says: A most fascinating 5-star read.
--Leslie Granier, Armchair Interviews.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Comfort Publishing (June 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935361325
• ISBN-13: 978-1935361329
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,545,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matthew Tully was born in New York City. At age five, he and his family moved to Ireland where they lived until he was 13 years old. He completed his undergraduate degree at Seton Hall University in New Jersey and continued his graduate studies in Rome, Italy. He resides in New Jersey where he is a public school teacher and adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Visit http://matthewtullybooks.com
http://www.thechimeraseed.com

(The Chimera Seed)
Award-Winning Finalist in the General Fiction category of the National Best Books 2009 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting! Excellent read., May 15, 2009

By 

M. Enright "me2heckle" (New York City, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chimera Seed (Paperback)

This was an excellent read. I couldn't put it down. Many of the scientific references are taken from the pages of today's newspapers and really makes you think. It raises many questions about the advances of science, its impact on the environment and the moral issues surrounding these scientific advances. It does so quite intricately, while not being preachy or too medical. The facets of the story reveal the many layers of our human nature and our tendencies towards self-interest and self-preservation with surprising moments of altruism. I especially enjoyed the character Lori Adams. She was delightful and even when she was diabolical, you just cheered her on. I truly loved the characters in this book. I don't want to write too much and give the story away. This is a quick read and I recommend it highly. Truly enjoyable!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent thriller that will keep you guessing., February 3, 2010

By 

Alayne (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Chimera Seed (Paperback)

Nominated for the USA Book News Best Books 2009 Award, The Chimera Seed is a novel of intrigue and suspense. Michael Tiernan follows a mysterious trail set by his deceased father, a path on the hunt of an anti-aging drug. Forced to keep on the run, while attempting to prove himself worthy of his father's secrets, Tiernan must work with his father's lab partner to hunt down the lost vials of Dionysinol before they reach the hands of the enemies. Surrounded by pharmaceutical espionage, enemies become co-conspirators, and the good guys become the bad in Matthew Tully's debut novel.

A host of characters and information are packed into the 387 pages of this novel. From scientists, to spies, to hired drivers, each character has a place in the story which is more than the search for the drug, it's about these people's lives before the drug, and the reasons they seek revenge on each other. There are several plot lines, all of which kept me interested, along with a helping of scientifical mumbo-jumbo to make the Dionysinal sound legitimate to skeptical readers like myself.

Perhaps it's Tully's advanced degrees in philosophy, education, and mathematics that make the writing flow so well, but I was impressed with the skill of the words on each page. This is not an amateur writer who decided to make a "political" thriller for the heck of it, this is an intelligent author with the necessary skills to make the reader understand without feeling overwhelmed, or worse, having it dumbed down to be made to feel like an idiot. From a writers point of view, I also appreciate the realistic voice for each of Tully's characters. Ranging from geriatric scientist, to middle-aged love-sick employee, to southern belle with an edge, each of the characters is completely believable.

If you like stories with twists and turns, with gruesome death scenes (the kind that almost made me sick which NEVER happens), with heros and villains who may or may not die and then may or may not come back to life, you will relish this novel. You don't know who will live or die, who will be brought to justice or escape, who will end up happy or alone with nothing. But it's best that way, don't you think?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, fascinating, riveting story about ethics!, July 13, 2009

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chimera Seed (Paperback)

Upon his father's death, Michael Tiernan inherits Oisin Pharmaceuticals. Originally, he is less than enthusiastic about this, but upon learning more details about his father's business dealings in Sardinia, he quickly reconsiders. It seems his father has developed a grape with special properties that, when consumed, reverses the aging process in humans and renders them immortal to disease. Naturally, Michael's greed gets the best of him as he tries to figure out how to make the greatest profits from the product. However, an unexpected side effect of the product derails his plans and forces him to rethink his course of action.

The author focuses on the ethics involved when deciding who, if anyone, should have access to such a life-altering product. Should it be based on who can afford to pay the most money or who is a more productive member of society? He also discusses the effects on the environment and the earth's natural resources that would occur with the ever-increasing population. These are topics that will provide a good discussion or debate in a book club or classroom.

The Chimera Seed is an incredible book. It contains elements of revenge, blackmail, intrigue, and deception. The characters are very diverse and the author does an excellent job of informing the reader of their backgrounds. He divulges just enough about their pasts to explain the reasons for their present actions. There are also some plot twists that keep the action moving at an appropriate pace. The author explains the processes by which pharmaceutical companies research, develop, and test new products in a way that is both informative and interesting.

I highly recommend The Chimera Seed. It forces the reader to think about how progress can be both good and bad. The reader will experience internal ethical and moral debates about how much control humans should have in changing the future. This book will definitely produce heated and thought-provoking discussions.

Armchair Interviews says: A most fascinating 5-star read.