5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Packed with suspense, September 12, 2001
This review is from: Mutant (Hardcover)
Peter Clement's Mutant is a medical thriller that is packed with suspense: an activist warning of new DNA strains and environmental problems investigates a powerful company's genetic breakthroughs, and individuals leading disparate lives are drawn together in the survey of genetically modified foods and dangers from bioengineering. An absorbing and highly recommended thriller.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Conventional medical thriller about bioengineering., August 1, 2001
This review is from: Mutant (Hardcover)
Peter Clement, in his new novel, "Mutant," goes to great pains to explain how dangerous it is to tinker with the genetic makeup of foods, people and animals. Using scientific jargon, Clement explains that once diseases cross species barriers, an illness like the flu can be fatal to millions of people. Even Ebola can theoretically be transmitted by genetically altering the food supply. Not only can accidents occur, but evil scientists have the capability of purposely altering genes in order to harm large numbers of innocent people. This is a serious subject which should receive thoughtful treatment. "Mutant" does not succeed in giving this subject the weight it deserves.
The spunky heroine of this novel is Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, a gorgeous woman with a fiery temper and tremendous intelligence. Her counterpart is Dr. Richard Steele, a troubled ER doctor who gets involved in the anti-bioengineering movement. Both Steele and Sullivan endanger their lives to get to the bottom of an evil scheme to "strike at the heart of America".
What brings this novel down are the cliches that Clement uses in his plot and in his writing. An example is this passage from the novel describing an attack on Dr. Steele by a pair of killer dogs: "He [Dr. Steele] felt locked into their stares, paralyzed by the blood lust he saw burning in their molten pupils and reading in them a hunger as primeval as that of any jungle beast." This is very bad writing.
In addition, Clement relies on one of the biggest cliches of all. It seems that a Middle Eastern madman (who could it be?) wants some deadly bioengineered DNA let loose on a large number of Americans. A mysterious American is helping this madman to achieve his nefarious goal. If you have not figured out who the mastermind of the evil plan is by the halfway point of this book, then you are simply not paying attention.
Other cliches are Dr. Steele's inability to deal with the loss of his wife and the very hackneyed ending, with its "perils of Pauline" pseudo-drama.
Do you want true thrills without the nonsense? Go back to the classic of all time, Michael Crichton's "The Andromeda Strain". When I read this great novel so many years ago, I was truly frightened and educated. The movie was great, too. A few other enjoyable medical thrillers are Michael Palmer's "The Sisterhood" and Tess Gerritsen's "Harvest".
"Mutant" is silly and contrived. I do not recommend it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Alarming subject, uneven writing, October 12, 2003
This review is from: Mutant (Hardcover)
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.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No