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Mutant [Hardcover]

Peter Clement (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)


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Book Description

July 3, 2001
Former ER doctor Peter Clement blends electrifying human drama with the suspense of top-notch medical thrillers. Now, in an all-too-plausible story that could have been torn from today's headlines, Clement has written his most gripping, utterly chilling novel to date.

On an isolated stretch of moonlit highway in Oahu, a woman cradles her dying son in her arms. Though a physician, she cannot staunch the flow of foamy blood from his body. In the days that follow, an autopsy draws a shocking conclusion: the boy, his lungs filled with blood, died of a disease previously found only in birds.

On the other side of the globe, a burned-out ER doctor repeats to himself over and over: Physician, heal thyself. For Dr. Richard Steele, a near fatal heart attack in the middle of his own hospital was the last warning he needed. Now Steele is being recruited into a movement to examine the hazards of genetically modified foods, a job that takes him to an explosive conference in Hawaii.

Spearheaded by a charismatic female doctor, the anti-bioengineering movement is gathering steam. While a powerful company is using genetic breakthroughs to create new, disease-resistant super crops, activists warn that new DNA strains will wreak havoc on the environment. But no one suspects that the controversy is masking a far more frightening human threat.

From the war-torn Middle East to an insulated laboratory in New York, from murder in a French cathedral to an act of terrifying violence at a remote Hawaii farm, a horrific plot is set in motion. With genetic researching opening new doors, one man has realized that altered strains of DNA cannot only change the make up of plant life--they can create the deadliest weapon of mass destruction ever unleashed upon the world.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the Machiavellian imagination of a physician/author of three paperback-original medical thrillers (The Procedure, etc.) comes this debut hardcover, mirroring today's headlines with its story of a world at the mercy of malevolent biogenetic engineers. Unfortunately, however, melodramatic, juvenile comic-book characterization, artless overwriting and distracting, tedious repetition curse the novel from page one. Following a particularly stressful day, veteran New York City ER physician Richard Steele a widower with a 15-year-old son suffers a near-fatal heart attack, totally oblivious that his karma is inexorably intertwined with a biogenetic accident that occurred 13 months before on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. At almost the same moment in nearby White Plains, Dr. Kathleen Sullivan a sort of postmodern Naderesque spokesperson for public radio's Environment Watch is delivering a prophecy of doom to media gathered at a press conference held by Agrenomics International, a mega-international corporation involved in genetic research. Three months later, Steele and Sullivan meet up at an environmental conference in Hawaii, where Sullivan makes a nocturnal foray to a chicken farm where she believes experiments in mutant viruses are being carried out, and is beset by armed gunmen. Meanwhile, Steele beds the mom of an infant victim of the mutant virus, then witnesses her suicide. Star-fated, Sullivan and Steele become allies and lovers. Clement's tale is technically astute, if plagued with unnecessary detail, but his emotionally na‹ve characters and pulpy crafting leave him drifting in the choppy wake of medical suspense queen Tess Gerritsen, much less that of Robin Cook. (July)Forecast: It's doubtful whether readers will make the leap to hardcover with Clement most will likely wait for the paperback. Meanwhile, negative word of mouth could cause Ballantine to regret the unusual money-back guarantee they are offering purchasers of the hardcover edition.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A former emergency room physician, now a private practitioner, Clement (The Procedure) here offers his fourth medical puzzler. This one centers on genetic engineering and its potential for devastation if not properly and morally controlled. ER physician Richard Steele joins geneticist Kathleen Sullivan, prominent among anti-bioengineering forces, in her investigation of the effects of genetically modified foods and genetic vectors that can cause diseases to cross the species barrier. Gradually, they unravel a complex web that spans the globe. After a young boy in Hawaii succumbs to an illness that previously affected only birds, the story line expands to include three corporate entities, which may be in collaboration toward a perilous goal. Richard and Kathleen find their lives in danger, and the threat of genetic weapons becomes increasingly real. This novel, which depicts a horrific and dramatic story, improves as it progresses and as the reader establishes a bond with the protagonists. However, the scientific information is presented in exceedingly complicated detail and is almost too much for a lay reader. Recommended for public librar-ies. Linda M.G. Katz, Florence A. Moore Lib. of Medicine, MCP Hahnemann Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (July 3, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345443373
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345443373
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,307,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
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4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
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1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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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.
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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.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Alarming subject, uneven writing, October 12, 2003
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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.

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
Dr. Richard Steele found today's shift his worst ever in ER. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
bird flu outbreak, genetic vectors, genetic vaccine, pizza face, moon suits, cauliflower mosaic virus, feed corn, species barrier
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Kathleen Sullivan, Pierre Gaston, Steve Patton, Environment Watch, Greg Stanton, Richard Steele, Julie Carr, Blue Planet Society, East River, Sydney Aimes, United States, Azrhan Doumani, Biofeed International, Bob Morgan, Inspector Racine, Jesus Christ, Peter Clement, Forty-second Street, Mother of God, Agrenomics International, Fourth of July, New Year's Eve, Peter Clemenk, Sandra Arness
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