Perfection Unleashed (Book 1 of the Double Helix series) [Kindle Edition]

Jade Kerrion (Author)

Book Description

* Royal Palm Literary Awards 2011, Winner

* Reader Views Literary Awards 2012, Science Fiction, First Place

* Reader Views Literary Awards 2012, South-East regional Winner
* Next Generation Indie Awards 2012, Finalist
* Hollywood Book Festival 2012, Honorable Mention

What would you do if you came face-to-face with perfection, and it looked just like you?

Two men, one face. One man seeks to embrace destiny, the other to escape it.

Danyael Sabre spent sixteen years clawing out of the ruins of his childhood and finally has everything he wanted--a career, a home, and a trusted friend. To hold on to them, he keeps his head down and plays by the rules. An alpha empath, he is powerful in a world transformed by the Genetic Revolution, yet his experience has taught him to avoid attention.

When the perfect human being, Galahad, escapes from Pioneer Laboratories, the illusory peace between humans and their derivatives--the in vitros, clones, and mutants--collapses into social upheaval. The abominations, deformed and distorted mirrors of humanity, created unintentionally in Pioneer Lab's search for perfection, descend upon Washington D.C. The first era of the Genetic Revolution was peaceful. The second is headed for open war.

Although the genetic future of the human race pivots on Galahad, Danyael does not feel compelled to get involved and risk his cover of anonymity, until he finds out that the perfect human being looks just like him.

BOOKS IN THE DOUBLE HELIX SERIES (Recommended reading order)

• Perfection Unleashed
• Perfect Betrayal
• Perfect Weapon
• When the Silence Ends

Editorial Reviews

Review

A breakout piece of science fiction. - RPLA Judge

The excitement escalates and stays high. The social commentary is subtle and sublime. - Bobbie Christmas, Zebra Communications

This was a thoroughly enjoyable novel, both in its production and its quality. It was one of the best I've read in a while. I enjoyed the fact that you began with action, explaining the details of the plot as it went along. The action was well-handled and well-written. The plot was well-thought out and totally believable as something that could happen in the near future. The added mystery of not knowing why Galahad looks like Danyael was handled well. The plot moved a good pace and the characters were delineated through thought and action. I was sorry to put it down. - Judge, 20th Annual Writer's Digest Annual Self-Published Book Awards

Perfection is what we strive for, and genetics may allow us to attain it. "Perfection Unleashed" is a distant future science fiction novel from Jade Kerrion, following Danyael Sabre, an alpha empath trying to piece together his life among the Genetic revolution, which is rapidly changing humanity, and may now be sending them to war. "Perfection Unleashed" asks many questions of human ethical biology and nature, solidly recommended reading. - Susan Bethany, Midwest Book Review (Nov 2012)

About the Author

Jade Kerrion holds B.A. degrees in biology and philosophy from the Johns Hopkins University and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia. When not writing or working, she ekes out time for dance and computer games. She resides with her husband and two sons in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Product Details

• File Size: 516 KB
• Print Length: 212 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008E98YFM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,086 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Chasing Galahad July 10, 2012

By A. Dent #1 HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

We all understand that published or whispered tales of 'the future' are by necessity about a Universe not ours. The Universe we read about could not possibly be ours because the very story we are reading did not exist in that Universe's past. With this understanding, it shouldn't be strange at all that the world Jade Kerrion creates is not unlike ours - Brooklyn, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. are where we expect them to be, some people drive SUVs and speak on (not smart) cell phones and airliners fly to Brazil and Singapore. But not everything is the way we're used to here and now and JK's Universe appears to have split off ours some 40-50 years ago when geneticists there began toying with humans' genetic codes. Gradually, 'normal' humans found themselves sharing their world with clones and 'in vitros' and, spontaneously or not, we don't know yet, several kinds of mutants were born: empaths and telepaths among them, with many of the mutants and the so-called derivatives proving themselves superior to most 'regular' humans. The unenhanced and unmutated ones tried to cope with the situation the best they could but frictions, conflicts and misunderstandings were inevitable. New technologies were created to detect and track the X-men-like creatures, new institutions such as the Mutant Advisory Council were established in the US to protect mutant rights and to pursue hidden agendas and, as expected, self-defense organizations or hate groups emerged to oppose the new genetic chaos or diversity if you want. And, as it's almost always the case, the military tried not to miss a beat, funding research meant to exploit the new opportunities.

This is where Galahad appears, a supposedly perfect human, his genome carefully designed and artificially put together by a scientist to spell 'perfection'. Only that new legislation does not recognize Galahad's humanity and he is kept under lock and key in a jail-like room inside a well-guarded research institute, experimented upon and treated as if he were just another lab animal.

And so the story goes... Dear readers be prepared to meet Galahad, the perfect, man, Danayael Sabre who is a lot more than a doctor treating gang-bangers in a run-down Brooklyn clinic, Miriya the telepath, Xin (she's a she) the clone of a Chinese general that lived thousands of years ago, Jason Rakehell who hates clones and mutants and especially Galahad, his Dr. Frankenstein-like dad who created Galahad, Zara the perfect killing machine and part-time seductress, Lucien the young trillionaire, the lovely six, aka 'the abominations'... more.

Of course, I am not going to tell the story, all of the above is just the background. Maybe I should hint that Galahad's genome is worth millions to certain parties and that there was a lot more about his origins than meets the eye. What follows is a story of struggle on both physical and inner planes, friendship, love, terror, self-discovery, incredible sacrifice, irrepressible hatred and unbelievable intrigue. Ms. Kerrion tells her story well. In this debut novel of hers she skilfully handles interactions between as many as a dozen main characters and while closer to archetypes than multi-dimensional beings, the interplay was complex enough and varied enough to keep me reading through the very (truly bitter) end.

But the end is not really the end. The book is the first in the 'Double Helix' series and the way this first volume ends suggests that we are likely to see more than a trilogy before the several now open story threads merge together and some conclusion is reached.

I can say that I liked what I've read so far. There is sufficient balance between the superpowers-based action and the more introspective parts to make the story readable. I wish there was more on the world or the Universe (remember, it's not 'our' Universe) where the drama unfolds but I understand that not everything can or should be spoon-fed to the reader. A little more depth to the characters would have make a better story too but, again, this is the first in a series so let's hope that these are going to be addressed in subsequent volumes. I would be also interested in some of the technologies as well as how their laws of nature are different from ours if they are indeed different. I am not particularly fond of 'series' but this first volume made me curious enough to look forward for the second.

DISCLOSURE: I had the opportunity to read this book because the author 'gifted' me a copy after I agreed to read it but I did not promise to produce a review, good or bad.

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>> Brush your teeth, it's the law! <<

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly-enjoyable, brainy guilty pleasure - "Perfection Unleashed" July 9, 2012

By A. L.

Format:Kindle Edition

"Perfection Unleashed" is a highly-enjoyable, brainy guilty pleasure of a novel: a perfect mixture of non-stop action, gripping plot, thought-provoking philosophy, and beautiful visuals.

The novel opens up with an action sequence, and never lets go. We are thrown right into Pioneer Labs where scientists had created the latest achievement of the Genetic Revolution - the perfect human, Galahad. A beautiful and ruthless female mercenary breaks into the Labs and lets Galahad out into the world.

The world of "Perfection Unleashed", we soon learn, is inhabited with other human "derivatives" of the Genetic Revolution - "in vitros," clones, and mutants. Humanity has set up institutions to broker a coexistence with the "derivatives," - a precarious equilibrium that the release of the perfect human threatens to upend. In echos of "X-Men," two poles of human "derivative" leadership start to emerge (though the "X-Men" parallel stops there).

The novel dances close to philosophical and social questions, such as on the privilege of birth and fairness in society, without getting high-brow or slowing down story development. The philosophy and the keenly observed human dynamics fit seamlessly into the fast-moving plot, as do funny one-liners, "purring" females, and a fair bit of gratuitous gore.

The narrative unfolds in a series of highly visual scenes, creating a feel of an action movie or an anime. Even the abstract is creatively and effectively visualized. I never thought I'd say this about a book, but it was a feast for the eyes.

"Perfection Unleashed" is thoroughly entertaining, thought-provoking, and gripping, and I am impatient for Volume II.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brainy, Sexy, Sci-fi Adventure October 31, 2012

By Lorijo Metz

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

"What would you do if you came face-to face with perfection, and it looked just like you?"

Personally, I'd be quite surprised. All kidding aside, I just finished reading Perfection Unleashed, by Jade Kerrion, book one in a series I'd describe as a brainy, emotional X-Men-like adventure. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but I was intrigued by the idea of a sci-fi take on perfection--one that wasn't based on creating the perfect android.

Rather than populate her story with comic book type characters, Jade created characters with abilities that, at least to me, I can easily believe will be part of the next round of human evolution. Whether they are humans we can imagine having evolved naturally, such as Danyael Sabre, an alpha empath; or humans created through genetic engineering, such as my favorite character, Xin; a computer genius and clone of a "Twelve hundred BC queen, military general, and high priestess from ancient China," Jade ensured each character and their uniqueness felt plausible. The time she spent delving into the mind of Danyael, the alpha empath, left the reader feeling, ironically, not only empathetic, but also fully aware of the danger Danyael's ability could pose to the rest of humanity.

Perfection Unleashed is only the beginning of what promises to be an exciting series. While the action is almost non-stop, from the break-in at Pioneer labs and escape of some genetic mutants gone wrong, to the final action-packed escape scenes, the primary purpose of book one, it seems, is to introduce us to the characters and set up the coming conflict between humans and their derivatives.

While a few things, such as whether mutants like Danyael were a result of genetic manipulation or simple evolution confused me, I truly enjoyed Perfection Unleashed and look forward to the next two books in the series, the newly released Perfect Betrayal and Perfect Weapon. I'm also eager to find out more about Galahad, Danyael's genetic twin (only physically, as Galahad is not an empath). While scientists created Galahad to be the perfect human, exactly what traits were engineered into him and why, are only hinted at in book one. Looks like I'll have to read Perfect Betrayal to find out more.

More About the Author

Jade Kerrion, an award-winning author, got her start in fan fiction. She developed a loyal reader base with her fan fiction series based on the MMORPG Guild Wars. She was accused of keeping her readers up at night, distracting them from work, housework, homework, and (far worse), from actually playing Guild Wars. And then she wondered why just screw up the time management skills of gamers? Why not aspire to screw everyone else up too?

So here she is, writing books that aspire to keep you from doing anything else useful with your time.

She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with her wonderfully supportive husband and her two young sons, Saint and Angel, (no, those aren't their real names, but they are like saints and angels, except when they're not.)