Threshold [Paperback]

Ben Mezrich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1997

For a lifetime, he has channeled the fear and guilt of a childhood trauma into an impassioned mission to save others. Now, inside 72 hours, Jeremy Ross will have to defuse an insidious plot to genetically rewire the human race. And in a heartbeat, allied with an ex-lover on a quest of her own, he must confront a threat more devastating than any living creature can imagine.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A science thriller, Threshold features a face-off between Dr. Jason Waters, the founder of the DNA-researching Tucsome Project, and Jeremy Ross, a young and brilliant Ph.D. Their scientific and investigative paths cross when Secretary of Defense Warren T. Walker is found dead with gouge wounds to his face, apparently by his own hand. When Ross, working with the CIA, discovers that Waters has pilfered $60 billion to unlock the source of DNA coding, a showdown ensues that leads to an explosive climax. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

"Do you know what we call a man with a perfect genome?" asks the villain of Mezrich's first novel. "We call that man God." Yes, yet another mad scientist is on the loose, but that cliche and the sketchiness of other characters here don't obscure the author's clever handling of the issues raised by his topical theme of genetic engineering, or his impressively intricate plotting. Jeremy Ross, a brilliant fourth-year medical student, finds himself investigating the mysterious death of the U.S. secretary of defense at the behest of the deceased's daughter, Robin Kelly, Jeremy's former lover. Jeremy's search leads him to Tucsome, a classified research center in South Carolina. There, scientists have found a way to accelerate the genetic mapping of human DNA, with deadly implications. Jeremy soon learns of massive cover-ups, several murders and billions of dollars funneled into a project that threatens human life as we know it. This potboiling stew of thriller throwaways tastes of Crichton and Cook, though without the former's cool control or the latter's antic energy. Mezrich writes fast-moving prose that will hook readers, and he knows how to make science suspenseful. But an absurdly melodramatic climax featuring the hero and heroine, that mad scientist, ravenous wolves and assault by gun, test tube, baseball bat and liquid nitrogen finally marks Mezrich, who's in his mid-20s, as a writer of some talent but, as yet, of only limited craft. 100,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; author tour; foreign rights sold to Japan, Spain, Holland, Germany and Bulgaria; U.K., translation, first serial, dramatic rights: Garon-Brooke.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446605212
• ISBN-13: 978-0446605212
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,745,510 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm the author of nine books, at the moment, including Bringing Down The House, The True Story of Six MIT kids Who Took Vegas- which sort of made me a vegas expert. I live in Boston with my fiance and pug, Bugsy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ENTERTAINING BUT TOO UNREAL, May 4, 2000

By 

"juj" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Threshold (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading the book. It was fast-paced & full of action -- too full in fact, it is more apt for a movie. I am not saying the story is unreal. The genetic engineering side is plausible -- what with all the developments & advancements around us. What is quite impossible is the survival of our lead characters. It was something like "you & me against the world" concept & despite the deadly combination of killers, CIA, well reknowned scientists, etc. the protagonists conquered them all with merely "scratch on the shoulder". The writer built suspense as the story progressed but I somehow got lost in connecting the 3rd phase with the previous 2 test stages. The first 2 seemed deadly while the 3rd deemed to be otherwise. On a general note, it was okay. If you're looking for a real reading stuff, you may be a little disappointed as this material proved to be more like Chricton's movie books. If you're on a more sober reading, try Hot Zone & Cobra.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Could have been very good..., June 14, 2007

By 

Anthony Bates "Tony & Julia" (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Threshold (Paperback)

Unfortunately, a reasonably good plot was ruined by characters that are wishy-washy at best and scenarios that are just simply stupid. Without going to much into it, I'll never understand why the bad guy with gun pointed at good guy has to talk about how clever the good guy has been to get this far, but ultimately its all futile because I (the bad guy) am going to shoot you. But then good guy gets the opening to disarm/kill bad guy and win the day? Here's some advice to writers who want to have bad guy get the drop on good guy - shoot him, and shoot him again!

Scenes like this, and Threshold is full of them, are stupid and only enjoyable when parodied in a film like Austin Powers II.

If you're thinking about buying this book, stop there and go no further. This book is so bad that it doesn't deserve a rating, but I'm forced to give it at least one star.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It Had Promise, Then Fizzled, June 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Threshold (Paperback)

This book starts out with a bang. A wonderfully descriptive scene in the emergency room of a big city hospital. But then it turns into a Robin Cook novel. A young medical professional must save the world from the shenanigans of a mad scientist and a corrupt government official. The names and places change but the stories are all pretty much the same. Ho Hum