The scientific project Crime Zero was dreamed up by Alice Prince, scientist-founder of the third-largest biotech company in 2008, whose longtime supporters include Madeline Naylor, first female FBI director, and Pamela Weiss, soon to be the first female president. The project's animating idea is that, since men commit most violent crimes, the world would be vastly improved if the 17 aggressive male genes were removed or reprogrammed. Prince has worked out most of the needed methods, aided by brilliant but naive young Kathy Kerr. Unbeknownst to Kathy, government scientists have been working secretly with her ideas and have proved their validity before she has even obtained FDA approval for her work. Unfortunately, the secret workers have unknowingly produced a lethal product. Cordy's novel is beautifully and dramatically constructed, balancing a variety of subplots and understandable but complex personalities in a spellbinding story. How spellbinding? Well, when a novelist makes globally spreading smallpox seem a good thing, not just scientifically but also for the sake of the plot, he is a real wizard. William Beatty
From Kirkus Reviews
If ninety percent of violent crimes are committed by men, it follows, doesn't it, that the way to stamp out violent crime is to . . . . Right. Who needs men anyway, now that it's Y2K+8 with artificial insemination a piece of cake? Well, sure, some two billion male earthlings have to be eradicated, but FBI Director Madeline Naylor and brilliant-as-can-be scientist Alice Prince have been looking at the upside: A virtual end to the kind of rape-murder that cost Alice her beloved daughter; no more wars; maybe even the demise of Monday Night Football (hey, anythings possible). The violence is in the genes, you see. What if a smart virus could be developed, a gender-specific virus that would attack where it would do the most good? Okay, so a smattering of nice guys would finish faster than they would have otherwise. Too bad. ``Nothing comes free,'' Naylor informs newly elected President Pamela Weiss. But Weiss isn't buying it. ``Arrest them,'' says Madam President, only to discover that she's been arguing with fleshless, bloodless holograms. Right-thinking scientist Kathy Kerr explains how 3-D images can be projected from another source, while staunch-and-sturdy Special Agent Luke Decker sets out to capture his man-hating boss. The race is on. Suddenly, Alice cracks, turns on her old friend and fellow master-planner Naylor and locks her in the bathroom. Naylor gets free, kills a few people in defense of her gender-bender strategy. Decker catches up with her, and the two duel ferociously. Decker wins, but is his triumph in time, or will the male of the species be bashed into extinction? Theres lots of flashy science in Cordy's follow-up to The Miracle Strain (not reviewed), but that can't compensate for clumsy pacing, stilted dialogue, and a cast full of holograms. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Michael Cordy, a former marketing executive in Great Britain, left the rat race to pursue his dream of novel writing. He is the author of the international bestseller, The Miracle Strain, and lives outside London with his wife, jenny.
