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Dustin Grinnell

Forfatter af The Genius Dilemma

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Værker af Dustin Grinnell

The Genius Dilemma (2014) 3 eksemplarer
Without Limits 1 eksemplar

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So, I just read a self-published novel by someone I never heard of before. And I don't regret it!

Richard Powell, CEO of pharma startup Cerebrical has developed what may be a breakthrough smart drug, able to transform the merely intelligent into true geniuses. Colonel David Landry and his boss, General Beranger, want super-smart soldiers for their elite Leviathan unit, which aims to assassinate threats to world peace before they become threats to world peace. Alan Pierce, brilliant neuroscientist, wants a cure for Alzheimer's Disease, to save his mother. Thomas Amani, who has just learned that the recently assassinated President Lwazi of Kenya was his father, wants to return to Kenya and try to defuse the tension between the Kambezi and the Berani. The Berani want revenge on the Kambezi because, despite ample evidence that the Americans did it, they believe the Kambezi must be behind the assassination.

David Landry's most recent successful mission was killing Lwazi to prevent him from launching a genocide against the Kambezi. Landry, of course, does not see himself as part of the problem.

All these driven individuals of course intersect, as both Pierce and Landry see Powell's new drug, Trillium, as the potential answer to their different quests. What Powell doesn't mention is that the side effects of Trillium are rather nasty; its artificial geniuses also become artificial psychopaths.

Much of the action in the book flows from the conflict between those who see this as a problem, and those who think it's an advantage. The characterization isn't especially deep, but Pierce is a likable and to some degree admirable character, and the pacing is fast and engaging. I read this 500 page book in less than three days. There are a bunch of small complaints I could make, but really, they don't matter. You may notice, but if you're in the mood for a fast-paced thriller, you won't care. You'll keep turning the pages to see what happens next.

Recommended as a great beach read.

I received a free copy of this book from the author.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
LisCarey | Sep 19, 2018 |
Evan Galloway is a human limits physiologist working for DARPA--the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration, the same folks who brought us the internet. Evan's project, of course, is quite different. He's developing a nanotech method for dramatically improving human athletic performance, by increasing the amount of oxygen the human blood can carry. The army wants it for soldiers, but as with much of what DARPA does, there are obvious civilian applications.

Of course, the most obvious of those applications would be classed as cheating. Some people don't mind that, though. Some people are quite comfortable with cheating.

One of those people is billionaire and extreme athlete Jack McKnight--who happens to be the former lover of Evan's boss, Dana Brines. And Dana and Jack have a son together. Or they did, until last year. Michael died suddenly, after running an ultramarathon.
One of the many important details Evan doesn't know is that there are two versions of the project he's dubbed Nan Airs. He's working on a version that will be safe, effective, and undetectable by any easily foreseeable testing method. The army wants that. The army also wants a lethal version, a version that can be triggered to lethality at any time from a safe distance, and that part has been farmed out.

This is a tense, complicated tale about people with multiple competing agendas, and Grinnell keeps it all moving and keeps it all straight for the reader. Evan is decent and kind at his core, but he's a complex character with real weaknesses, and some unpleasant secrets in his past. He's also got a fractured relationship with his brother Luke, that he'd love to repair. Dana Brines has her own complicated motivations and intentions, and Lucius Atticus is a satisfyingly flawed but capable training guru for Evan.

The only really significant character who is a bit too simplistic is Jack McKnight. There's one thing he does, early on, that's just incomprehensible except that it proves how bad this bad guy really is.

Despite that flaw, this is a really great read, a story that keeps moving, with characters you can care about

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
LisCarey | Sep 19, 2018 |

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Værker
2
Medlemmer
4
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#1,536,815
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ISBN
1