Some of the books I read in April (acutally read Instinct last week, but who’s counting?)…
Weirdly enough 3 of the books I read this month turned out to be about genetic mutationsde-evolutionsuper-evolution etc. In fact, 2 of them both featured female veterinarians as the heroines. Just thought that odd… Made me wonder if we’ve run out of things to be afraid of and had to start making up shit. Anyhoo…. I’ll start with the biggest loser…
Breathless by Dean Koontz
Horrible. Too may story threads that never really come together. A lot of character building that wasn’t very well sequenced. The worst though, in my view, was the complete non-ending. It just ends… no closure, no explanation, nothing. I guess I was expecting something better from a writer of Koontz reputation. This is one of those that had a female vet and weird genetics (or possibly aliens, couldn’t really figure that out). Not recommending this one folks.
Altar of Eden by James Rollins
Girl-vet (actually cryo-zoologist) v. weaponized genetic mutations. Better than Breathless by a long shot but still just mediocre. I did enjoy the scenery though… one interesting setting was an alligator farm in New Orleans. Wasted a few pages with yet another romantic angle… I really don’t understand the purpose of that in suspense-thrillers… but oh well.
Storm Cycle by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
Things that I liked: the heroine is a computer whiz and is chasing down secrets from a long dead Egyptian Lady Doctor. Love it! And thanks to the authors who included a note at the end telling about the real Egyptology involved (which I also loved!). This book had another common theme I see in thrillers of late… looking for a cure for something ‘incurable’. Of course, I didn’t need the romantic twist (there were actually two) but in this case I don’t think it detracted from the story too much. Ending could have been better but overall I enjoyed it.
Instinct by Jeremy Robinson
Here’s a twist… genetic freaks v Delta Force. If you’re into military fiction then I think you’ll enjoy Robinson’s Chess Team. (Warning… there weren’t any magical Ramboesque M-60s but some of the Delta members do seem to be more than human.) I will likely pick up another of the Chess Team missions because of this book. The story was okay… alot was borrowed from other stories… several came to my mind. It was entertaining enough to keep me reading through to finish it in one night.
