Sci-Fi & Scary

Elliot Garber does a great job of crafting a fast-paced bioterrorism thriller and effortlessly weaving together many threads into a coherent, easy-to-read, pulse-pounding story. For a good bit of the book, especially once he hit his stride, it seemed like I was reading Crichton in his heyday.

Having no background in veterinary medicine, genetics, or virology, I can't speak for the truth or accuracy of the material contained within. I have no clue how much artistic license was used. However, from the little bits of knowledge I've gathered here and there, it sounded logical enough that I wasn't forced to suspend disbelief at all.

I liked that he didn't make the bad guys out to seem all bad through-and-through as is so easy for authors to do. Instead, even though you detested them, and wanted them to get caught, his writing enabled you to recognize that they were still human. That even though they hated, they plotted to destroy, they also had family and friends that they cared about. Some of them even regretted what they were doing.

I understand that since it opened in 'report' form, it makes sense to close it in a similar format, but, unfortunately, the epilogue was the weakest point of the whole book. It just didn't read "real" at all, the tone coming across very conversational/dramatic instead of in the cut and dried language that you would expect. You kind of see it in prologue, especially with the last line, but you've forgotten about that until you hit the epilogue, and it smacks you in the face again. Now, I'm perfectly willing to admit that that may very well be how reports are written now, but it doesn't feel real/right, and ultimately, to a reader, that's what matters.

Overall, minus the epilogue, The Chimera Sequence is a great book from an up-and-coming novelist that I will hopefully see much more from in the future. I would definitely recommend it to people looking for something Crichton or Rollins-esque.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book free in exchange for an honest review.


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