Lawrence Gold

Excellent book, tales of a very large sailboat discovers hurricane season, bio-terrorism, terror.
What starts as a peaceful and well-managed trip by sail for a family of three plus dog, becomes something a lot more than they bargained for. But then, when one considers the probability of hurricane season and rough seas, it seems only certain they will run into some difficulties. They are well-prepared for whatever comes, though perhaps not when something unexpected brings them up short. When an artillery shell is fired over the bow causing a concussive wave over the bow, it certainly wasn't part of the game plan. Why is the US firing at a US ship?

This is no small sailboat, it is large, well-equipped and has taken the family to many ports over the past five years. Husband and wife mind the wheel, both are well-instructed in medicine and health, and their daughter is being home-schooled and is well-adjusted and very capable on deck as well. Sailing in such a large vessel takes a lot of work and muscle, a lot of upkeep to be done, one might say five years could well be the limit on the high seas before parts start to wear out, it's coming up on hurricane season so everything needs a fix. In their travels they have rescued two teenagers, brother and sister. But something isn't right. To put a finger to it doesn't work so well, but it seems these two are ill, but with what? And what were the family told about two young terrorists?

Soon everything is going wrong, with the ship, with the teenagers, the winds, the waves... where should they choose to make a landing before the weather and health let loose? Holding off against the storm, it's a matter of hover and wait or plow on through, hoping the decades of small pox vaccinations have killed or weakened it, or they may be spreading it anon.

The amazing crew came through as best they could considering life endangerment, US flagged boat endangerment, a stand-down in progress. I think it is very important for the interaction between the only people who really have enough of the right kind of knowledge and probable understanding people who rightfully know the best resources. How best to approach the sick ones, now including their own daughter, how best to retain and keep the sick ones away until they reach a level of unity.… (més)

I enjoyed the story line of state of mind from the science ans ethical perspective, I myself am a scientist (and would love to live in a world where work progresses so quickly!) and at uni I got the chance to sit an ethics paper for interest which covered the topic of changing peoples brains, they were, like this book fascinating and thought provoking. If we had the chance should we and in the case of this book; when we are we still responsible for previous actions? I also enjoyed the meeting of the emerging technologies in the story with law as it is today; because changes surely must be made in such cases.

I did however struggle with the characters because I found them to be a little bit underdeveloped and didn't really connect with them that well, which is a shame because the subject matter was amazing!… (més)

Note: Even though this is Book 7 in the series, it works totally fine as a stand alone.

Zack Berg is a gifted wonder boy and his parents Denise and Gabe are very proud of that fact. They do the best they can support their son in finding activities and a school curriculum that will challenge him. Zack’s abilities and his Basque heritage (through his mother Denise) attract Dr. Jorge Maneo to his case. Dr. Maneo has a long-standing hatred of the Spanish government due to a life time of fighting for Basque independence. As Zack starts to explore his Basque heritage, he gets in deeper than he expected.

Set in California, this tale was an interesting mix of medical thriller and political thriller. Starting off with a small snapshot of someone switching sperm samples at some laboratory, the story then jumps ahead a few years, showing another little snapshot, and then again and again until we get to a young Zack starting to blossom into his abilities. It’s no secret that his parents had to go to a fertility clinic for in vitro fertilization, so you know from the start that the sperm sample switch will be important later.

The Maneos have a tortured family past. Alberto went into the priesthood while Jorge was encouraged again and again to attend school and then university. They were raised, for the most part, in Basque Country and fought in their own ways for Basque independence. However one family member after another is killed, usually in some brutal manner. Jorge early on sympathized with the ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna), a paramilitary Basque separatist group. Subsequently, the FBI has kept tabs on him since he entered the country.

While we are getting that background on the Maneos, Zack ages again and we rejoin him in his teen years. Of course, he’s super smart but he’s also got physical skills beyond those expected for his age. Also, his ability to show compassion is beyond what most adult humans are capable of. Yep, he’s a braniac jock with a heart of gold. At first, this combination was intriguing, but once Zack’s personality is established, his actions and reactions are all rather predictable. I became a little bored with him, but by that time I was caught up in his tale.

Throughout the story, there are these little snippets about Neanderthals. At first, I didn’t really see where this was going but I wanted to find out. Various theories about Neanderthals, including their possible culture and what became of them, are brought up by different characters. I won’t go into details because that would be spoilery. However, as the plot thickens, I found myself way more interested in this than in the ETA. So I wish the author had spent a bit more time on it, and tossed in some more science (I can take it!).

The ending was rather anticlimactic. It was easy to tell early on what the significance of the opening scene of the sperm sample switch was. There’s this action sequence that involves Jorge Maneo and then a bunch of cleanup. Given what we know of Zack’s personality, the ending concerning that plot line was predictable. At the very end, there is a reveal about Jorge Maneo and that again was easy to see coming. So, while I enjoyed the ride, it held only that one little tiny Neanderthal bit for me in terms of surprises.

I received a copy at no cost from the narrator (via the Facebook Audiobook Addicts group) in exchange for an honest review.

The Narration: Joe Hempel’s accents (Spanish, Basque, Austrian) started off a little rough but smoothed out pretty quickly. His female character voices were believable. However, towards the end of the story, the character voices were not as distinct as they were at the beginning.… (més)