Review: Lots of action
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 19, 2013
Jim is an exceptionally intelligent man. The first chapter gives us some insight into his life; namely living in his brother's shadow and a breakup with a girl he loved deeply. This threw me off once the second chapter began and events were catapulted into the future, where he's working as a medical researcher/scientist and comes home to a mysterious note that warns him that he needs to leave quickly because his life is in danger.From there Jim narrowly escapes but is branded a thief and has to rely on his wits and the help of some kind strangers to avoid his pursers. The Cancer Code revealed itself to be a riveting thriller, where corporations are willing to squash Jim to keep his cure for cancer under wraps.Jim is a nice mix of genius and social failings. He's brilliant in the lab and nice enough, but doesn't really have a lot of charisma or experience with close relationships. Mike, Dan, and the others are oddly eager to help him and believe his story (which does sound rather crazy), but I thought they added a nice touch with their boisterous acceptance of Jim. They aren't that developed, but they didn't feel like entirely flat characters nonetheless.The action is broken up by flashbacks that show Jim's time at the pharmaceutical company, and reveal more about his relationships and the various company politics that landed him in this mess in the first place The change of pace is nice, but sometimes I wanted to get back to the present events quickly. The writing style is pretty standard; it does the job and everything is clear but it isn't very noteworthy. Overall I thought The Cancer Code was a decent thriller, and made for a good distraction.