Review: An Amazing Near-Future Thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2014
I would like to thank NetGalley & Alibi for granting me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.Goodreads Blurb:<blockquote><strong>From the author of <em>The Deus Machine</em> and <em>The Third Pandemic</em> comes a fast-paced thriller about the power of harnessing life itself—and the deadly secrets it conceals.</strong>Portland, Oregon, was once a beacon of promise and prosperity. Now it’s  the epicenter of a world gone wrong, its streets overrun by victims and hustlers, drifters and gangsters. Lowly contract cop Lane Anslow struggles to keep afloat—and to watch out for his brilliant but bipolar brother, Johnny, a medical researcher. Lane soon discovers that Johnny is part of an experiment veiled in extraordinary secrecy. But he has no idea who’s behind it, how astronomical the stakes are, or how many lives might be destroyed to make it a reality.Now Johnny’s gone missing. To find him, Lane follows a twisting trail into a billionaire’s hilltop urban fortress, a politician’s inner circle, a prison set in an aircraft graveyard, and a highly guarded community where people appear to be half their biological age. Hunted by dueling enemies, Lane meets a beautiful and enigmatic woman at the center of a vast web of political and criminal intrigue. And behind it all is a sinister, desperate race to claim the biggest scientific prize of all: eternal life.</blockquote>This story of greed, corruption, love, loyalty, and the quest for eternal life is set :::in the not too distant future. As far as I could determine this story takes place in the early to mid 2020's. While the world isn't the one we know now, the changes aren't so radical as to make them unbelievable. Mr. Ouellette has created the ultimate near-future world for this story to play out in. Even the premise of the story is believable, for as a species we've been chasing the idea of immortality almost as long as we've existed.The hero of this story isn't quite your average Joe, but he is working class and as such he almost instantly becomes someone most readers can probably relate to. His filial loyalty makes him both the ideal brother and an extremely likable, and approachable, protagonist. Lane is a contract cop on the cusp of being deemed too old to continue on in his chosen profession, while his younger brother Johnny is a brilliant scientist whose star appears to be on the verge of a meteoric rise to fame and more money than he has ever imagined. But Johnny is bipolar, which means that when his mood swings toward the the manic high, his ability to make intelligent choices swings just as far in the opposite direction, causing him think he's invincible. When reality finally catches up with Johnny it's always been big brother Lane who has come to his rescue.Part of what sets of this entire story in motion are Johnny's bipolar mood swings. His most recent swing led him to make a demand of his employer. Oddly enough, that demand protects him, but not for long. Just before dropping off the map Johnny calls Lane, sounding uncharacteristically frightened, enough so to scare Lane into searching for him.A large portion of Lane's appeal is his lack of guile. He is a very genuine person, or at least he is when he's not undercover. And that lack of guile is something of a novelty in that day and age, one which attracts certain people to him. People who may be in the position to assist him in his search for his brother. It doesn't hurt that his search seems to run parallel to someone else's search for information, bringing them together to pool their resources.Throughout the course of Lane's search he encounters a variety of personalities and experiences. Some of the choices he makes will likely have long-term ramifications that he can't even fathom. But throughout it all he remains true to himself, a remarkable feat given some of the choices he faces. The hints of romance that Lane experiences never seem to be explored, yet at times it feels as if they may have actually taken place off-stage so to speak.Though this story provides a wild ride, it starts out a bit slow. But by the time I was roughly one-third of the way in (maybe a bit farther) it really exploded out of the gate. There was enough not-stop action and psychological drama to satisfy the toughest customer. Though I found the ending satisfying, there was one piece of the story that was never resolved (or at least not that I noticed), and that single piece is like a loose tooth, I can't stop worrying it. Because that particular piece has the ripple effect, and the results will just keep spreading. However my main concern is for what is at the center of the action in the unresolved section. And I'm not talking about the crystal clear section that is left open for interpretation at the end. If you think you've found it after reading the book, please leave me a private message with the book's title and let me know what you think I'm referring to (wouldn't want it anywhere that it could become a spoiler for those yet to read this compelling story).