The Darwin Strain: An R. J. MacCready Novel
By Bill Schutt and J. R. Finch
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The authors of Hell’s Gate and The Himalayan Codex deliver their third high-octane thriller—a page-turning blend of science, history, and suspense featuring zoologist and adventurer Captain R. J. MacCready.
“Looks like Schutt and Finch are filling the void left by the passing of Michael Crichton.”—James Cameron, director/writer/explorer
Though the fighting has stopped and Hitler is vanquished, a dangerous new war between America and the Soviet Union has begun. Invaluable in defeating the Nazis, accidental crypto-zoologist R. J. MacCready and Yanni Thorne, an indigenous Brazilian and expert in animal behavior, are working for the Pentagon once again. Sent to a mysterious Greek island in a remote corner of the Mediterranean, they are investigating rumors about a volcanic spring with “miraculous” healing properties that the locals say is guarded by sea monsters from ancient legends.
The islanders believe that, like Fatima, the spring is a gift from God. To the Greek Orthodox Church, it is a sign of a deadly evil foretold in apocalyptic texts. Alongside French and Chinese researchers—men who share their strange, blood-stained past—Mac and Yanni discover that the volcanic spring’s undersea plumes release an exotic microbe that can transform life with astonishing speed.
To find the source of the Volcanic spring, Mac and Yanni must find a way to neutralize “the Dragons of Revelation”—a fearsome aquatic species also known as “Kraken,” which are preventing the scientists from exploring deep beneath the sea’s surface. Mutating at an astonishing pace, the Kraken have evolved into a chillingly high alien intelligence. As the race to possess the “miracle” microbe heats up, tensions between geopolitics, religion, and ordinary scientists confronted with the unknown escalate into chaos. Mac and Yanni know all too well that one wrong choice can easily set in motion a biological chain reaction that will reach across the decades to enhance—or destroy—everything that lives.
Bill Schutt
Bill Schutt is Professor of Biology at LIU-Post (Long Island University) and Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History. He is the author of Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures and a novel, Hell's Gate (with J. R. Finch).
Read more from Bill Schutt
The Himalayan Codex Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell's Gate: A Thriller Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Darwin Strain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Darwin Strain
Related ebooks
Season of the Witch: An EVENT Group Thriller, #14 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Man's Next 500 Years Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings7 best short stories by Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDoctor Mosquito: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Exit Zero Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Messiah of Morris Avenue: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Single Infertile Female Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCovenant: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sailing Time's Ocean Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exploring the Possibilities: Hairy's Cryptid Cafe, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEvil Never Dies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SecondWorld: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Temple: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Devil's Bones: Cotton Malone vs. Gray Pierce Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Compleat Werewolf: And Other Stories of Fantasy and Science Fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Journeyman: The Commons, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Phoenix Project Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Codex: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Halfway House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plaza: An Archaeological Thriller Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLondon Underground: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lazarus Strain Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Excavation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil You Know Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEvent: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House of Bells Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mangroves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kowalski's in Love Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Æ Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Thrillers For You
Animal Farm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cryptonomicon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Housemaid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Mercedes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Good Indians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Upstairs: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golden Spoon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Maidens: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Dry: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Needful Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Revival: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Billy Summers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Darwin Strain
9 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Put well-known characters like General MacArthur, Jacque Cousteau, and Ian Fleming into a geological environment of volcanos and hot water sea vents with strange extremophile growth that has already been well documented in several scientific documentaries and you have the freedom to write a story that keeps your reader’s attention from the first sentence. As these characters are already known, the author had little need for character development other than setting the story’s date and contextual political factors. Being free of much of the character building and scene-setting, (hot water spewing sea vents need not be described as they can easily be visualized from documentary coverage), the author was able to write an engrossing story about giant cephalopods habiting the waters of the Greek Isle of Santorini. They were self-aware and had been at a sentient level similar to man since the beginning of human existence. Using human sentient standards, the cephalopods do not measure up. From the cephalopod’s measurements, humans do not measure up to cephalopod standards. Both races are alien to each other so little mutual empathy exists. Bill Schutt’s story is about conflict when both these races compete for the same resource, i.e. control of an underwater hot water vent with healing properties. In order to make the story even more interesting, Schutt elected to include a cold war conflict between the US and the Russians. Both countries wanted the healing vents that the cephalopods had controlled and protected for thousands of years.Most of the events in the book were taken from fictionalized historical events from the late ’40s and early ’50s. Old and ancient events are mentioned throughout the book. For lovers of history and geology, there is a well-written appendix at the end of the book that references and gives some background for all authentic events in the book. I enjoyed reading this appendix as much as I enjoyed reading the fictionalized story.The Darwin Strain is a must-read for history buffs and thriller book lovers.