THE IMMORTAL GENE

As I read this, the first of a new series, I couldn't help but feel I was channeling medical thriller-writer Dr. Robin Cook. While the sci-fi aspect here may be a little harder to swallow than in those books (pun intended, and if you've read it, you'll know what I'm talking about), that doesn't make it any less exciting.

The book begins with two separate stories, the first of which is a look into the life of Jeffrey Harris, a serial killer dubbed the "Blood Eagle Killer" because of what he does to the husband/father of the families he murders. The second focuses on Ontario Police Department Detective Jake Wood, a.k.a. new series hero), who's called in when the killer takes down a family in his jurisdiction. Just as he and partner and friend Kirk are getting into the nitty gritty, though, Jake has an unexpected allergy attack and lands in the hospital. While he's there, old friend and scientist Luke Mercer begs Jake to follow him to remote Brazil. Jake declines - at least until he gets a message from Luke saying it's a life-or-death situation.

From that point on, chapters shift between progress in the two plots. We see the serial killer making plans for his next big thrill. And after some serious action in Brazil, we learn that Jake has been sidelined in a hospital for 18 months; he wakes up to learn he's been gone so long that he's lost both his fiance and his dog (yee-haw, cue in the country song). His doctor, though, lets him in on a more astounding tidbit: After a freak ingestion of snake venom out in the wilds, Jake has somehow acquired reptilian characteristics. Say what?

If that's a bit of a stretch for readers, imagine how tough it is for Jake. He comes home to find that some nasty folks want a piece of his hide, but that just gives him a reason to put his newfound powers to the test. As he deals with the bad guys, he tries to balance what he's feeling inside and out with what he felt before - hoping to maintain some semblence of a human relationship with Kirk (just as Kirk struggles to understand the ramifications of the "new" Jake, such as his rather unusual taste in food). Then lo and behold, they agree to once again tackle the serial killer case - bringing the whole thing full circle. There's a cliffhanger ending, but I suppose that's intended to whet readers' appetites for what's to come. The only way that works for me, though, is if the author will be releasing that next one within a month or two; a year and another 100 books later, I'll have totally forgotten the details of everything I wrote about here.

If I have an issue, it's that the concurrent plots are wildly different; and with the exception of one barely noticeable clue fairly early on, it was impossible for me to envision them connected in any way (even though common sense and reading enough novels that use this approach told me they must somehow converge). And converge they do - but not till after the halfway point. For me, that was frustrating; the connection - or at least a few other breadcrumbs - should have come sooner (boo, hisssssss). Other than that, though, this series is off to a fine start with an intriguing character. Count me in!

The Immortal Gene by Jonas Saul (Vesuvian Books, July 2018); 334 pp.