Disclaimer: Review originally posted at www.audiobookreviewer.com
Martin James works in Security for a very big pharmaceutical company. He has a natural talent for the job and usually has everything under control, but everything falls apart when he interviews several employees who seem to be working on something illegal. The wrong question at the wrong time causes Martin to be kidnapped by this band and injected an unknown substance, which Martin will soon discover, makes him slow down until the point that he will not be able to interact with anybody. Martin is alone, nobody knows what is happening to him, and worst of all, how to cure him.
This is a very original idea and it was very well executed. It could have been boring, and despite it is a quite long book, one is always wanting for more. The story spans around 100 years but for Martin it just feels like a few days. The difference in speeds seems daunting but well resolved by the experts and his family. This first part reminded me a lot of Dragon’s Egg by Robert L. Forward, and both books showed very clever solutions to this problem.
Martin is just the victim of a much bigger game, just collateral damage, and even though this book is about morals and the conflict between which genetic enhancements are right or wrong, this book is, above all, about family. Martin is a good professional, even though he screwed it up here, and will carry the guilt forever with him; but Martin is above all, a family man, and this is exactly what he will lose. The drug he was injected will disconnect him from everything and everybody he loves, and W. Lawrence does a wonderful job in describing the sense of loss, regret but also love.
I like how the characters were depicted. Some people may think Martin was not fully developed but we have to remember that we see him in just a couple of weeks in his life, while for the rest of the world more than 100 years have passed.
Will Damron really becomes Martin when reading this story, and his voice has the power of transmitting his emotions, his regrets and his despair. He was the perfect narrator for this beautiful and sad story. The audio production was good and seamless, allowing you to focus on the story.
I have minor complaints, like the Spanish in the book was not all 100% correct (like it happens in many books), and the Spanish speaking characters sounded more like Hindi. All in all, I recognize these are minor issues that would have been missed by many.
This was a wonderful listen that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys science fiction and an out of the normal powerful story.
My name is Elena. Since I was a little child I loved science fiction and fantasy, and I can’t resist a good novel. In 2015, while wait I started to listen to audiobooks and I discovered the pleasure in being able to read while doing my daily tasks, so there’s always an audiobook playing on my phone. If you see me with my Bluetooth headphones on, please be gentle, I get easily startled.
I live with my boyfriend, which I met during my six-year stay in Belgium, four cockatiels, eight lovebirds, and a hamster in Madrid, Spain; and I like to spend my free time knitting and sewing while listening to audiobooks.
