Albrick's Gold - Softcover

Simon Le Vay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747276870 ISBN 13: 9780747276876

Publisher: Headline, 1997

Synopsis

From the man behind the controversial "gay brain" studies comes a chilling tale of medical experimentation run amok. Dr. Roger Cavendish, one of America's leading researchers into the mysteries of sexuality and the mind, finds himself faced with a medical mystery straight out of his worst nightmares.

A rise in violent crime is detected in the student body of ultraconservative Levitican University, home of Cavendish's rival, Guy Albrick. While Albrick's studies seem to reflect the findings of Cavendish; that sexuality is somehow linked to innate brain structure. Albrick goes further in claiming to have developed a clinical procedure for the manipulation of sexual orientation. Cavendish is initially skeptical of such claims, and gradually uncovers evidence that Levitican University students have become the subjects of highly unethical, scientifically unsound experiments in genetic engineering. With a little help, Cavendish begins to unravel the mystery behind the shocking crimes on the Levitican campus; even as the wave of violence threatens to overtake him and all others in its path. With Albrick's Gold, Simon LeVay has fashioned the darker ramifications of today's cutting-edge science into a classic medical thriller.

About this title

About the Author

Since the 1991 publication of his article concerning differences in gay and straight brain structures, neurobiologist Simon LeVay's name has been all but synonymous with the controversy surrounding biological theories of sexuality. In 1992, LeVay co-founded the Institute of Lesbian and Gay Education. He is the author of the titles The Sexual Brain, City of Friends: A Portrait of the Gay and Lesbian Community in America (with Elisabeth Nonas), and Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality.

Review

Simon LeVay, a neurobiologist best known for his theory that a region of the hypothalamus in gay men is smaller than in heterosexual men, has fictionalized his research for Albrick's Gold, a medical thriller with graphic descriptions and frequent visits to the county morgue. The novel's hero, an openly gay scientific researcher named Roger Cavendish, has been invited to speak at Levitican University in southern California, a wealthy fundamentalist institution noted for the unusually successful yet violence- prone graduates of its R.O.T.C. program and its diabolical experiments to "cure" homosexualtiy in young male students, carried out by the neurologist Guy Albrick and his henchmen. -- The New York Times Book Review, Martha E. Stone

Well-plotted and imaginative [Levay's] premise and execution are original and engaging. -- Publishers Weekly

Edition details

• Publisher: Headline
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0747276870
• ISBN 13: 9780747276876
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 250