Spiral - Softcover

Paul McEuen

3.69

1,433 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0755374649 ISBN 13: 9780755374649

Publisher: Headline, 2011

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The first bio-tech thriller from acclaimed Cornell professor, Paul McEuen. Pacific Ocean 1946: Liam Connor of the British Army, a global expert on germ warfare, is sent to help the US Navy foil an attempt by a Japanese submarine to unleash the world's first biological super-weapon. Code-name: Uzumaki. Translation: Spiral. The devastating decision is made to annihilate Spiral by releasing the world's fourth atomic bomb, obliterating the weapon before it can release its catastrophic payload. New York, present day: Connor, now a world-renowned Nobel prize-winner working on the cutting edge of nano-science technology, prayed that the spectre of Spiral would never return. But now it is back and the stakes are exponentially higher. Spiral would be virtually unstoppable with current technological advances and only Connor holds the key to its cure. Those who seek Spiral will stop at nothing to obtain Connor's knowledge, even if it means his death and that of everyone he holds dear. As the race begins for Spiral, will the world survive the Doomsday scenario about to unfold?

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About the Author:

Paul McEuen is currently the Goldwin Smith Professor of Physics at Cornell University and an award-winning expert on nanotechnology, looking at the applications of nano-electronics in chemistry and biology. He is a technical adviser to the CIA, Intel and Harvard amongst other institutions. This is Paul`s first novel.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* Its hard to reckon with the realization that a prominent scientist in a cutting-edge field, writing his first novel in his spare time, has created what may be the most gripping and engrossing thriller this reviewer has ever read in almost 50 years of thriller reading. But facts are facts, and the opinion is considered. McEuen has created an indelible hero in 85-year-old Liam Connor, a diminutive scientific giant. But Liam dies at the hands of a brilliant, merciless female assassin within the first 50 pages. He is entrancing, and McEuens decision to kill him off so quickly shows authorial panache. Left to unravel a complex scheme to launch the most devastating terrorist attack in human history are Liams granddaughter, her nine-year-old son, and one of Liams colleagues, Jake Sterling, a Cornell physicist. McEuen, also a Cornell physicist, wisely writes about what he knowsscience, nanoscience, and Cornellbut also shows a true gift for plotting, pace, characterization, and writerly clarity. He mines relatively little-known history about Japans horrific experiments with biological weapons in WWII. He offers brief, lucid disquisitions on science; notes that a large university is the ideal place to begin a global plague; posits that synthetic biology will surpass silicon microelectronics as the next big technological wave; and remarkably, he makes these ideas accessible to typical thriller aficionados. A stunning achievement. --Thomas Gaughan

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