Mutation

Biomolecular researcher Victor Stein creates a son through the surrogacy process, and while this superior being develops fantastically well for a time, things soon begin to change horribly

YA-- Cook has created another chilling medical suspense story, this time using the perils of genetic engineering as the central theme. Readers will be captivated by this genius child, V. J. Frank. Dr. Victor Frank, a biomolecular researcher, has tampered with the genetic make-up of his son during his in vitro fertilization and implantation in a surrogate mother. To all appearances, V. J. is a physically perfect child with super intellectual capabilities. However, when his mother begins to suspect some changes and problems with V. J.'s behavior, the plot takes off, keeping readers always in suspense. This timely topic of genetic engineering is imaginatively explored.
- Susan Penny, St. Cecilia's School, Houston
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Like many of Cook's earlier novels ( Coma , Brain , Fever ), this overheated medical thriller covers a hokey, old-fashioned contrivancethe creation of a mad scientist runs amokwith a veneer of cutting-edge technology. The result resembles an ancient, none-too-scary horror movie played out on modern sets. The author's version of evil genius Dr. Frankenstein is Dr. Victor Frank, a bio-physicist who is driven by his wife Marsha's infertility to create a monster: a son whose genetic structure has been designed to preordain brilliance. Keeping the experiment a secret from his wife, he implants similar embryos in two other women as well. ("When I did it, it seemed like a good idea," he claims, in one of the novel's funnier lines.) A decade later, his work goes awry; the other children die mysteriously, and Marsha realizes that something about her smart son isn't quite normalhe has no emotions. (Readers may wonder why, as a child psychologist, she took 10 years to notice.) Cook's characterization is perfunctory even by genre standards, and his initially suspenseful story collapses under the weight of clumsy action scenes and twists that rupture the internal logic of an already shaky premise. Literary Guild main selection.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.