After being asked to raise Umber, a bonobo chimpanzee, in his home as part of an experiment to discover the differences in learning patterns between humans and chimps, Dr. Jim Dutton, an anthropology professor, begins to suspect that his primate pupil has been genetically altered and joins forces with Canadian journalist Valerie Radin to uncover the truth. 75,000 first printing.
Adult/High School-The 21st century meets H. G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in this latest venture by the Gears. The length may seem daunting, but a few pages should be enough to capture the attention of most scientific-fiction lovers. Anthropologist Dr. Jim Dutton has raised a Bonobo pygmy chimpanzee for the past 12 years alongside his 13-year-old daughter, Brett, as part of a research project for pharmaceutical giant SAC (Smyth-Archer Chemists). As it turns out, Umber not only knows sign language, but she can also read, speak through a computerized voice synthesizer, and write. Even more alarmingly, she ponders God, her soul, and the consequences of actions. Dutton fudges results to SAC for fear of losing the animal to experimentation if her true abilities were known. Worried, he consults an old friend and colleague to determine why Umber seems so mysteriously human, and those inquiries bring the attention of SAC on his family and friends. In their attempt to keep Umber as part of their family, Dutton, Brett, and her estranged mother (a well-known investigative reporter) end up in Africa, battling for their survival against an insane blue-eyed ape and the greedy director willing to kill to preserve the SAC financial empire and the secrecy of the ape project. The action-packed story is fascinating, but its real value is the questions it poses, including: Does one have to be a "human" to be a "person?"-Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
The animal genetic engineering at the heart of this well-constructed novel is hardly a new idea, but the authors (the First North Americans series) use their considerable scientific expertise (he's a physical anthropologist, she's an archeologist) to give it a fresh spin. A huge British pharmaceutical corporation has secretly invested hundreds of millions of pounds in experiments to raise the intelligence level of a species of chimpanzee in Equatorial Guinea. The company has also placed primates with specialists, such as American Jim Dutton, whose bonobo ape Umber is figuratively a sister to his 13-year-old daughter. Umber can't speak human language but understands and communicates both by sign language and with a handheld computer. When Dutton's former wife, a widely known TV investigative reporter, looks into the company as it unexpectedly starts exerting its heavy-handed influence, it's inevitable that their paths will collide. The species-altering gene replacement is as convincing as the danger the heroes ultimately face at an exotic but harrowing African research site. Less persuasive are the tardily revealed reasons for the company's expenditures or the fate of a new species of ape in the human world. That, nor wooden characters and clunky writing, don't stop an exciting, provocative story, however. Agent, Matt Bialer.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Anthropologist Jim Dutton's wife left him shortly after their daughter, Brett, was born. Her loss was partially filled, however, when Jim took Umber, a bonobo, into his home. Umber was placed with Jim by the huge English firm Smyth-Archer Chemicals (SAC) as part of its "ape project." Subsequently, Umber and Brett grew up as virtual sisters, learning about life together and teaching one another. Umber eventually could handle a voice-synthesizer keyboard, American Sign Language, and a growing number of other human activities and manners. All along, each SAC scientist and administrator is working "for the apes," and problems arise only from how "for the apes" is interpreted. Geoffrey Smyth-Archer had a lab ape die in his arms and remained with SAC solely because of his idealism on behalf of the apes and deserving humans. But modern business isn't built on idealism. Various employees are in SAC to make a killing, to obtain and use power, and even to engage in practical science. Basically, they aim, corporately, to produce apes capable of holding their own in civilization--a scheme that, of course, doesn't work. The apes, especially the "rejects" that haven't made the grade, become violent, and the violence spreads to ape-human interactions, not to mention human-human relations. In this lively, thought-provoking, and convincing story, the Gears bid for success with something other than their hit prehistorical series, the First North Americans.
William BeattyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
