LIVING FOREVER CAN BE LETHAL…
Ruth is a law-abiding elder, working out her national service, but she has secrets. Her tireless research into the disease that killed her young daughter had an unexpected outcome: the discovery of a vaccine against old age. Just one jab a year reverses your biological clock, guaranteeing a long, healthy life.
But Ruth’s cure was hijacked by her colleague, Erik Grundleger, who hungers for immortality, and the SuperJuve – a premium upgrade – was created, driving human lifespan to a new high. The wealthy elite who take it are dubbed Supers, and the population begins to skyrocket. Then, a perilous side-effect of the SuperJuve emerges, with catastrophic consequences, and as the planet is threatened, the population rebels, and laws are passed to restore order: life ends at 120. Supers are tracked down by Omnicide investigators like Mara … and executed…
Mara has her own reasons for hunting Supers, and she forms an unlikely alliance with Ruth to find Grundleger. But Grundleger has been working on something even more radical and is one step ahead, with a deadly surprise in store for them both…
Eve Smith writes speculative thrillers, mainly about the things that scare her.
Longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize and described by Waterstones as ‘an exciting new voice in crime fiction’, Eve’s debut novel, The Waiting Rooms, set in the aftermath of an antibiotic resistance crisis, was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award and was a Book of the Month in the Guardian, who compared her writing to Michael Crichton’s.
It was followed by Off-Target, about a world where genetic engineering of children is routine, and ONE, about survival in a world ravaged by climate change.
Eve’s previous job at an environmental charity took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the Americas, and she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and far-flung places. She lives in Oxfordshire with her family.
My thoughts: Eve Smith likes to write books that give you the creeps, and this one is no different. Scientists have discovered a “cure” to ageing, essentially to death, but of course there’s an evil scientist and his billionaire backers who want to live forever – even if it does send you psychotic and mean you have to be put down by law enforcement like a rabid raccoon.
Ruth was one of those scientists, but she was searching for a cure for a rare disease, one that killed her own daughter, not eternal youth. A colleague took her formula and now chaos. Those who can afford it extend their lives, while those who can’t continue to die at the same rate. There is hatred from the have-nots that spills over into violence as poverty sky rockets, resources are stretched to their utter limits. New rules are introduced to manage resources and keep the world turning, but the rogue scientists are still out there and more dangerous than ever.
Teaming up with an investigator, Mara, Ruth heads to Jamaica on the trail of her nemesis. He supposedly died with the rest of his team in an explosion, but they’ve recently learnt that’s not true, and a sighting of one of his associates, has them on the move.
They will learn the extreme lengths this dangerous man has gone to and fight for their lives, and the future of humanity.
And I will have nightmares. Because honestly, if this was a real thing, I can easily imagine certain individuals being very keen on this and wrecking utter havoc with it. More so than they already are.
It was a really good read, but not a particularly settling one. So be prepared.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 