John Writher

READ IN ENGLISH

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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

"Would you die to be young again?"

England's facing serious problems with ageing and has a serious chance of going bankrupt. Janet, a leading genetics scientist, has discovered a weird way of cloning (that somehow involves newborn babies) that could offer the lucky few to be 'reborn' and be young again. Problem is, the procedure isn't strictly ethical *ahum* and needs to be tested first...

I tried not to get too upset about the strange 'scientific' method that is used, telling myself 'It's science fiction, it can be major BS, that's not the point!', but it was a hard job not to. It seems like some major steps back since cloning (and BTW, why not just use cloning). Other methods used are strangely mortal, like collecting DNA (that, as everyone probably knows can be obtained via easily collectable body fluids like saliva or blood). Not in this brave new world. And to top that, they use a 25 centilitre syringe on a newborn baby. 25 centilitre is a big glass of water, you don't inject that amount of fluid into anyone (I think, but I'm not a doctor; I'd say you give them an infuse in that case) but definitely not in a baby! (So much for trying not to look suspicious!)

Besides, I didn't understand the plan. OK, ageing is a problem, there's not enough money for pensions. But please, explain to me how selecting people of 40 (that will die and be born again) is going to solve the problem? True, they won't live till they need a pension, but aren't the people of 40 the ones that pay the pensions of today? How's that going to solve anything? So, for me at least, the story was highly illogical.

Janet was such a stupid character. She agrees to this highly unethical experiment, in a secret lab, and she's surprised that people would kill to preserve experiment/secret? She's so naive. And in other situations she doesn't leave a good impression either. I couldn't care if she made it to the end of the book or didn't. AE1456 is another jerk. He doesn't even get a name, but is annoying from the moment he's brought up in the story. I just couldn't feel sorry for him.

I normally like Dystopian stories, especially when they're set in England, but I was asking myself whilst reading The Killer App if I was enjoying myself, and the answer, quite frankly, was 'No'. Of course that's a personal thing, but for that quite sums it up.… (plus d'informations)

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.
I just couldn't get going in this book. I tried to like it, I really did, but the shifting point of view, which settled, uneasily, in omniscient third person, revealed that most of the characters... all, that I encountered, including the security guards for the world's elite... they just had nothing going on upstairs.
The prime minister of England in 2025 speaks and thinks (since we're visitors in his brain thanks to the omniscient point of view) like a teenage kid -- despite being a politician who fought his way to Number 10 he's still filled with ridiculous naivety and comes out with these big, holier-than-thou speeches that seem unlikely.
But I tried to willingly suspend my disbelief, even when we shifted, back and forth, to the prime minister's son and his point of view, to the world's ruling elite on holiday/summit in Switzerland. I muscled through a few descriptions, laden with similes that sometimes worked together, oftentimes felt more like simile stew. But I felt like I was reading a parody of Dan Brown. When the scientist is picked up from the airport by her sister Gaia and we are privy to the thought process of the scientist, sister, and the explication of her home life I just figured life was too short and that maybe this wasn't the book for me.… (plus d'informations)