[Cross-posted to Knite Writes]

Plot

Track Presius (formally named “Ulysses”), is a detective for the LAPD. He’s also an epigenetic chimera and has heightened senses and somewhat animalistic urges. As the novel begins, Track is pulled into a case involving a missing geneticist that quickly blooms into a worsening murder mystery. Not long after Track goes looking for the missing woman, Huxley, another geneticist and his wife, the Tarantinos, are shot to death in their own home.

As Track slowly begins piecing the clues to Huxley’s disappearance and the Tarantinos’ murders together, he begins looking into Huxley’s work: turns out she was working on a project involving leukemia research and, according to a vague note, was somehow involved with a genetics company called Chromo.

When Huxley’s decomposing body is ultimately found locked in a car trunk, Track realizes the motive for the three murders must revolve around genetics in some way, shape, or form.

His research ultimately leads him through a complex story involving Hollywood vanity, scientific arrogance, and a tragedy a decade in the making. It turns out that Chromo used an experimental gene therapy on a number of Hollywood socialites in order to give them humanity’s long-desired “eternal youth,” but the therapy ultimately introduced a mutation in their genes that cause their biological children to develop incurable leukemia.

When the head of Chromo, Medford, realizes that Huxley and one of his employees (Tarantino) are going to out the company’s mistake, he hires an assassin to “get rid of the problem.” But as Track is putting the pieces of the puzzle together, Medford’s plot comes crashing down around him. His long-abused wife finally cracks and shoots him, and her lover, the assassin himself, goes after forensic scientist Diane, whom Track is attracted to.

After confronting Mrs. Medford, who kills herself, Track races to save Diane from the assassin. The assassin, who goes by Rhesus, kidnaps Diane and takes her to a secluded area to rape and murder her, but Track is able to find him — because Rhesus is also a chimera, a genetic one, and he happens to think in a very similar way to Track.

Track manages to shoot Rhesus and save Diane, thus tying up the final end in the complicated case that began with Huxley’s disappearance. Only problem is he’s now in trouble with his department, and his fate as a police officer is left unclear as the novel closes.

The End.

Cue sequel.

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My Take

I haven’t read many crime thrillers with sci-fi twists, but this one was definitely an interesting read. There was enough science involved in the story to make the basis behind the protagonist’s abilities seem genuine, but the novel never went overboard with the scientific descriptions — so the story never got too bogged down with endless technical passages.

The characters in the story were all very well fleshed out, especially the most frequently recurring characters, like Track’s partner, Satish. There was enough variety among the various cop characters that they didn’t fall into that generic mold a lot of crime stories are guilty of. The antagonists, too, were all very well characterized, and their various motivations and actions were consistent throughout.

The plot kept me hooked — it was complicated enough that it kept me guessing (instead of spilling all the secrets at once) and kept a quick enough pace that there were never any major lulls in the action. I think the sci-fi ideas behind the plot put a pretty interesting spin on the traditional crime thriller narrative without diverging too much from the genre’s roots.

There were a few negatives though.

I’m not generally a huge fan of intermittent POV jumps for the sole purpose of revealing information that the protagonist cannot, and there were quite a few scenes like this in Chimeras. The story is told mainly from Track’s first person POV, but there are several third person scenes that reveal info Track can’t, and there were times when I felt those scenes made the overall narrative a bit clunky. I could see cutting a few of those out and rewriting some of Track’s sections to incorporate that information without altering too much of the storyline.

My other problem was with the prose. The author attempted to emulate some of the classic detective authors (a la Raymond Chandler), and while the overall narration was fair, there were times the descriptions became a bit too flowery and heavy handed. There were also too many descriptions of things that weren’t entirely relevant to the plot — the weather, for example — and that, after a point, I start skimming over instead of really reading because they got in the way of the action.

So, overall, Chimeras made for a pretty good story, but there were some places I thought it could have been stronger.

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Writing

First person, past tense with occasional third person scenes. Heavy setting descriptions. Not entirely in line with my personal taste in narrative style.

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Is It Worth Reading?

Yeah, it’s a pretty fair novel. Although be warned: it’s a series starter, and it doesn’t quite end on a completely resolved note. So if you’re looking for a stand-alone story, this won’t quite float your boat. If you’re looking for a new series to get into, however, then this will definitely fit the bill.

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Rating

3.5/5 ( )

The author, EE Giorgi, gave me a copy of this novel in exchange for my review.


“CHIMERAS” reads like a novel carefully considered. There is a feeling of classic noir mystery with an element of the modern. The author is a scientist and infuses the story with her knowledge but instead of being stiff and perhaps overly informative, she manages to give the reader and engaging and unique reading experience.

Track is the eye of a powerful storm. He’s wild and intense and the world around him stands still as he contravenes convention at a crime scene pushed on by his special abilities. The heightened senses of a predator might be useful in daily life but in the crime world they’re an overwhelming advantage. The exceptionally abled meets Dashiell Hammett. How cool is that? Giorgi’s descriptions of Track’s abilities are visual. When Track is at The Glass House (LAPD admin building), readers are treated to sensory tour. The decay, mildew and nicotine coated walls are vivid in the readers imagination as Track travels the hall sharing that he’s now accustomed to the dank but implying there was an issue at the start.

By the end of the novel there’s a natural and supportive byplay between characters and a good sense of who Giorgi will continue to build. Giorgi includes a “Science Behind the Scenes” segment at the end of the novel that explains for the reader a Chimera and the scientific plausibility of Track’s condition.

I have not read a book like “CHIMERAS.” It is a dark scientific mystery with depth that sets the stage for an epic series. ( )

I beta read a few chapters of a different book by this author (one that isn't out yet) so when this one was out I had to read it as it was the same character in the one a betaed a bit of--the character of Track. I have a fondness for this guy. He is on the noir side, but not in the usual way. He has an odd trait, a heightened sense of smell, that adds a unique spin to the whole detective type story. He can track his perps like prey. The author, on the other hand, uses all the senses in her narrative so the details are vivid. Satish, his down-to-earth partner, with his life experience stories he always relays to Track at the oddest times, adds a good balance to both the character.

Aside from being a good story is the science behind it. The author is a scientist who does DNA research so the reasoning behind the crimes is totally believable, and I might say, a bit unnerving at the same time because it is something that has the possibility of happening. I love a plot with lots of layers, and this one sure had that. ( )

[Cross-posted to Knite Writes]

I haven’t read many crime thrillers with sci-fi twists, but this one was definitely an interesting read. There was enough science involved in the story to make the basis behind the protagonist’s abilities seem genuine, but the novel never went overboard with the scientific descriptions — so the story never got too bogged down with endless technical passages.

The characters in the story were all very well fleshed out, especially the most frequently recurring characters, like Track’s partner, Satish. There was enough variety among the various cop characters that they didn’t fall into that generic mold a lot of crime stories are guilty of. The antagonists, too, were all very well characterized, and their various motivations and actions were consistent throughout.

The plot kept me hooked — it was complicated enough that it kept me guessing (instead of spilling all the secrets at once) and kept a quick enough pace that there were never any major lulls in the action. I think the sci-fi ideas behind the plot put a pretty interesting spin on the traditional crime thriller narrative without diverging too much from the genre’s roots.

There were a few negatives though.

I’m not generally a huge fan of intermittent POV jumps for the sole purpose of revealing information that the protagonist cannot, and there were quite a few scenes like this in Chimeras. The story is told mainly from Track’s first person POV, but there are several third person scenes that reveal info Track can’t, and there were times when I felt those scenes made the overall narrative a bit clunky. I could see cutting a few of those out and rewriting some of Track’s sections to incorporate that information without altering too much of the storyline.

My other problem was with the prose. The author attempted to emulate some of the classic detective authors (a la Raymond Chandler), and while the overall narration was fair, there were times the descriptions became a bit too flowery and heavy handed. There were also too many descriptions of things that weren’t entirely relevant to the plot — the weather, for example — and that, after a point, I start skimming over instead of really reading because they got in the way of the action.

So, overall, Chimeras made for a pretty good story, but there were some places I thought it could have been stronger. ( )