The Doomsday Genie is an apocalyptic thriller
05: 17/ 08h45
In the Middle East Apache gunships attack an agricultural station in the desert.
In Thirless, Arizona, MayEllen Reickhardt is waiting to meet her
friend, Lucille Cordoba. MayEllen and Lucille are cactus growers.
They plan to visit the annual convention in Phoenix. They will never
make it.
At the Ivan Wallin Field Reserve, an ecology station in the southern
Mojave, Ake Johansson is carrying a roll of computer printout back to
his office from the mainframe computer in the lab. The printout -
covering the last few days' measurements in Sector 5-32 - is alarming.
Soon Johansson will make an urgent call to his colleague, Kay McCann,
at Berkeley.
In Atlanta CDC-based Will Grant is woken from sleep by a call from the
ITU doctor at the Thirless Memorial Hospital. 'Well, I'm telling you
this is a very strange case. We've already sent you specimens. I
certainly hope you can help us.'
They don't know it yet but it is already too late. Something
extraordinary, something very frightening indeed, is emerging - and
their lives will never be the same again.
Abstract of Review by Ian Brooks, Lablit
"The Doomsday Genie is a fast-paced action thriller about a small
group (of heroes) working against the clock to save the world from a
nano-engineered bioweapon capable of killing anything in its path.
Mother Nature has got it right by default. To mess with the natural
order of things is to invite her wrath. The first fiction that
explored this theme was Michael Crichton's unintentionally risible
Prey. It was a distinct pleasure to see Ryan deal with similar issues
in a much more sensible, and more horrific, way. Ryan's ability to
give the characters' brief lives some meaning is an accomplishment
that adds to the horror of their deaths. On top of all the fast-paced
action, we also have the sub-plots involving hit men and mysterious
strangers. Ryan really does ramp up the Hollywood to bring us a true
modern thriller. Moreover, the science behind The Doomsday Genie is
well constructed and imaginative.
"With careful attention to detail, and feeling no need to unduly
embellish what is already an awe-inspiring environment, he takes us
inside the dangerous world of CDC level pathogenic research: the
places where plagues are studied."