Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. Today I am bringing to you a book that isn’t necessarily up my ally, but I found I couldn’t put it down. Sapient is a book about how even the best intentions can get out of control. It illustrates how science experiments can take on a life of their own. For my full review keep reading after the book blurb.
Book Blurb:
Abandoned by her husband after the birth of their child, Jane Dixon’s world is defined by her autistic son and the research she does to find a cure for his condition. She knows her work on animal intelligence may hold the key. She also knows that the research will take decades to complete. None of it will ultimately benefit her son.
All that changes when a lab rat named Einstein demonstrates that he can read and write. Just as her research yields results, the U.S. government discovers her program. The army wants to harness her research for its military potential. The CDC wants to shut her down completely. The implications of animal intelligence are too dangerous, particularly when the previously inert virus proves to be highly contagious.
She steals the virus to cure her son, but the government discovers the theft. She must now escape to Canada before the authorities can replace her son’s mental prison with a physical one.
Review:
Jane Dixon is determined to find a cure for Autism. This is a cause close to her heart. When she has a breakthrough she is ecstatic. But, when the government and CDC come in and begin looking into her experiments she begins to panic and does things that are illegal and unethical because of her fear. When it is discovered that her “cure” has mutated and is infectious and possibly dangerous things change dramatically. How can something meant for good change to something so dangerous so fast? It is the actions after that will change Jane and her son’s lives forever.
What wouldn’t you do for your child? The character of Jane Dixon will resonate with all mothers. Her unwillingness to give up on her son is what drives her. This is both fortunate and unfortunate. For it is this that changes her good work to dangerous work and becomes a threat. It is her drive to save her son no matter what that changes everything. Though this isn’t the normal kind of book I’d read, this really was a fantastic story. It is one that is both based in reality and allows the reader to have an emotional connection with all the characters, even Einstein and Bear. This story will really have you thinking whether something like this is possible and how bad this would really be if something like this got out of control. Overall, I really liked this book and would read another by Jerry Kaczmarowski.