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Summary: TAKE A SIP & YOU'LL DRINK THE WHOLE THING IN ONE GIANT GULP!
Review: confession: i ignored this book even though it kept beckoning me because of its fountain of youth premise but wowowowieeeeeee! what a story! fabulous plot and fantastic characters! and a blow-you-away ending! gary braver is a breath of fresh air and, hopefully, he's a fast writer cuz i just gotta have more more more of his amazing books soon! a definite must for those who love a reallly absorbing, intelligent story!
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Summary: Couldn't Put It Down!
Review: This book was a page turner in every sense. Believable characters, and most importantly an almost believable elixir for agelessness. If you ever buy a lottery ticket and imagine instant riches, buy this book and imagine eternal youth. Absolutely one of the best.
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Summary: good...not great
Review: Great premise, great promise, great prose...lousy ending. No, I won't give it away. This tome deserves to be read anyway. As I read the thoughts of others on this page I am aware that my opinion is one of dissent. Read this book and form your own opinion.
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Summary: A Winner
Review: I just finished reading ELIXIR by Gary Braver (aka Gary Goshgarian, author of STONE CIRCLE, ROUGH BEAST and ATLANTIS FIRE)and can't stop thinking about it. Although it's billed as a biotech thriller--and is a very good one--the book goes much deeper than that, probing what human beings are willing to trade for immortality. But even more interesting to me as an aging baby boomer, is what the characters were willing to trade to stay young and fit, a desire I can relate to all too well. What would I do under the circumstances, knowing the risks? AFter much thought, I came to the conclusion that I'd do what Chris did, not what his wife Wendy did, although I respect her choice much more than his. This is a book that entertains you from page one, but even more important, it makes you think.
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Summary: Just try to put it down
Review: Whether it's the topic, the scientific approach, or just good writing, you will not be able to put Braver's novel down. In dealing with a subject that is all too familiar, Elixir presents a unique and captivating approach to the realities of anti-aging substances and the effect that they could have on individual lives, as well as on our global society. Braver has modernized the question of whether there is a fountain of youth to whether or not you should drink from it. A great story that leaves you thinking.
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Summary: Enlivened conventions
Review: One of the delights of reading science fiction, detective novels, and thrillers is watching the author work--and play--with the formulas. In Elixir, Gary Braver enlivens conventions of all three genres. Especially enjoyable is Braver's subtle but always lucid handling of the intricacies of a complex causative and chronological plot. The book moves at film speed while providing readerly pleasures.
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Summary: Elixir gets inside your head
Review: Gary Braver's Elixir is an absorbing read. I found the novel a compelling and disturbing comment on our culture's quest for the fountain of youth. Elixir has the sweep and intensity of Sagan's Contact. Braver's prose is fresh and he handles the complex world of biotechnology with elegance. I would read another Braver book in a heartbeat!
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Summary: Elixir-Will Never Grow Old
Review: The headlines touting longer life drugs and longevity research seem a little more real after you read Elixir. Gary Braver has captured the essense of what is out there and it scares you to death. Elixir is non-stop and easy to read and follow. Braver gives excellent explainations of biochemical jargon without drawing it out to loose the reader. Elixir is suspensful from beginning to end and is full of surprises throughout. Strongly recommended if you think the future of a very long life is near at hand...maybe Elixir will make you think twice.
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Summary: Are You Sure You'd Like to Live Forever ?
Review: Gary Braver is both a good literary journalist, making modern biotechnology very real to general readers, and a terrific thriller writer. Braver poses a thoughtful question: what if you could live forever ? Would it be as great as you think ? Around this issue the author spins a tense tale of a family on the run, a clever plot that zags when you expect a zig, and colorful characters that you can root for or hiss. Throw in international organized crime, the FBI, and some incredible scenes of laboratory science running amok, and the frenetic pace never relaxes. My hope is that Spielberg gets ahold of this book.
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Summary: Happy birthday--maybe
Review: Gary Braver's "Elixir" effortlessly juggles a number of storylines set to intersect in the most unexpected ways. His characters are real and stay with the reader well after the book is over -- and that happens quickly because you don't put this book down for long. Braver's first scene disorients us -- where the heck am I? -- then turns us about and gives us suburban security (one of many ironies in this novel). But nothing stays the same (except the user of the elixir), the main idea of this book. With genetic engineering and other biotech advances, the promise of eternal youth is an offer we may have to consider. Braver's "Elixir" frames the truth and consequences of such an offer. And he does this brilliantly. What a great gift for a person approaching a "significant" age! Gary Braver: a sequel, please.
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