The Methuselah Gene: A Science Fiction Adventure Thriller (New Millenium Writers Series)

Rating:
Summary: The Methuselah Gene
Review: I loved this book. From the fisrt page to the last, the authormakes you feel like you are part of the action.

A loving fathertrying everything and anything to save his cancer stricken son. A mother/wife affraid of losing them both. A trusting friend. A brilliant colleague. A greedy "businessman". A paranoid billionaire. A homicidal maniac. A patriot. A giant mutant crab.....

Makes for a really great story.....could it be true? Many times SciFi becomes SciFact.....wouldnt that be great! END

Rating:
Summary: The Methuselah Gene
Review: I loved this book. From the fisrt page to the last, the authormakes you feel like you are part of the action.

A loving fathertrying everything and anything to save his cancer stricken son. A mother/wife affraid of losing them both. A trusting friend. A brilliant colleague. A greedy "businessman". A paranoid billionaire. A homicidal maniac. A patriot. A giant mutant crab.....

Makes for a really great story.....could it be true? Many times SciFi becomes SciFact.....wouldnt that be great! END

Rating:
Summary: The Methuselah Gene
Review: Just when you though it was safe to go back into the water....A giant crab possessing an anti-aging gene and a much needed tumor surpressant terrorizes a small New Jersey community. All involved in the chase are in need of tissue from the crab for personal reasons. The novel moves quickly and furiously to its exciting climax and leaves one wondering if in fact there might just be a shred of truth in this story. A must-read for sci-fi lovers!

Rating:
Summary: The Methuselah Gene
Review: Just when you though it was safe to go back into the water....A giant crab possessing an anti-aging gene and a much needed tumor surpressant terrorizes a small New Jersey community. All involved in the chase are in need of tissue from the crab for personal reasons. The novel moves quickly and furiously to its exciting climax and leaves one wondering if in fact there might just be a shred of truth in this story. A must-read for sci-fi lovers!

Rating:
Summary: The Methusalah Gene
Review: The Methuselah Gene - A Review, by Lynda Baydin

The Methuselah Gene: A Science Fiction Adventure Thriller (New Millenium Writers Series) by Sal DeStefano. Published by Bainbridge Books, Philadelphia, 2000. $24.95.

[ISBN number?]

A branch of popular thriller stories has entire regions terrorized by scary monsters (think of Peter Benchley's "Jaws" and Dino De Laurentiis's King Kong), so it is fascinating to learn that New Jersey now has its own loathsome beast - a huge crab out of Barnegat Bay. This nightmarish creature may be experienced in a novel written by Sal DeStefano of Succasunna, who is a lawyer working in Morristown. Much of the book narrates a struggle with this awful creature (and along the way gives us a solid education in the geography and ecology of the Bay), but it has a broader and deeper dimension beyond fright and violence. The crab's genetic material, it turns out, might be useful in reversing brain tumors. So far so good. One of the main characters, Dr. Allen Johnson, a specialist in recombinant DNA, has a beloved son afflicted with just such a brain tumor, and is desperate to get at the crab's genes in an attempt to save him. Then to this twist in the plot is added another: The United States government in its infinite wisdom has created a top-secret agency with the sole purpose of thwarting recombinant DNA research like Dr. Johnson's. Why? Because such DNA research may uncover the means of extending human life, in which case the Social Security Administration and, indeed, the U.S. government itself, will go broke supporting an increasingly aged population. The head of this operation is Major Charles Clayton who as a good soldier does his job but would much rather be spending his time with his wife and family. Add other ingredients to the mix, including Lieutenant Larry Bateman, a heroic New Jersey cop (how refreshing to find a good cop in these highly negative times!), Sorkin, an eerie Howard Hughes-type recluse, and Dr. Nathan Mills, a man with a secret and sordid past. And we have a despicable bad guy, Devon Maddox, who captures the crab in a terrifying scene that concludes the story.Throughout we hear overtones of today's high-stakes government-private competition to be first to decode the human genome. DeStephano, who has an MBA from New York University and a law degree from St. John's University, says he wrote the novel mostly in the early morning hours before going to work. The plot's emphasis on biogenetics was motivated, he says, by several personal losses of loved ones to cancer. I found some of the subplots distracting, but all told The Methuselah Gene is a quick-paced thriller, full of local New Jersey color, and a good addition to anyone's summer reading list.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book for the Beach
Review: The New Jersey Shore. A giant man-eating crab. Sleazy entrepreneur-criminals. Bio-hazard waste dumping. Gene therapy. DNA mapping. These are just some of the elements of this quintessential beach book by first time author Sal Destefano - like John Grisham, the rare lawyer whose writing doesn''t induce immediate sleep. This page turner, like Jaws, is a movie script waiting to be pitched to Hollywood. It''s engaging, exciting and offers something for everyone. Hopefully word of mouth will get this book the audience it deserves. Pack up the sun block, and head ''down the shore'' with this page turner in your beach bag. Relax, and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book for the Beach
Review: The New Jersey Shore. A giant man-eating crab. Sleazy entrepreneur-criminals. Bio-hazard waste dumping. Gene therapy. DNA mapping. These are just some of the elements of this quintessential beach book by first time author Sal Destefano - like John Grisham, the rare lawyer whose writing doesn''t induce immediate sleep. This page turner, like Jaws, is a movie script waiting to be pitched to Hollywood. It''s engaging, exciting and offers something for everyone. Hopefully word of mouth will get this book the audience it deserves. Pack up the sun block, and head ''down the shore'' with this page turner in your beach bag. Relax, and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced plot, strong characterization, and good subplots.
Review: This blend of thriller and science fiction proves hard to put down: a gene scientist's last chance to save his son resides in the mind of a fellow scientist long wronged and a giant mutated crab which holds the genetic secret to curing cancer. Add the involvements of corporations determined to gain control of the secret and local law enforcement agencies determined to kill the murdering crab giant and you have a fast-paced plot with strong characterization and subplots which tie together well.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: This book reminded me of the kind of horror films that are on Cinemax at 2 o'clock in the morning. For the most part it's fun if you can suspend your disbelief. There are some passages that bog down in pseudo-science fiction {basically chemistry text}, and some of the characters and dialogue are contrived and seem to be taken from a 1940's gangster movie, but mostly it's a lot of fun. The pacing is very fast and the characters are interesting enough that you won't skip ahead to find the next giant crab attack. Monster fans {like me} will like the crab as it is presented very well. The descriptions of NJ are detailed and accurate, and the main character's wife seems to be extremely hot. It's a lot of fun, check it out.

Rating:
Summary: A surprising, nail-biting thriller!
Review: Wow! I heard about this book in my local paper, and took a chance on it--I was NOT disappointed! I was pulled into the story right away. (It reminded me of a Michael Crichton-type novel: well-researched, intriguing, suspenseful--very well done.) I would recommend this book as a fascinating summer read!