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A review by laura_de_leon
12.21 by Dustin Thomason
4.0
When I saw the description, I thought cool-- two genres I enjoy-- medical thriller and crazy apocalyptic adventure.
Later I stopped to wonder if combining them was really bad idea. I started getting a bit worried. That worrying was needless. Those two aspects of the book both work very well together.
The medical thriller of the book probably worked the best for me. The science seemed plausible to me, as did the response, both from those in the know and society in general. In actuality, I know very little about prions, and I don't know whether the method of transmission in the book is at all plausible, but I was happy to suspend disbelief.
The multiple layers of ties to 12/21/12 and the next age of the Mayan people were intriguing. Within the world of the book, in the end, I'm not sure which aspects were human designed, which were deliberate acts of Mayan Fates, and which were pure coincidence. Perhaps it is better that way, with so many pieces put into play, all leading to an eventful conclusion.
I enjoyed the primary characters, particularly Chel Manu, a young woman who has become an expert in Mayan studies to fill in the gaps that her mother won't. She's got just enough internal conflict to be interesting. Gabriel Stanton is the world's formost expert on prion disease, and just happens to be in the right place at the right time. Character development isn't the strength of this book, but they are presented well enough to allow the plot to succeed.
And the plot does succeed as crazy as it is. The author mixed medical knowledge and Mayan research and made them work together in a frightening, thought provoking adventure.
Later I stopped to wonder if combining them was really bad idea. I started getting a bit worried. That worrying was needless. Those two aspects of the book both work very well together.
The medical thriller of the book probably worked the best for me. The science seemed plausible to me, as did the response, both from those in the know and society in general. In actuality, I know very little about prions, and I don't know whether the method of transmission in the book is at all plausible, but I was happy to suspend disbelief.
The multiple layers of ties to 12/21/12 and the next age of the Mayan people were intriguing. Within the world of the book, in the end, I'm not sure which aspects were human designed, which were deliberate acts of Mayan Fates, and which were pure coincidence. Perhaps it is better that way, with so many pieces put into play, all leading to an eventful conclusion.
I enjoyed the primary characters, particularly Chel Manu, a young woman who has become an expert in Mayan studies to fill in the gaps that her mother won't. She's got just enough internal conflict to be interesting. Gabriel Stanton is the world's formost expert on prion disease, and just happens to be in the right place at the right time. Character development isn't the strength of this book, but they are presented well enough to allow the plot to succeed.
And the plot does succeed as crazy as it is. The author mixed medical knowledge and Mayan research and made them work together in a frightening, thought provoking adventure.