A fast-moving, speculative sci-fi thriller, and a fun read!
After helping a fellow runner who cut her foot on a nail, a young doctor inadvertently discovers a dangerous secret in her blood, a secret that puts them in direct conflict with shadowy forces in the biotech industry. Suddenly, they find themselves running for their lives, threatened by the US government... and even more powerful enemies.
Perpetuity uses several character perspectives, and the reader gradually pieces together the book's reality through various characters' eyes. I appreciate any novel that is well-structured to the point that the reader doesn't actually "see" the structure, but can just enjoy the story as it unfolds. It's harder to do than it looks.
The author has a tight, noirish writing style and a knack for capturing archetypal characters. Two examples: you'll meet a smarmy, arriviste tech CEO rendered perfectly, right down to the condescending internal monologue running in his head. And there's a wonderfully, hilariously sexist character in here who thinks--and often says--things the rest of us wish we could. He's in many ways the book's most lovable character, and the author stages a subtle redemption arc for him over the course of the story.
One last comment, on humor. Our author rewards us here and there with turns of phase that make the reader laugh out loud. This is a gift, uncommon at nearly all levels of writing, and it's a stark contrast to mass market sci-fi authors who simply cannot be funny no matter how hard they try. See for comparison Andy Weir's forced banter, or overrated author John Scalzi's constipated humor.
Why do modern mass market publishers keep drowning us in those guys when there's so much better stuff out there to read? Yet another reason to find undiscovered authors who have more to say.
Also by Kevin Joseph:
Music featured in Perpetuity:
Chaconne (from Bach's Partita in D minor, arranged for guitar)
Traumerei (Schumann) [modern "standard" slow version / up-tempo version]
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