Direct Descendant

I should first announce that I believe that Charles Wilson is a vastly underrated author. It's too bad that more readers don't know about him because he's just as good as Michael Crichton and better than Robin Cook. Having read two of his other books, "When We First Deceive" and "Nightwatcher", I had a pretty good idea what I was getting when I picked up a copy of "Direct Descendant". Wilson is a great plot creator and he really shows his stuff in this story. "DD" is the tale of the 500,000 year-old remains of "The Ancient Man" that are uncovered by paleontologist Cameron Malone that end up becoming much more than anyone expects. When a rival scientist steals the preserved sperm from the Ancient Man to impregnate a host "mother", he soon realizes that he has put something in motion that he won't be able to control. Ok, so it's a little far-fetched, but Wilson makes it work and creates a page-turning frenzy for the reader.Wilson also does a great job creating some memorable characters. (Memorable enough, that I think most readers would love to see a sequel of some sort.) He mixes in just enough techno-jargon to show off his research and make the plot seem realistic.If you enjoy this novel, be sure to try the aforementioned others. You won't be disappointed!RECOMMENDED

In the years since Charles Wilson wrote this book, there have been many imitators, including the short lived "Prey" series on TV which used lots of the science he wrote about. This novel makes use of Wilson's excellent plotting to tell the story of DNA theft, renegade scientific human breeding and genetic engineering in a most compelling way. One excellent feature is that Charles Wilson tells his stories without the heavy handed, opinionated bias that most authors use--he leaves you with thought provoking questions, and lets you draw your own conclusions. A highly recommended novel of scientific suspense.

A prehistoric man has been found in a remarkable state of preservation. Can his DNA be salvaged and used to reproduce a "modern/prehistoric" (for lack of a better term) person? Well, one scientist intends to find out. I thought the book started out a little slow, but once the woman became pregnant with the "prehistoric" baby, events really started to happen. As a matter of fact, things happened to quickly that I did not want to quit reading until the end. I had a little trouble with the gross part (cannibalism), but not enough to make me put the book down. By the time that started, I was all wrapped up in it and wanted to know what happened next. The details were not gory enough to make me deduct a star, but weak-stomached readers need to be prepared for it. The climax of the book was a complete surprise, and I think that Charles Wilson is a top writer of this genre of book.

The book is very riveting. The plot moves quickly as the author sets the premise of what is happening in bits and pieces creating the mystery part of the book. The two descendants keep you guessing about how they know so much about modern technology, but cannot fiqure out the value of money. It is an excellent book for the summer or for late night in the fall when you are reading the book by the dim bedroom light and you ask yourself, "was that the leaves rustling or...."

When Scottish researchers created the first living mammal ever cloned last week, headlines exclaimed how such a feat had been thought impossible. But how to do it had already been shown in this prophetic, highly entertaining story, except that instead of the sheep the Scots brought back Wilson brought back the apex predator, man--and it will make you think about what is bound to happen next.