Mount Dragon: A Pandemic of Apocalyptic Proportions

It's going to take me a little time to put my feelings on this book into words, because it's a more complex book than it seems at first. On a surface level it's an entertaining read, packed with mysteries, discoveries, action, and even a sex scene (note: the book isn't for kids). It also, as is perhaps unavoidable and even obligatory for biotech thrillers, allows you to explore the ideas of what we can and can't, should and shouldn't do with the knowledge we're gaining. It takes these themes far deeper than I'm accustomed to, however, allowing them to permeate the characters and plots in ways that I'm still unraveling, even though I've been done with the book for more than a day. GeneDyne has an ambitious goal, but one it believes it's all-too-close to solving: eradicate the flu. Permanently. Unfortunately, the stress of trying to make the new gene therapy work (before the patent that's currently funding the company expires) seems to have sent the current lead scientist over the edge. Scopes, the brilliant young CEO of GeneDyne, brings in Guy Carson to finish the job. He sends Carson off to Mount Dragon, the company's highly-secure facility in New Mexico. For some reason no matter what the scientists try, their gene therapy is far more lethal and horrifying than the flu itself, even though there's simply no reason why it should be. The stress is really getting to the good folks at Mount Dragon, stirring up all sorts of resentments and irritations. And one Charles Levine, Carson's old instructor at Harvard and Scopes' old college friend, will do anything to convince the world that GeneDyne isn't going to save the human race--it's going to doom it. The plot swept me along as I read "Mount Dragon". The authors effortlessly blend together a whirl of elements: Levine and the Harvard community; genetics and policy-making; Scopes and corporate pressures; Carson and his Ute ancestry; a hacker called Mime and his own unique circumstances; the legend of the Mount Dragon gold; and much more. The book obviously focuses on genetics, public policy, and the potential dangers in messing with things such as human genes and viruses, but it allows the plot and characters to take center stage. I think it fairly clearly comes down on the side of certain things being dangerous, but it doesn't lecture and it doesn't present a one-sided view of things. You get to see the pros and cons of so many issues as the story unfolds. Of more interest, however, is something I didn't notice until afterward. Each character brings his or her own element of inheritance to the plot--through genetics, history, teaching, lore, personality, or some other factor. And each of these elements affects the plot in its own unique way, adding layer upon layer of depth to the whole notion of genetics, inheritance, what we might stand to gain or lose upon messing with our own genetic code, and more. I'm no geneticist, so I can't tell you how advanced any of the science is or whether it makes se

I must state up-front that this is the first novel by this duo that I have read. I like Crichton, and was led to this book by a friend who said "If you only read one by these guys, make it Mount Dragon". So I am basing my review on the book alone, not comparing it to anything else by them, and on that basis I found this to be a terrific story. I enjoyed the genetics angle, struggled a bit with the computer science but learned many new things, and liked the history lessons. Contrary to some other reviewers, I also liked the subplot of the relationship between Carson and de Vaca. I appreciate that they didn't fall instantly in love, and have no trouble accepting what happened in the desert as a reaction to the fear and stress they were experiencing. Call me a stereotypical female, but I think the romance made it a more well-rounded story. It sounds like P & C don't do this in their other novels, and that disappoints me somewhat. Still, I think I will check out Relic at least, based on the rave reviews here.

This is a great read; better than Thunderhead; one of those books that are so good you read them slowly because you don't want to ed it. If you like The Andromeda Strain and Hot Zone you should love this one.

Mount Dragon is the moniker given to the GeneDyne Remote Testing facilty located within the unforgiving desert near the White Sand missile range in New Mexico. GeneDyne, a multi million dollar bio-genetic engineering corporation, is the brainchild of the nerdish, Bill Gates-like biological and computer genius Brent Scopes. Scopes has recruited young, talented and brilliant research biologist Guy Carson, a native New Mexican, to take over for top company researcher Dr. Franklin Burt.Burt had been in the midst of synthesizing a virus, which when introduced into the human genetic code, would give mankind a permanent immunity to influenza. The financial windfall to GeneDyne with this product would be staggering. Burt, however had been experiencing problems. He was unable to render the virus harmless. Testing in chimps had produced a 100% mortality rate. A revolutionary filtration process pioneered by Burt had apparently worked perfectly on his previous breaktrough, PurBlood, an artificial blood substitute. His success could not be duplicated with X-FLU, the influenza eliminating virus. Burt had suddenly and unexpectedly suffered a mental breakdown in the middle of his research, hence his replacement by Carson.Carson, encouraged by Scopes, adopted a new approach for X-FLU synthesis based on his own viral membrane research. Expecting successful results, he unwittingly produced an even more lethal variety of the virus. Along with his assistant Susana Cabeza de Vaca, Carson discovers flaws in Burt's filtration process. They learn that the results Burt achieved with PurBlood were tainted and fudged to meet governmental approval. They also adroitly correlate progressive bizarre and ultimately self destructive behavior patterns evidenced by Mount Dragon staff with the fact that they had been human guinea pigs for PurBlood.Concurrently, Dr. Charles Levine, Harvard professor and former friend and colleague of Scopes, has embarked on a campaign to warn the world of the dangers of genetic engineering. Levine, a brilliant research biologist on a par with Scopes, is fearful of a doomsday virus. Such a virus, created by man could destroy unchecked the entire population of the world. He tries to force GeneDyne to desist in its research. Levine, with the aid of a cyberfriend, a thalidomide deformed computer genius known as Mime, attempt to coax Carson into becoming an inside informant. Together they all fight the clock to abort the release of PurBlood to all the unsuspecting hospitalized patients in dire need of tranfusions.Preston and Child, create a meticulously researched nervewracking scientific thriller that should rank near the apex of this genre.

Preston and Child really know how to take the reader on a roller coaster ride. I finished this book in a couple of days...mainly because I found it extremely difficult to put down. At the end of each chapter, I wanted to keep reading so I could find out what happened next. These two are becoming a couple of my favorite authors.The biohazard novel is nothing new. However, these two authors have managed to transform it into a gripping, realistic story. They are similar to Michael Crichton in that they take actual science, stretch the bounds of reality a little, and come up with something so believable that it's scary. The story they've crafted around the science is a wonder to read. The characters are believable, the story is gripping, and the climax is fulfilling. I would recommend this book to anybody who's into science thrillers or action movies.