Alan Porter (2)
Author of GM
For other authors named Alan Porter, see the disambiguation page.
Works by Alan Porter
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Common Knowledge
- Short biography
- Alan Porter was born in Wales in 1967. After a successful career as a composer of theater and commercial music in the 1990s he moved into publishing, initially as a music typesetter, then later as a book designer.
Alan began writing in 2005 and his first horror novel, Midwinter Lucie, was published in 2008 to glowing reviews in the UK. A second novel, again for young adults, appeared a year later. Alan's first adult novel, the start of a sci-fi/horror series under the title 'Firestorm' will be published worldwide in Spring 2012.
Alan lives in rural Worcestershire, England, with his wife and parrot.
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Reviews
GM by Alan Porter
I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers Club. The premise intrigued me - a big corporation working on a genetically modified food crop with pesticide qualities decides to trial the crop in an African village but things begin to go wrong when the seed grain is hijacked by a political group opposed to the government of the African nation and the story takes off from there. The story is fast paced and deftly written. It is scattered with unexpected twists and turns all the way show more through with the reader being constantly made to adjust opinions as the good guys and bad guys keep refusing such simple black and white definitions. In the end, after a roller coaster ride, the reader is left asking questions - not only about whether the actions of the main protagonist were good, evil or misguided but also on their own personal role and responsibility in the political and economic problems raised throughout the story. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking read. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.GM by Alan Porter
I enjoyed this book very much. It is a fast-paced thriller told primarily from the perspective of Dr. Rachel Whitelock, a scientist who has developed a genetically-modified strain of rice which, as the story begins, is prepared for field tests in a handful of locations in Africa. Once proven successful, the GM rice will be licensed to and highly profitable for the corporation SenCor, for whom Dr. Whitelock works. She is aware that these trials, were they to be mismanaged, could go show more disastrously wrong and could have a devastating impact on the local communities where these trials take place, and she correctly anticipates that SenCor will take risks to cut costs. She insists on supervising the implementation of one of the field trials, which is located in a politically unstable country riddled with crime.
The story unfolds from the perspective of Dr. Whitelock as she arrives in the country but simultaneously unfolds from the viewpoint of the guerrilla group who had previously intercepted news of the shipment and had arranged to hijack it. Their leaders are aware of its value, but as the reader we're unsure how or why. The hijack goes awry, and the potentially dangerous rice is left in the hands of a lower-level operative who merely wants to deliver the shipment to its original destination and disappear into the jungles of Africa, away from a life of crime. As Dr. Whitelock and her colleague are kidnapped by the guerrilla group upon arrival, the author takes the reader alternately to the horrors that unfold in the village as the shipment arrives unceremoniously and treated as food relief for the villagers.
What I love about this book is how nothing is at all what it seems. Shifting from one character and location to another kept my interest throughout, and, just when I'd decided I'd read through the end of the current chapter, I found myself reading onto the next. This book is a real page-turner. I genuinely liked the characters and respected their roles...even the villains. The author also did a great job of establishing the setting in a very remote area of the world where life is almost unimaginably different from the one I know.
I'd love to see this book the first in a series.
I received this book as an Early Reviewer, but that did not influence my review. show less
The story unfolds from the perspective of Dr. Whitelock as she arrives in the country but simultaneously unfolds from the viewpoint of the guerrilla group who had previously intercepted news of the shipment and had arranged to hijack it. Their leaders are aware of its value, but as the reader we're unsure how or why. The hijack goes awry, and the potentially dangerous rice is left in the hands of a lower-level operative who merely wants to deliver the shipment to its original destination and disappear into the jungles of Africa, away from a life of crime. As Dr. Whitelock and her colleague are kidnapped by the guerrilla group upon arrival, the author takes the reader alternately to the horrors that unfold in the village as the shipment arrives unceremoniously and treated as food relief for the villagers.
What I love about this book is how nothing is at all what it seems. Shifting from one character and location to another kept my interest throughout, and, just when I'd decided I'd read through the end of the current chapter, I found myself reading onto the next. This book is a real page-turner. I genuinely liked the characters and respected their roles...even the villains. The author also did a great job of establishing the setting in a very remote area of the world where life is almost unimaginably different from the one I know.
I'd love to see this book the first in a series.
I received this book as an Early Reviewer, but that did not influence my review. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.GM by Alan Porter
I'm a little torn about this book. There are parts that I enjoyed and I was engrossed in the thrilling chase and twists of plot. Certainly the roll-out of the events at hand was compelling as was the look back in Zaire where Whitelock first forged her idea and experienced in a turning point in life.
However, I couldn't buy the story: there are parts that were just too difficult to believe. How did Whitelock even think for a second that her idea was a good one? how could organisms react in show more such a fashion after just ingesting small amounts? how could the political factions be so black and white? Even with suspended disbelief, I had a hard time parking those questions and I felt that they created great gaps in the story. The whitewashing at the end just made Whitelock seem like a crazed woman which, I think, the author was trying to avoid.
This said, it was a rather original take on biomedical thrillers, which tend to rely too heavily on evil pharmaceutical companies (ultimately there is only one person to blame in this novel). Although I'm rather squeamish and some passages are disturbing, I was pleased that this was not the sole effect of the book. I would recommend this book, but only with a huge caveat: don't question the legitimacy of the plot; simply enjoy a fast-paced thriller. show less
However, I couldn't buy the story: there are parts that were just too difficult to believe. How did Whitelock even think for a second that her idea was a good one? how could organisms react in show more such a fashion after just ingesting small amounts? how could the political factions be so black and white? Even with suspended disbelief, I had a hard time parking those questions and I felt that they created great gaps in the story. The whitewashing at the end just made Whitelock seem like a crazed woman which, I think, the author was trying to avoid.
This said, it was a rather original take on biomedical thrillers, which tend to rely too heavily on evil pharmaceutical companies (ultimately there is only one person to blame in this novel). Although I'm rather squeamish and some passages are disturbing, I was pleased that this was not the sole effect of the book. I would recommend this book, but only with a huge caveat: don't question the legitimacy of the plot; simply enjoy a fast-paced thriller. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.GM by Alan Porter
GM by Alan Porter is a great, though disturbing, thriller. (It starts off very slowly, but it gets much better if you stick with it.)
Rachel Whitelock is a scientist responsible for the development of new, genetically-modified rice that will destroy swarms of locusts, but is not fit for human consumption. The company that owns it plans to test it in several African villages, but Dr. Whitelock disagrees with the chosen testing procedure and demands to accompany the grain to one of the proposed show more test sites. When the shipment of this rice bound for a small African village of Kpotama is hijacked, Dr. Whitelock decides to go looking for it. In the process, she is kidnapped by The Freedom Brotherhood, a local, brutal gang that lost the last civil war; escapes their custody; travels to Kpotama; confronts the local villagers who had eaten the rice; and survives the government’s attempt to destroy the village.
GM is a fantastic book for anyone who likes a great thriller! If you already have concerns about genetically-modified food, you might want to think twice about reading it. (It might put you off of food for a little while.) show less
Rachel Whitelock is a scientist responsible for the development of new, genetically-modified rice that will destroy swarms of locusts, but is not fit for human consumption. The company that owns it plans to test it in several African villages, but Dr. Whitelock disagrees with the chosen testing procedure and demands to accompany the grain to one of the proposed show more test sites. When the shipment of this rice bound for a small African village of Kpotama is hijacked, Dr. Whitelock decides to go looking for it. In the process, she is kidnapped by The Freedom Brotherhood, a local, brutal gang that lost the last civil war; escapes their custody; travels to Kpotama; confronts the local villagers who had eaten the rice; and survives the government’s attempt to destroy the village.
GM is a fantastic book for anyone who likes a great thriller! If you already have concerns about genetically-modified food, you might want to think twice about reading it. (It might put you off of food for a little while.) show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Statistics
- Works
- 5
- Members
- 31
- Popularity
- #440,252
- Rating
- 3.2
- Reviews
- 20
- ISBNs
- 11
