Change Agent

I have no problems raving about this book!

It has everything I'd ever want in a rip-roaring Hard-SF Thriller: a huge amount of genetic modifications and therapies gone wild and under the power of gangsters and the law, alike.

Ah! But this isn't just another cat and mouse hunt for wrongdoers. This is Daniel Suarez.

That means a lot of great tech and implications of tech and what's even greater? Great locations to get lost in, from Singapore to Thailand to Burmese jungles and even more.

Biotech has taken off in a really big way. Between automatic cabs made of shrimp shells to a flock of young Scarlett Johansens, Suarez keeps us on our toes and if you're not reading carefully, you'll miss a ton of these brilliant additions scattered throughout show more the ostensibly Thriller-esque text.

Who are you to completely edit my genetic code into a super-baddie? lol I want my desk job BACK! :)

Honestly, this is a fantastic hard-sf novel, people. It's perfectly engineered to feel like a police procedural turned nearly revenge-esque with a burly man with chameleon tattoos and a dwarf, both traveling through high-tech and squalor through countries much changed from our current ones, feeling a lot like [b:Babylon Babies|187899|Babylon Babies|Maurice G. Dantec|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347283879s/187899.jpg|2512421] and [b:The Minority Report|581125|The Minority Report|Philip K. Dick|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390719396s/581125.jpg|63086] the entire time.

Virtual realities that are beamed right into logical light structures for programming? Hell yeah. Laws and implications for such? Hell yeah. That's on top of the main genetic plot.

This is a rich idea novel as well as a fun-as-hell adventure. :)

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC! show less

NOTE: The plot elements I describe in the following review do not go further than those delineated on the book's own back cover.

What if you woke up one morning and had been physically changed to look like the most wanted gang leader in the world?

That is the premise of this intriguing sci-fi futuristic novel that is both a thrilling edge-of-your-seat page turner and a philosophical exploration of the practical and ethical implications of where technology can take us.

The year is the not-so-distant future, 2045, in which Kenneth Durand, one of Interpol's leading agents, excels at hunting down illegal black market labs that sell genetic "vanity edits" to potential parents, allowing them to basically mutate an embryo, thereby fashioning a show more made-to-order baby with the physical, emotional, or psychological makeups they desire. Behind this black market is the gang leader and shadowy figure of Marcus Wyckes. Durand and Interpol have marked Wyckes as enemy number one, but Durand's successes in shutting down several of Wyckes' numerous operations have made Durand Wyckes' enemy as well, and he is hunted and attacked in a way no one, not even in this dystopian future, could have believed possible: by altering his DNA so that he resembles Wyckes.

The plot consists of Durand's chase to stop Wyckes, as well as efforts to regain the body that was once his, as well as to evade the authorities, who now believe Durand IS Wyckes. To complicate matters, Wyckes and his minions have the ability to change their own DNA, making discovery by Durand nearly impossible.

As a nicely fast-paced action novel, this book satisfies. But it has more intellectual meat than your average crime-action airport-shop paperback. Suarez raises the philosophical issues presented by the situations in this future, namely: what does personal identity mean? Is it formed by my experiences, memories and thoughts, or is it only chemicals that determines who I am? Also, questions are raised of the very real practical and ethical implications of gene mutation. How far can we go with playing with our DNA? How far should we, and what happens if we succeed?

All in all a very interesting and engaging read.

The four star rating (rather than five) is for some beefs I had with character consistency of 2 or 3 of the main characters late in the novel.

I thank the author and publishers for the chance to read and review this novel. If the publishers are interested in knowing about several typos I've spotted in the text, please message me. show less

Have you seen face/off? The author clearly has and loved it. The plot has been updated to feature DNA sequencing. It's not a bad book and I had fun but do not expect anything thoughtful. All of the author's main characters feel so much alike but there's cool new tech which can be said is the real main character in all his books.

Ken Durand is an interpol agent working as an analyst to track down bad guys using genetic editing to illegally alter living organisms in the year 2045, until he is injected by the bad guys with a change agent that alters his DNA to cause him to turn into the shadowy head of the criminal organization before killing him so that the authorities will believe the crime lord is dead. He manages to survive, however, and then sets out to reclaim his own DNA somehow, followed by both the authorities and the crime syndicate trying to catch or kill him.

Suarez's books are always a fast ride, and this one is no different. Page turner, and the science is made out to seem reasonably plausible. I was a bit annoyed that Durand's former coworders are so show more clueless that they refuse to believe he is himself, which comes off as a necessary plot driver but not very plausible. I also would have liked a different ending, which I won't spoil here.

Still, a solid effort- nobody writes a better techno-thriller. show less

A fascinating exploration of a possible near future of genetic engineering - where even adults and mature individuals can be edited. Probably more fanciful that the author presents.
An adventure of search for a criminal mastermind with the searcher being turned into the prey. Takes place mostly in Southeast Asia. The story is fun and the science thought provoking.

When people can change their DNA, everything changes.

The tech is a little incredible. The same for the government control of it. I hope if we ever get there, we will have adapted to the possibilities a little better. But it makes for a very intense story.

Roughly thirty years into the future, America’s anti-science stance has led to the rise of a new first world. Singapore is the new technological and medical center of the world. With brave new frontiers in biomedical science opened up, the genetic modification of human embryos is becoming commonplace. With this breakthrough, a black market develops, promising genetic modification beyond the legal; for parents who can pay.

Kenneth Durand leads an Interpol team dedicated to stopping these black market geneticists. On the hunt for the kingpin behind these crimes, Durand becomes the hunted. Injected with a radical new genetic treatment, he awakens from a coma to find himself wearing his enemy’s face. On the run from his own task force, show more Durand must figure out how to change himself back, and stop this master criminal once and for all.

This was a fun technological and medical thriller. I could see Michael Crichton writing something similar were he alive today. The science, while fictional, is based on current technologies. It is more than plausible that many of these technological advances (and their requisite benefits and drawbacks) will begin to emerge within the next few decades. This gives the book, for all its crazy scifi-ness, a grounding in reality.

Lovers of realistic science fiction or technological thrillers will enjoy this book. Any one who is a fan of Michael Crichton, Robin Cook, or even Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child will likely find a lot to love here.

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. show less