The Perfect Specimen
-
-
4.8 • 6 Ratings
-
-
- $1.99
-
- $1.99
Publisher Description
Dr. Derek Singh is sure that one of planet Victoria’s millions of venomous insects holds the key to destroying cancerous tumors–and jumpstarting his stalled career.
Unfortunately, the traps he sets each night capture nothing but dust, and his competitive colleagues don’t share the venom they’ve collected. The clock is running down on his two-year grant and he’s making no progress.
When his young neighbor–one of the few native-born children–finds out he studies “bugs,” she is eager to bring him all the specimens he needs. Derek worries she’ll be bitten or stung, but soon discovers Mia is in danger from a far larger predator–the corporation that funds him.
Customer Reviews
I’m still thinking about this 3 days later
This novella was delicious, I stayed up late to get to the end. Even though I rushed through the pages to find out what happened, days later I still find myself thinking about the details of the near-distant future that McDonell created. It’s these little details: the corporate system, smart toilets, attitudes towards drugs, children, violence and academia that make this story truly compelling.
Refreshed my addiction to sci-fiction
I wandered away from science fiction for other types of fiction for a few years, but my recent weekend with this story has brought me back. I await the authors next story~
A future vision rather chilling, yet one sees the threads evolving from some of the fringe lunacies in our current times.
Intricate Sci-Fi with characters and a world that pull you in
I only read Sci-Fi occasionally but this book got me excited about the genre again. The author creates a fascinating many-layered world that I could easily imagine becoming our future reality -- huge corporations having a planet of their own to control. The depth of the characters really made it work for me; more depth than most Sci-Fi I have read. It also has a humanistic element that was appealing. Some of the highlights for me: the economy-class section in a gigantic intergalactic passenger liner; the smothering security of planet Victoria; and the desert filled with poisonous insects.