Book Review: Heat Shock

Reviewed By: Luke Croll - RAM

Heat Shock     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Robert Greer
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Military   Medical   Thriller
2003, Time Warner, 308 pages

Dr Carmen Nguyen, a half-black, half-Vietnamese woman with a passion for motorcycles agrees to look after Luke Redstone’s fighting cocks. Redstone has cancer and not long to live, but he does not realise that enlisting Carmen has put her life in danger too. Carmen soon realises that these are not ordinary fighting cocks, and with the help of a former military intelligence officer, Walter Rios, she decides to investigate a powerful genetic conspiracy.

Greer injects a lot of local colour into his novel. The backdrop of the Rocky Mountains feels authentic and he uses dialect to make his characters more real. However, at times, it almost feels as though he is using too many characters and the point of view shifts can be sudden and wrenching. It is true that the main strength of the novel is the relationship between Redstone, Nguyen and Rios and Greer devotes a lot of time to this.

The medical sub-plot, that of genetically altered fighting cocks, is interesting. How scientifically sound it is, I cannot say, but since Greer is of a professor of pathology at the University of Colorado, we have to assume that he knows what he is talking about. I was also intrigued by the idea of cockfighting in general, as this is something which one does not imagine occurring very often. In ‘Heat Shock’, it seems an accepted part of Midwest culture.

Unfortunately, ‘Heat Shock’ is yet another novel to file under ‘average’. It is functional, it tells a reasonable story and it has good characterization and a sense of place. However, when you reach the end of the novel, there is nothing to make it particularly memorable.

Luke Croll - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Luke Croll - Conference interpreter and translator
http://lukecroll.translatorscafe.com