- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Pan; n.e. edition (12 April 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330353756
- ISBN-13: 978-0330353755
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,482,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"* 'Keeps the reader guessing till the very end' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW * 'Both a literary feat and a supremem thriller' AMAZON.COM * 'Daniel Hecht has created something quite original: the neuropathological Gothic' Jonathan Kellerman * 'Frighteningly plausible... well-written and gripping to the final page' IRISH NEWS * 'Powerful and perceptive, compelling and fascinating, it's a must' BIG ISSUE
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
With all the imaginative depth and narrative power of Michael Crichton's Timeline or Jurassic Park, The Babel Effect is an electrifying, thinking person's thriller based on cutting-edge neurological and genetic research. From the author of the widely acclaimed Skull Session, The Babel Effect artfully brings the speculative thriller to new literary heights.
Is violence a virus? Can your genes make you a killer? Why are we so willing to hurt each other? In The Babel Effect, the brilliant husband-and-wife research team of Ryan and Jessamine McCloud are charged with answering these urgent questions. Beginning as a neurological study of murderers on death row, their research explodes into an investigation into the biomedical foundations of human history. The quest takes them from prison cells to research labs to war zones throughout the world and forces them to doubt their most basic assumptions about the human species, about themselves, and about their marriage.
Combining systems theory with modern epidemiology, they soon learn that our propensity for violence resembles a contagious disease. But is the human carnage of the last hundred years an ancient plague or a new nightmare? Can they identify the cause and find a cure? As their discoveries reveal frightening secrets about multinational corporations, clandestine military programs, and millennial religious cults, they realize that finding the answers depends on a still more urgent and terrifying question: Can they survive the search?
When an unknown enemy steals their data and abducts Jessamine, the FBI investigation stalls, and Ryan realizes that it is up to him alone to find his pregnant wife. He soon finds that to learn where she is, he must discover who she is -- and confront the question of whether we can ever really know the one we love.
As real as the astonishing and disquieting news coming out of today's biotechnology revolution and as disturbing as our suspicions of global conspiracy, The Babel Effect provokes us with an astonishing perspective on human nature as it brings us face-to-face with our most unspeakable fears -- and our brightest hopes. Though The Babel Effect is part thriller, part mystery, it is at its core the very human tale of one man who simply seeks to know his wife -- to find her and love her again. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Is violence a virus? Can your genes make you a killer? Why are we so willing to hurt each other? In The Babel Effect, the brilliant husband-and-wife research team of Ryan and Jessamine McCloud are charged with answering these urgent questions. Beginning as a neurological study of murderers on death row, their research explodes into an investigation into the biomedical foundations of human history. The quest takes them from prison cells to research labs to war zones throughout the world and forces them to doubt their most basic assumptions about the human species, about themselves, and about their marriage.
Combining systems theory with modern epidemiology, they soon learn that our propensity for violence resembles a contagious disease. But is the human carnage of the last hundred years an ancient plague or a new nightmare? Can they identify the cause and find a cure? As their discoveries reveal frightening secrets about multinational corporations, clandestine military programs, and millennial religious cults, they realize that finding the answers depends on a still more urgent and terrifying question: Can they survive the search?
When an unknown enemy steals their data and abducts Jessamine, the FBI investigation stalls, and Ryan realizes that it is up to him alone to find his pregnant wife. He soon finds that to learn where she is, he must discover who she is -- and confront the question of whether we can ever really know the one we love.
As real as the astonishing and disquieting news coming out of today's biotechnology revolution and as disturbing as our suspicions of global conspiracy, The Babel Effect provokes us with an astonishing perspective on human nature as it brings us face-to-face with our most unspeakable fears -- and our brightest hopes. Though The Babel Effect is part thriller, part mystery, it is at its core the very human tale of one man who simply seeks to know his wife -- to find her and love her again. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
A dark thriller about a group of scientists searching for the causes of evil. Well writen with a strong scientific grounding to make the story plausable, but don't let that put you off, this is deffinatly a crime thriller rather than scifi and you don't need a masters in neuroscience to get whats going on.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The Babel Effect is the best book I have read this year. It is not just a great thriller. Reading the book was actually a learning experience for me - clearly the author has researched what he writes about in great depth, and has managed to convey what are complex scientific arguments in a way that is accessible without making the reader feel like they are being talked down to. Without giving anything away, the way the book addresses what is going on in the world around us is insightful, imaginative and plausible, and it combines these ideas effectively with a well-developed plot and interesting characters. If you want something a bit more cerebral than your average run-of the-mill thriller, do not hesitate to buy this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This one's more realistic than Skull Session, which I also loved ;-) It's basically a search for the origin of good (& evil) in mankind. Hecht uses scientific data & research to make the plot believable. There are some weaker points, though not enough to keep me from rating this 5 stars.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
My book of the year
The Babel Effect is the best book I have read this year. It is not just a great thriller. Reading the book was actually a learning experience for me - clearly the author has... Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2003 by "barezi"
A tale of post-millenial angst and the collapse of society
The Babel Effect is realised at a just the right to prey on the long-term post millennium anxieties that stirred up by the hype surround the start of the new century. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2001 by j.braniff@btinternet.com
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