The Venom of Vipers [Kindle Edition]

The Venom of Vipers by K.C. May is a futuristic look at the length that humans are willing to go to in order to secure our future. A super virus, Molio, is quickly spreading through the human race and turning the world into a barren wasteland. With the humans quickly dying off, scientists have created a new species by combining human and reptilian DNA in hopes of finding a cure. It soon becomes evident that by the time a cure is found, if one even exists, that the humans time will have run its course and so scientists decide to further the new species so that they may take over once humans become extinct. But as with all scientific experiments, you have some people who agree and others who disagree. The new species, the Sapher, is forced to live within an enclosed facility since humans are having a hard time accepting that they are anything more than lab rats. That is when Dr. Katie Marsh comes into play when she gets a job at the facility as the new reproductive scientist. Her job is to figure out why Sapher women are having such a hard time carrying a baby to term. Until this problem is solved, the outlook for both species looks bleak. Little does Dr. Marsh know at the time, but her childhood friend and Sapher Ryder, just may hold the answer to saving humanity, along with his race as well. K.C. May does an amazing job of setting up the story line and moving it at a pace that keeps the reader intrigued and wanting more. I personally could not put the book down once I started. Just when the reader begins to think that everything has been revealed, new twists come into play which set the hook that much deeper into the reader. Will the Sapher race take their new knowledge and help humanity, or would taking over be more beneficial? The only other thing that I can really say about The Venom of Vipers without giving too much away is to do yourself a favor and get your own copy to read today. Seriously! You won't be sorry! The Venom of Vipers could easily be one of the best books I have read so far this year. I will definitely be getting a paperback copy of this book to add to my bookshelf as I can see myself reading it over and over again.

The Venom of Vipers is the second book I have read by KC May, both of them excellent. I don't typically read a lot of scifi stuff, but this book had me hooked early and kept me interested till the end. I finished it up in two sittings.

The plot is that there is a super disease that is well on its way to wiping humans off the planet. If the disease is cured it creates toxins that destroy the body, if it is not a terrible death waits. A sub race of humans mixed with reptile DNA is created to make them immune to the disease in hopes that studying them will translate into a cure for the human race. The sub race (Saphers) have some problems of their own mainly they are unable to reproduce without having a human surrogate mother.

Katie whose father is one of the head scientists at the compound where the Saphers are kept is brought in to help with their reproductive issues to make them a viable race in the event that humanity is wiped out by the disease. Katie grew up with a Sapher named Ryder as her best friend and wants nothing more for them to become recognized as citizens and afforded basic rights.

I really enjoyed this book because it has a great feel of reality to it. There are 2 major groups that protest at the Sapher compound one group that wants them to be released as free people and one that thinks of them as abominations and wants them wiped out. The characters are very easy to understand with a few of them being a little over the top, but I think that is what makes a thriller. Overall this book was fantastic and I will continue to read what KC May has to offer.

The primary characters, Katie (a doctor/researcher) and Ryder (one of the saphers) were likeable. Although Ryder had many faults, his temper being one, this just made him seem more human. The fictional science was a big part of the premise and overall story, but not so far out as to be unbelievable - it seemed very conceivable by extrapolating current scientific knowledge out just a few years. Most important, the story revolved around the characters rather than the science. As with any well-told story, I found myself pulling for the characters I liked and against those I didn't, regardless of if they were Homo sapiens or the sapher sub-species.

The latter portion of the book turns into to a thriller. This part gets very intense, as you'd hope for a thriller. However, this is also the only part of the book where I had any quibbles. Specifically the head of security was a character that became less and less believable. His motivations and goals were clear; however, his actions seemed less than credible at times. Despite this I found Venom of Vipers an enjoyable and entertaining read.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog.**