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Antisense
Science Meets Fiction...
'Someone broke a window the day we buried my father.’
A split second in time, but for scientist Daniel Hayden this shattering of glass doesn’t just let in the cold winter wind, but also a disturbing secret.
What terrible crime lurks in his family’s past? And how far do the sins of the father extend to Daniel’s own life?
As his emotional and scientific worlds blur, Daniel begins to see parallels between his dark urges and the discredited theories of an 18th-century naturalist, Lamarck.
His obsessive pursuit for the truth brings him to the edge of sanity, as he is forced to confront the very nature of what makes us who we are, in this sinister and compulsively gripping thriller.
'Someone broke a window the day we buried my father.’
A split second in time, but for scientist Daniel Hayden this shattering of glass doesn’t just let in the cold winter wind, but also a disturbing secret.
What terrible crime lurks in his family’s past? And how far do the sins of the father extend to Daniel’s own life?
As his emotional and scientific worlds blur, Daniel begins to see parallels between his dark urges and the discredited theories of an 18th-century naturalist, Lamarck.
His obsessive pursuit for the truth brings him to the edge of sanity, as he is forced to confront the very nature of what makes us who we are, in this sinister and compulsively gripping thriller.
262 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2013
4 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
R.P. Marshall
1 book32 followersR.P. Marshall is a writer of psychological suspense novels. Drawing upon his years of experience as a doctor of science and medicine, he weaves scientific fact into compelling fiction, exploring literary themes at a thriller's pace.
Writing for Richard has always been a strong part of both his working and private life, with his skills originally honed writing medical texts and journal papers.
His first novel, Antisense, explores the nature of what makes us the people we become, seen through the eyes of scientist Daniel Hayden. As his world slowly crumbles, he starts to see a connection between the data coming from his laboratory and the unfolding secrets in his family's past.
Writing for Richard has always been a strong part of both his working and private life, with his skills originally honed writing medical texts and journal papers.
His first novel, Antisense, explores the nature of what makes us the people we become, seen through the eyes of scientist Daniel Hayden. As his world slowly crumbles, he starts to see a connection between the data coming from his laboratory and the unfolding secrets in his family's past.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 20, 2015
Masterfully descriptive! R.P. Marshall excels at metaphor and imagery.
I am in love with the style of this novel. Every word is carefully chosen to paint an image. The contrast between the despair of a poor marriage and the beauty of a new love are sublime. This literary work combines suspense, drama, and science to create an compelling and emotional story.
"Without daring to look up, I summoned a waitress and asked for directions to the restroom where I washed with a rigour Pilate would have been proud of."
The narrator is a dysfunctional wreck, going through the motions of life without any real connection to those around him. Not his parents, nor his wife. Not even his colleagues. But when Erin comes to work in his department at the University, he's a flustered schoolboy again, tripping over himself to impress her and gain her interest while she spurns his advances.
Genetic science is touched upon as the narrator's line of work. He is forced to cater to corporations for money, leading him to falsify data for a presentation, data he insists must be flawed, despite the fact that the tests with sense and antisense probes have been conducted repeatedly with unchanging results. Evolution is not just about traits that are passed by rigid genes from one generation to the next, but there is the possibility that behaviors practiced by adults alter the genes and those alterations pass through heredity as well.
"Our offspring inherit the very physical and mental adaptations the environment forces us to make in order to survive, rather than be at the whim of some random genetic event when an unsuspecting ovum is ambushed down a dark fallopian alley."
This book looks at life through the lens of fractured dreams and fallible memory. We are never really quite certain of the truth as we travel forward through time, and our version of the truth may not be the same as that of someone else. Our narrator, Daniel, struggles to reconcile what he feels is right with actual events, both present and past.
That being said, there were a couple of moments in the center of this book where I was completely confused as to the purpose of certain scenes, as though the character did a sharp 90 degree turn off of his intentions. (Not a complete 180, because he was certifiably disturbed from the beginning.) I was left pondering these scenes well into the end of the novel, but eventually everything came back together with a knot, albeit a frayed knot.
Warning: There are a few explicitly adult scenes.
*I received a copy to review from the author.
I am in love with the style of this novel. Every word is carefully chosen to paint an image. The contrast between the despair of a poor marriage and the beauty of a new love are sublime. This literary work combines suspense, drama, and science to create an compelling and emotional story.
"Without daring to look up, I summoned a waitress and asked for directions to the restroom where I washed with a rigour Pilate would have been proud of."
The narrator is a dysfunctional wreck, going through the motions of life without any real connection to those around him. Not his parents, nor his wife. Not even his colleagues. But when Erin comes to work in his department at the University, he's a flustered schoolboy again, tripping over himself to impress her and gain her interest while she spurns his advances.
Genetic science is touched upon as the narrator's line of work. He is forced to cater to corporations for money, leading him to falsify data for a presentation, data he insists must be flawed, despite the fact that the tests with sense and antisense probes have been conducted repeatedly with unchanging results. Evolution is not just about traits that are passed by rigid genes from one generation to the next, but there is the possibility that behaviors practiced by adults alter the genes and those alterations pass through heredity as well.
"Our offspring inherit the very physical and mental adaptations the environment forces us to make in order to survive, rather than be at the whim of some random genetic event when an unsuspecting ovum is ambushed down a dark fallopian alley."
This book looks at life through the lens of fractured dreams and fallible memory. We are never really quite certain of the truth as we travel forward through time, and our version of the truth may not be the same as that of someone else. Our narrator, Daniel, struggles to reconcile what he feels is right with actual events, both present and past.
That being said, there were a couple of moments in the center of this book where I was completely confused as to the purpose of certain scenes, as though the character did a sharp 90 degree turn off of his intentions. (Not a complete 180, because he was certifiably disturbed from the beginning.) I was left pondering these scenes well into the end of the novel, but eventually everything came back together with a knot, albeit a frayed knot.
Warning: There are a few explicitly adult scenes.
*I received a copy to review from the author.
July 2, 2015
Review: Antisense by R. P. Marshall Publication date: 1st November 2013
ISBN: 9781493615421
Source: Publishing Push
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis:
What if you could evolve in a moment? What if you had the power to change the genetic future of your loved ones and the people they become - simply by the way you live your life? When neuroscientist Daniel Hayden’s father dies, such thoughts begin to erode his very sanity, with the growing fear that he might share a dark secret buried deep in his family’s past – a past he is about to relive. The idea only seems to gain credibility from the bizarre results coming from his own laboratory, forcing Daniel to resurrect the discredited theories of an eighteenth century naturalist in the process. Was Daniel’s fate sealed all those years ago? Has he been betrayed by his own DNA?
Review:
This is a fascinating book containing a great deal of scientific reference. The author successfully weaves together what is happening at Daniel's laboratory with his search for the truth about his family. Lead character Daniel is well written and interesting, the story plausible.
The science is rather heavy at times and there were a couple of occasions where I felt slightly blinded by it, but this is my only criticism.
*I received a free copy of this eBook in return for an honest review*
ISBN: 9781493615421
Source: Publishing Push
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis:
What if you could evolve in a moment? What if you had the power to change the genetic future of your loved ones and the people they become - simply by the way you live your life? When neuroscientist Daniel Hayden’s father dies, such thoughts begin to erode his very sanity, with the growing fear that he might share a dark secret buried deep in his family’s past – a past he is about to relive. The idea only seems to gain credibility from the bizarre results coming from his own laboratory, forcing Daniel to resurrect the discredited theories of an eighteenth century naturalist in the process. Was Daniel’s fate sealed all those years ago? Has he been betrayed by his own DNA?
Review:
This is a fascinating book containing a great deal of scientific reference. The author successfully weaves together what is happening at Daniel's laboratory with his search for the truth about his family. Lead character Daniel is well written and interesting, the story plausible.
The science is rather heavy at times and there were a couple of occasions where I felt slightly blinded by it, but this is my only criticism.
*I received a free copy of this eBook in return for an honest review*
August 31, 2014
This book's product description pulled me in as it sounded like the sort of science-fiction I love. It's actually almost a book of two halves. In the first half, Dr Daniel Hayden, a protagonist very difficult to warm to, spends his time after the death of his father spectacularly failing to get on with anybody, including Jane, his partner of twenty years. His research team is having problems with their results and he presents false data to the company he's in partnership with. In the second half we come upon the bit which excited me - a suggestion that his apparently spurious result actually point toward the long-outdated evolutionary theory of Lamarck - that learned or acquired characteristics can be passed on. This leads him to delve into his own recent family history.
This is more of a relationship story than I expected. Daniel is a loner and eventually confronts his family history. It's a study in 'coming apart' and in the second half, the story moved up a notch for me. The author uses some lovely language in this book. He has huge potential if this first novel is any indication.
This is more of a relationship story than I expected. Daniel is a loner and eventually confronts his family history. It's a study in 'coming apart' and in the second half, the story moved up a notch for me. The author uses some lovely language in this book. He has huge potential if this first novel is any indication.
November 12, 2013
Compelling and thought-provoking, beautifully written psychological suspense. If you enjoyed GONE GIRL or BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP you'll enjoy this, though the genuine scientific research that underpins the narrative makes this a unique read.
November 21, 2014
A well written, page-turning thriller. Which gives the reader an interesting insight into the world of science and medical research.
November 15, 2014
This review originally appeared on my blog www.gimmethatbook.com.
Many thanks to the folks at Publishing Push for this book in exchange for an honest review.
It’s very hard to like any of the characters in this book. The narrator, Daniel Hayden, may be unreliable; his motives may be inscrutable. The story starts at the funeral of his father, and we can feel the awkwardness in the air as Daniel describes the scene: I remained by the fireplace, holding onto the mantelpiece where for over an hour I had managed to avoid justifying my existence to a group of people with whom I shared little beyond a small portion of genetic material ( and for most, not even that).
Just a few moments before, a rock is thrown through the window of the room where the gathering is taking place, and the perpetrator runs away, unapprehended. Daniel takes his leave, carrying a small box of his father’s effects, and gets a ride to the train station from his Uncle George, his father’s brother. When he gets home his wife Jane is sitting by herself at home, with a glass of wine and an abundance of sarcasm. We learn that their marriage is not a happy one, and their day to day conversation consists mostly of anger and condescension. I did wonder why they were still together, as it seemed there was nothing really holding them together. The author paints a picture of a bleak childless marriage, in a holding pattern of quiet suspense, and I believe Marshall kept the marriage intact to highlight Daniel’s sense of isolation.
Daniel is a neuroscientist, performing experiments on lab mice to see the activity of different proteins and genes in the amygdala. He is a loner there at work also, and is frustrated by the failure of his current project, which consists of studying aggression in rodents and seeing if certain brain secretions can make them either more or less aggressive. Results seem to be incorrect, and his bosses and grant providers are starting to suspect the worst. A new employee named Erin catches Daniel’s eye, and he is confused by it: The effect she was having on me was difficult to comprehend. The opportunity to learn something new about oneself tends to diminish with age, particularly as one grows accustomed to one’s shortcomings (if not oblivious to them), but she seemed to make so many things possible.
Daniel takes a trip to Chicago to meet with some of the grant providers, and careens through the city in a kind of a fever dream–drinking , bringing a girl back to his hotel room one night, finding himself in a porno shop the next. Things go bad there and he ends up at the police station. The way Marshall describes the scene afterwards is typical of the striking prose encountered throughout the book: A squad car returned me to the hotel sometime after one AM. The night porter ushered me into the glittering, vacant lobby where I stood shell shocked at the brightness and clarity of it all. Hotels have a nightmarish quality at that hour. their empty corridors and hushed elevators sumptuous but sterile like a last meal on death row.
Once Daniel returns back to England he remembers the box he was given at the funeral, and opens it to find a mysterious newspaper clipping. The rest of the book proceeds with him making an effort to discover the meaning of this clipping, which in turn brings him to an unwanted realization about his family, and his recent behavior in America.
I tagged this novel under suspense, but it’s not your typical suspense. It’s quiet, insidious, the kind that creeps up on you, surrounded by vapid images and bland, even dull activities: drinking, small talk, descriptions of the weather. Make no mistake: this book is written brilliantly. Even though you must read 50% of it to even GET to the crux of the matter, it hooks you and makes you wonder where all this is going. The author is a master of the uncommon sentence; his proficiency with language and his ability to turn a phrase makes Antisense one of the best books I’ve read this year. The character of Daniel does not so much develop but is revealed, and he is an unusual protagonist; not evil enough to be hated, too vanilla to be liked. Even the ending is unobtrusive, even peaceful, though somehow mournful.
I look forward to more by RP Marshall. Visit his website to see what his next project is! He was kind enough to provide a print copy for a book giveaway: click HERE to enter. Entries will be accepted from November 14th to November 30th –good luck!
If you are not the lucky winner, click HERE to purchase it.
Many thanks to the folks at Publishing Push for this book in exchange for an honest review.
It’s very hard to like any of the characters in this book. The narrator, Daniel Hayden, may be unreliable; his motives may be inscrutable. The story starts at the funeral of his father, and we can feel the awkwardness in the air as Daniel describes the scene: I remained by the fireplace, holding onto the mantelpiece where for over an hour I had managed to avoid justifying my existence to a group of people with whom I shared little beyond a small portion of genetic material ( and for most, not even that).
Just a few moments before, a rock is thrown through the window of the room where the gathering is taking place, and the perpetrator runs away, unapprehended. Daniel takes his leave, carrying a small box of his father’s effects, and gets a ride to the train station from his Uncle George, his father’s brother. When he gets home his wife Jane is sitting by herself at home, with a glass of wine and an abundance of sarcasm. We learn that their marriage is not a happy one, and their day to day conversation consists mostly of anger and condescension. I did wonder why they were still together, as it seemed there was nothing really holding them together. The author paints a picture of a bleak childless marriage, in a holding pattern of quiet suspense, and I believe Marshall kept the marriage intact to highlight Daniel’s sense of isolation.
Daniel is a neuroscientist, performing experiments on lab mice to see the activity of different proteins and genes in the amygdala. He is a loner there at work also, and is frustrated by the failure of his current project, which consists of studying aggression in rodents and seeing if certain brain secretions can make them either more or less aggressive. Results seem to be incorrect, and his bosses and grant providers are starting to suspect the worst. A new employee named Erin catches Daniel’s eye, and he is confused by it: The effect she was having on me was difficult to comprehend. The opportunity to learn something new about oneself tends to diminish with age, particularly as one grows accustomed to one’s shortcomings (if not oblivious to them), but she seemed to make so many things possible.
Daniel takes a trip to Chicago to meet with some of the grant providers, and careens through the city in a kind of a fever dream–drinking , bringing a girl back to his hotel room one night, finding himself in a porno shop the next. Things go bad there and he ends up at the police station. The way Marshall describes the scene afterwards is typical of the striking prose encountered throughout the book: A squad car returned me to the hotel sometime after one AM. The night porter ushered me into the glittering, vacant lobby where I stood shell shocked at the brightness and clarity of it all. Hotels have a nightmarish quality at that hour. their empty corridors and hushed elevators sumptuous but sterile like a last meal on death row.
Once Daniel returns back to England he remembers the box he was given at the funeral, and opens it to find a mysterious newspaper clipping. The rest of the book proceeds with him making an effort to discover the meaning of this clipping, which in turn brings him to an unwanted realization about his family, and his recent behavior in America.
I tagged this novel under suspense, but it’s not your typical suspense. It’s quiet, insidious, the kind that creeps up on you, surrounded by vapid images and bland, even dull activities: drinking, small talk, descriptions of the weather. Make no mistake: this book is written brilliantly. Even though you must read 50% of it to even GET to the crux of the matter, it hooks you and makes you wonder where all this is going. The author is a master of the uncommon sentence; his proficiency with language and his ability to turn a phrase makes Antisense one of the best books I’ve read this year. The character of Daniel does not so much develop but is revealed, and he is an unusual protagonist; not evil enough to be hated, too vanilla to be liked. Even the ending is unobtrusive, even peaceful, though somehow mournful.
I look forward to more by RP Marshall. Visit his website to see what his next project is! He was kind enough to provide a print copy for a book giveaway: click HERE to enter. Entries will be accepted from November 14th to November 30th –good luck!
If you are not the lucky winner, click HERE to purchase it.
November 8, 2014
Nice bit of LabLit with little gems like "It was unlikely Charles had seen the inside of a test tube since...well, since we had stopped using test tubes." The beginning of the story is firmly planted in the lab, but quickly veers to the personal life of lad head Daniel Hayden. I worried the book would be the common male midlife meltdown genre, but this takes a few interesting turns.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews