Chiller

by Sterling Blake

On the verge of a breakthrough with his experiments in cryonics--the practice of freezing a corpse for future revival--Alex Cowell finds his experiment has brought about a confrontation with society's outdated concept of mortality

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Horror, Thriller

485 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1993

About the author

Pseudonym of Gregory Benford

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Less a Chiller thriller than a sleeping piller.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So if you're s science fiction fan who finds criogenecs fascinating, you might find this book worth the read. The technology and methods described in the book are perhaps somewhat outdated, since it's been 20 years since the book was written, but it's an interesting read just the same.

As the book opens, you meet a tiny highly dedicated group of individuals who are quietly developing the ability to preserve the human body and bring it back from suspension. Initially, the team works on dogs and other animals, but their human research is also very much in play.

This is well enough written that you will find yourself cheering for the team's success as they revive an dog that had gone through surgery that would have kiled it outright had the company's techniques not been in play.

But things get ugly, as you might imagine, when peole begin learning about the company and its mission. Before the book ends, the three main characters are murdered.

This book's biggest detraction was its cliche plot. Naturally, a fundamentalist Christian with serious mental issues is th eone doing the killings of these noble dedicated scientists. Wow! That's a new twist never before written. Not so much. There's some memorable brutal violence here, too. During the commission of one murder where the weapon is liquid nitrogen, the victim's nose is literally broken off her face as a result of the instant icing.

It ends well, and I certainly kept reading without m mind wandering. The author intelligently explores the psychological difficulties inherent in bringing people back to life after decades of suspension. I don't have any regret about spending the time reading this, but I've certainly read better SF mystery combinations.

[Dianna Shimizu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A medical thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

[John Emson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As context, this was a 50c charity store find and I went into it blind, with no knowledge of the premise other than the front cover and it being labelled as horror. I didn’t even read the back cover.

It’s not horror, this is actually a medical thriller, with sci-fi overtones.

I did really enjoy it, but it’s pretty long at 650 pages and did I find myself waiting for something to happen. To say it’s ‘slow’ would be a disservice, but it is leisurely paced, spending time with the characters and building up tension, and it is well written and engaging. I actually got through it fairly quickly, which probably is enough of a recommendation.

Overall, a decent, engaging pot-boiler that will entertain without demanding you sing its praises from the rafters.

[Liya Ma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8 stars. This was quite good 80% of the way.
George was a believable villain and his religious fanaticism and excuses for murder for his god were accurate. I didn’t love the ending. It’s funny reading this in 2022 where dead bodies are revived in 2033 written in 1994 when 2033 seemed so far away.

[Jools King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intelligent, thought-provoking chiller thriller

I loved this book. Cryonics is a fascinating social issue to me (although I'm agnostic about its success). The author weaves a great thriller storyline with interesting polemics about Cryonics as it rubs up against organised religion, and avoids getting over technical. Thoroughly recommended.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, this was a slog to get through. It's technically well written and all, and I really like some of the themes and ideas explored. But my god, it took several hundred pages for anything to happen. The Reverend and George just killed any momentum the book had.

[Tessa Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cryogenic suspense thriller

[Addison Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book, not inappropriate, for adults and tweens. Amazing horror story, not that scary-{to me}-great author.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this while I was travelling. It took me a long time to read because I was working on my writing, as well. But yeah, I thought it was really good, for the most part. The characters, and Blake's writing, in general, was great. Alex and Kathryn annoyed because as soon as they make the sexy time, all their ensuring conversations are filled to the brim with sexual innuendoes. Okay, we get it, you guys are having really good sex. Fuck. If I was actually friends with you guys, I'd stop hanging out with you. But the villain was a very interesting character. I also liked how Blake approached the controversial (and pretty stupid) idea of cryonics from many different angles, giving credence both to the scientific/medical pros of the idea, and the more conservative, religious concerns that would also arise from disrupting what they view as God's law. I also really liked the last 100 or so pages, where the story catapults into something quite unexpected. I give it three stars overall because I guess it was amazing. But it more than served its purpose. It was entertaining. On the front cover, there's a concise review by Dean Koontz:

"Fascinating, tense ... entertaining".

I guess this review is pretty much the same. But at least I tried to put a little more effort into it.

[Nicholas Terranova · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting especially from the start up to about the middle and then it kind of fell off for me. Was expecting a better ending and i feel that the religious concepts and the serial killers character did help fill in the gaps with something to think about but also made the book drag on way longer than it needed to. Enjoyed the read over all and would def. reccomend it to people interested in a hard sci-fi book on cryonics but i also feel it gets a little too deep with aspects of religion for this type of novel. 3 stars.

[Fredric Rice · Rating 1 out of 5]

This ended up being pure crap, I can't imagine why Gregory Benford would have put his name on this, I see that it's written by Sterling Blake... Who ever wrote this, it's crap.