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Reversion
Rabies kills. Can it also cure?
Tessa Price, PhD, knows what it’s like to lose a child to a genetic disease. To spare another mother this pain, she invents a radical new gene therapy that might save the life of seven-year-old Gunnar Sigrunsson. Unable to get regulatory approval to treat Gunnar in the US, she takes her clinical trial to the Palacio Centro Medico, a resort-like hospital on a Mexican peninsula where rich medical tourists get experimental treatments that aren’t available anywhere else.
When the hospital is taken over by a brutal drug cartel, Tessa hides with a remarkable trio of Palacio clients—rich Texan Lyle Simmons, his much-younger Brazilian girlfriend, and his protection dog, a German shepherd named Dixie, only to learn that the gangsters aren’t the only deadly threat they face. A rabies-like infection that began in the Palacio’s research chimpanzees has spread to humans. Tessa investigates and finds a shocking connection to her gene therapy experiment. In the wake of this discovery, Tessa must weigh the value of one human life against another—including her own.
Tessa Price, PhD, knows what it’s like to lose a child to a genetic disease. To spare another mother this pain, she invents a radical new gene therapy that might save the life of seven-year-old Gunnar Sigrunsson. Unable to get regulatory approval to treat Gunnar in the US, she takes her clinical trial to the Palacio Centro Medico, a resort-like hospital on a Mexican peninsula where rich medical tourists get experimental treatments that aren’t available anywhere else.
When the hospital is taken over by a brutal drug cartel, Tessa hides with a remarkable trio of Palacio clients—rich Texan Lyle Simmons, his much-younger Brazilian girlfriend, and his protection dog, a German shepherd named Dixie, only to learn that the gangsters aren’t the only deadly threat they face. A rabies-like infection that began in the Palacio’s research chimpanzees has spread to humans. Tessa investigates and finds a shocking connection to her gene therapy experiment. In the wake of this discovery, Tessa must weigh the value of one human life against another—including her own.
284 pages, Paperback
First published November 10, 2014
53 people are currently reading
641 people want to read
About the author
Amy Rogers
4 books88 followersAmy Rogers, MD, PhD, is a Harvard-educated writer, scientist, educator, and critic. Through her book review website ScienceThrillers.com, her publishing company ScienceThrillers Media, and her own writing, Amy advocates for literate entertainment in the form of great stories with real science.
Amy writes thrilling science-themed novels in the style of Michael Crichton (PETROPLAGUE, REVERSION, THE HAN AGENT). She also creates a monthly column "Science in the Neighborhood" for Inside Publications of Sacramento. She is a member of International Thriller Writers. Learn more at AmyRogers.com
Amy loves dim sum, Ted Drewes, redwood forests, Minnesota lakes, Hawaiian beaches, and cats. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two exceptional children who believe she has an unreasonable tolerance for mysterious things growing in her refrigerator.
Amy writes thrilling science-themed novels in the style of Michael Crichton (PETROPLAGUE, REVERSION, THE HAN AGENT). She also creates a monthly column "Science in the Neighborhood" for Inside Publications of Sacramento. She is a member of International Thriller Writers. Learn more at AmyRogers.com
Amy loves dim sum, Ted Drewes, redwood forests, Minnesota lakes, Hawaiian beaches, and cats. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two exceptional children who believe she has an unreasonable tolerance for mysterious things growing in her refrigerator.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
April 12, 2017
Everything about this captivating book was amazing.
If anyone is in the market for a science thriller packed with a myriad of twists, then Reversion is your next must read. I'm the first to admit that I'm a sucker for a good cover, and this one just leaped out and said 'buy me'. I'm glad I did.
Tessa Price is a researcher who has, through personal tragedy, dedicated her life to finding a cure for a rare genetic disease. The research she initiated has found a home in an exclusive private medical facility in the wilds of Mexico. A series of events lead to the need for her to visit the establishment and temporarily take charge of the research she initiated. That's when things get complicated and start to go wrong.
Timing is the enemy here, as her visit coincides with that of one of the kingpins of the illegal drug market. Order starts to break down and things start to go wrong. Quite literally, all hell breaks loose. This book has so many levels that are so cleverly intertwined. It's a recipe for disaster. The characters are varied and well-rounded. There's good, there's bad, there's ruthless, there are heart-strings. Plenty of well-timed twists and turns keep readers on their toes as Tessa moves from one deadly challenge to the next. High morals, low morals, incredible narcissism, and greed. They all mix together in a cocktail of suspense and intrigue.
This is such a thoroughly researched and engaging thriller, full of 'sciency' detail that gives a great authenticity. Amy Rogers has written a cracker that deserves to be discovered by thousands of readers.
In a Nutshell
Everything about this captivating book was amazing. It was quite simply, exhausting. It's another one for my 2017 favourites list. (psst ... It's currently free on Amazon)
To see more reviews and learn about my books please jump over to www.swlothian.com
If anyone is in the market for a science thriller packed with a myriad of twists, then Reversion is your next must read. I'm the first to admit that I'm a sucker for a good cover, and this one just leaped out and said 'buy me'. I'm glad I did.
Tessa Price is a researcher who has, through personal tragedy, dedicated her life to finding a cure for a rare genetic disease. The research she initiated has found a home in an exclusive private medical facility in the wilds of Mexico. A series of events lead to the need for her to visit the establishment and temporarily take charge of the research she initiated. That's when things get complicated and start to go wrong.
Timing is the enemy here, as her visit coincides with that of one of the kingpins of the illegal drug market. Order starts to break down and things start to go wrong. Quite literally, all hell breaks loose. This book has so many levels that are so cleverly intertwined. It's a recipe for disaster. The characters are varied and well-rounded. There's good, there's bad, there's ruthless, there are heart-strings. Plenty of well-timed twists and turns keep readers on their toes as Tessa moves from one deadly challenge to the next. High morals, low morals, incredible narcissism, and greed. They all mix together in a cocktail of suspense and intrigue.
This is such a thoroughly researched and engaging thriller, full of 'sciency' detail that gives a great authenticity. Amy Rogers has written a cracker that deserves to be discovered by thousands of readers.
In a Nutshell
Everything about this captivating book was amazing. It was quite simply, exhausting. It's another one for my 2017 favourites list. (psst ... It's currently free on Amazon)
To see more reviews and learn about my books please jump over to www.swlothian.com
May 8, 2020
Mad, and Otherwise, Doctors
WHEN A LIVE VIRUS COULD BE USED to engineer a cure for disease, government oversight is sure to kill the idea. How far will a mad scientist go to keep another mother’s child from dying the way hers did? A: All the way to Mexico, where regulations don’t hinder medical research. What if she takes every precaution to render the rabies virus harmless when she uses it in her first clinical trial?
Imagine a worst-case scenario, then read “Reversion” by Amy Rogers. You’re sure to be pleasantly surprised, horrified, shocked, gratified, bereft, and a lot smarter.
This thriller is loaded with medical terminology and futuristic science, but not in a way that thriller devotees would find off-putting. Anyone who can slog through Tom Clancy’s techno-fests should breeze right through the medical experiments gone awry in this story. Amy Rogers, writer, scientist, educator, critic and publisher, advocates for “literate entertainment in the form of great stories with real science.” Amy earned a B.S. in biochemistry from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in medicine and immunology from Washington University in St. Louis. Her first novel, “Petroplague,” drew comparisons to Michael Crichton.
One thing I love about “Reversion” is that no global climate change, no apocalypse, no ruined-Earth scenario forms the premise. What does? Something almost as scary: governments that overregulate medical care and research. The rich seek experimental medical treatments they can’t get anywhere else, and the place to get it is Palacio Centro Medico, a resort-like hospital on a Mexican peninsula. Dr. Manuel Vargas, founder and director of the medical tourism center, also supplies his patients with a pain killer that isn’t legal even in Mexico. Of course, every law he evades is for the greater good of his patients.
Chapter One opens like a scene from “Breaking Bad”. Cristo, the point-of-view character, is a good medic in the employ of Dr. Vargas, and that puts him on a desert trail, hiking with a backpack full of stacks of hundred-dollar bills. A white powder known as plack is the painkiller of choice for patients post-surgery, and Vargas has assured Cristo the drug, “less addictive than morphine,” will eventually be legal in Mexico and the U.S., “once the ponderous regulatory agencies finally got around to approving it.” In the meantime, the Palacio Centro Medico had clients who needed plack, and Dr. Vargas wasn’t the type to wait around for permission from some bureaucrat. I can’t help but like Vargas for that.
I really, really like Cristo, who grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Madre del Sur. So trusting, earnest, and honest, so intelligent and aware of his environment. When his transaction with the Zeta is disrupted by a rival gang, Cristo flees to a childhood hiding place. Trouble is, it’s now full of—well, you really ought to see for yourself. It’s one of the most vivid, lurid and, worst of all, believable horror scenes I’ve ever read.
The next chapter shifts to the real protagonist, Dr. Tessa Price. For a long time, we don’t know what’s become of Cristo. I can assure you he does survive the horror in the cave, because he plays an active role later in the novel. Sadly, for me, we never again return to his point of view. Did I mention that I really, really like Cristo and wanted more of him?
Dr. Price is determined to find a cure for the genetic disease that killed her son. The U.S. bans her experiments with the rabies virus, and the Palacio is the only place she can conduct a clinical trial of her radical, innovative treatment on seven-year-old Gunnar Sigrunsson.
Unfortunately, the hospital is taken over by the same brutal drug cartel that so violently interrupted Cristo’s plack purchase in chapter one.
What do they want with a hospital? They’re the suppliers of plack, so it isn’t that. Their leader needs a kidney transplant, and he can’t get one anywhere else. Dr. Vargas will do anything to placate an evil drug lord, even risk the lives of all his patients. Luis Angel de la Rosa orders the entire hospital evacuated so that he will be the only patient there. Vargas complies, even though it’s his hospital, his patients, displaced for the convenience of a villain who never should have gained access to the premises.
Shouldn’t I deny that I ever liked Vargas at any point in this narrative? I would, but it’s easier to blame Amy Rogers for delivering such complex, well-developed characters, we aren’t always sure who to hate and who we most want to see tortured, dismembered and—wait. I have never wished to see that sort of thing—honest! Rogers will make you see bloody justice (and injustice) whether you want to or not.
While Cristo, a dog, and a certain gangbanger are my favorite characters, Sameer also steals my heart. His devotion to Tessa is endearing, but Tessa is obsessed with her work, not with men. A pity, considering the great men who are right at her fingertips. Sameer goes to great lengths to spare Tessa any sort of suffering, trauma or mere inconvenience, including her fear of needles, which would get no sympathy from me. I’d jab her, quick, draw the blood, scan it, and tell her to shut up and take it like a man. Ah, Sameer. The things we do for love. (Did I mention that I love Sameer?)
The evacuation scene is a nightmare of patients on stretchers being flown out, planes blowing up, and gangbangers overtaking the hospital. Tessa manages to elude the evacuation. She can’t take her patient anywhere else, so she hides Gunnar and his mother, with the help of an unlikely trio: a rich Texas patient, the wise-cracking Lyle Simmons; his young Brazilian lover, Isabella, who takes his lame humor in stride; and his guard dog, a well-trained German Shepherd named Dixie. Instead of posting excerpts as proof of the dog’s greatness, I’ll just say she’s one of the best protagonists in a thriller, ever. #GottaLoveDixie, as I’d say on Twitter, but the ARC (advanced-review copy) didn’t allow me to Kindle-share.
Drug lords and gangbangers aren’t the only deadly threat Tessa and her cohorts face. A mysterious rabies-like infection appears in the Palacio’s chimpanzees and spreads to humans. It appears to be the result of a “reversion” unleashed by Tessa’s own tinkering with the rabies virus to combat Batten disease, an inherited disorder that wreaks havoc on the nervous system. Child victims gradually develop progressive vision loss, intellectual and motor disability, speech difficulties, and seizures. Gunnar had gone downhill and close to the abyss until Tessa’s treatment not only stops his decline, but reverses it. She modifies the rabies virus to carry the healthy gene Gunnar needs to survive. She uses “every molecular safeguard in the book to disable the virus,” and she vaccinates Gunnar against rabies, just to hedge her bets. Everyone working with the modified virus has taken the vaccine, “in case through some one-in-a-billion chance the virus overcame its genetic handicaps and found a way to breed. In case the virus reverted to wild type.”
No one could anticipate the circumstances that bring an actual case of rabies to the vicinity. The resulting “reversion” unleashes a whole new host of micro/bio/chemical catastrophes. Anyone who’s read “Shardik” by Richard Adams will remember how lurid nature can be when an animal attacks a human. Some scenes, once “seen” in our minds, can never be unseen. I advise squeamish readers to speed right through the bloodshed.
I cannot resist this semi-spoiler: fans of “Breaking Bad” who will never un-see a certain demise of a certain villain can look forward to an equally horrifying scene in “Reversion.” There’s more than one villain in this novel, so you’ll just have to read, read, read at breakneck speed to see who suffers most.
This novel is as smart as it is lurid. The prose is tightly crafted. Every little event holds some significance. What it is, the reader cannot guess until the story unfolds. Gradually, inexorably, we begin to see how everything happens for a reason.
Rogers says her goal is to do for science lovers what Harlequin did for romance fans. In addition to writing her own thrillers, she founded ScienceThrillers Media, a niche publisher of hard science fiction, medical thrillers, technothrillers, “LabLit,” and popular nonfiction. “The science need not be one hundred percent real,” the website informs aspiring authors, “but should be believable to scientifically literate readers.”
I dream of the day science fiction outsells paperback romances. Novels like “Reversion” and “The Neanderthal’s Aunt” (by Dr. Gina DeMarco, published by ScienceThrillers Media, reviewed in April, 2014, “Perihelion”) are an excellent start. Maybe if Rogers had sneaked a romance into the story (as DeMarco did), her fan base would rival Harlequin’s. While I don’t care much if I ever see Tessa in a sequel, have I mentioned how eager I am to see more of Cristo? (“Reversion,” Amy Rogers, ScienceThrillers Media) —Carol Kean
ORIGINAL REVIEW for GOODREADS:
My official review of this novel will go live at Perihelion Science Fiction ezine on November 12, 2014.
In the meantime, I can only say this is a splendid story of a mother who's also a scientist. She was unable to save her own son from dying of a terrible disease, but with her research into the rabies virus, she may have found a cure for Batten's disease (a real-life condition, but in real life, the rabies virus isn't under consideration as a cure).
But that's only one facet of the story. To conduct clinical trials on this radical, innovative new treatment, Dr. Tessa Price has to flee the restrictions of the States for a medical facility in Mexico, where government oversight is not an issue.
Dr. Vargas isn't one to let bureaucracy get in the way of medical progress, but when a drug lord takes over the hospital, we see the priorities of this doctor shift from his patients to saving his own hide.
But that, too, isn't the most riveting part of the story. There's the boy being treated with an altered rabies virus; there's a dog named Dixie, a sweetheart of a medic named Sameer, and Cristo (Cristo!), the native Mexican who works for Dr. Vargas and opens this novel with one of the most vivid, lurid scenes since...oh, since Vince Gilligan's epic TV show, "Breaking Bad."
Oops, I was only going to say one thing about "Reversions" - but I'm not repeating here anything I wrote for Perihelion.
Are there flaws in the novel? Nothing too distracting. Real life is filled with coincidence, to the point that people speak of fatalism or destiny. Some stupendous things happen in "Reversion." Unlike that Mel Gibson movie about the aliens in which every little glass of water or baseball bat comes into play with some sort of divine predestination, this story simply has us sighing "Ah!" with satisfaction when we see why one thing or another was there for a reason all along.
The synopsis tells enough about the plot, I won't summarize it here. But I will say this is a riveting story with memorable characters. Lyle and Isabelle seem a bit over the top, perhaps, but still lovable.
Science Thrillers Media is doing a great job of delivering strong heroines and a healthy dose of science. Five stars to another of their novels, "The Neanderthal's Aunt" by Dr. Gina DeMarco (also reviewed in Perihelion Science Fiction, April 2014).
WHEN A LIVE VIRUS COULD BE USED to engineer a cure for disease, government oversight is sure to kill the idea. How far will a mad scientist go to keep another mother’s child from dying the way hers did? A: All the way to Mexico, where regulations don’t hinder medical research. What if she takes every precaution to render the rabies virus harmless when she uses it in her first clinical trial?
Imagine a worst-case scenario, then read “Reversion” by Amy Rogers. You’re sure to be pleasantly surprised, horrified, shocked, gratified, bereft, and a lot smarter.
This thriller is loaded with medical terminology and futuristic science, but not in a way that thriller devotees would find off-putting. Anyone who can slog through Tom Clancy’s techno-fests should breeze right through the medical experiments gone awry in this story. Amy Rogers, writer, scientist, educator, critic and publisher, advocates for “literate entertainment in the form of great stories with real science.” Amy earned a B.S. in biochemistry from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in medicine and immunology from Washington University in St. Louis. Her first novel, “Petroplague,” drew comparisons to Michael Crichton.
One thing I love about “Reversion” is that no global climate change, no apocalypse, no ruined-Earth scenario forms the premise. What does? Something almost as scary: governments that overregulate medical care and research. The rich seek experimental medical treatments they can’t get anywhere else, and the place to get it is Palacio Centro Medico, a resort-like hospital on a Mexican peninsula. Dr. Manuel Vargas, founder and director of the medical tourism center, also supplies his patients with a pain killer that isn’t legal even in Mexico. Of course, every law he evades is for the greater good of his patients.
Chapter One opens like a scene from “Breaking Bad”. Cristo, the point-of-view character, is a good medic in the employ of Dr. Vargas, and that puts him on a desert trail, hiking with a backpack full of stacks of hundred-dollar bills. A white powder known as plack is the painkiller of choice for patients post-surgery, and Vargas has assured Cristo the drug, “less addictive than morphine,” will eventually be legal in Mexico and the U.S., “once the ponderous regulatory agencies finally got around to approving it.” In the meantime, the Palacio Centro Medico had clients who needed plack, and Dr. Vargas wasn’t the type to wait around for permission from some bureaucrat. I can’t help but like Vargas for that.
I really, really like Cristo, who grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Madre del Sur. So trusting, earnest, and honest, so intelligent and aware of his environment. When his transaction with the Zeta is disrupted by a rival gang, Cristo flees to a childhood hiding place. Trouble is, it’s now full of—well, you really ought to see for yourself. It’s one of the most vivid, lurid and, worst of all, believable horror scenes I’ve ever read.
The next chapter shifts to the real protagonist, Dr. Tessa Price. For a long time, we don’t know what’s become of Cristo. I can assure you he does survive the horror in the cave, because he plays an active role later in the novel. Sadly, for me, we never again return to his point of view. Did I mention that I really, really like Cristo and wanted more of him?
Dr. Price is determined to find a cure for the genetic disease that killed her son. The U.S. bans her experiments with the rabies virus, and the Palacio is the only place she can conduct a clinical trial of her radical, innovative treatment on seven-year-old Gunnar Sigrunsson.
Unfortunately, the hospital is taken over by the same brutal drug cartel that so violently interrupted Cristo’s plack purchase in chapter one.
What do they want with a hospital? They’re the suppliers of plack, so it isn’t that. Their leader needs a kidney transplant, and he can’t get one anywhere else. Dr. Vargas will do anything to placate an evil drug lord, even risk the lives of all his patients. Luis Angel de la Rosa orders the entire hospital evacuated so that he will be the only patient there. Vargas complies, even though it’s his hospital, his patients, displaced for the convenience of a villain who never should have gained access to the premises.
Shouldn’t I deny that I ever liked Vargas at any point in this narrative? I would, but it’s easier to blame Amy Rogers for delivering such complex, well-developed characters, we aren’t always sure who to hate and who we most want to see tortured, dismembered and—wait. I have never wished to see that sort of thing—honest! Rogers will make you see bloody justice (and injustice) whether you want to or not.
While Cristo, a dog, and a certain gangbanger are my favorite characters, Sameer also steals my heart. His devotion to Tessa is endearing, but Tessa is obsessed with her work, not with men. A pity, considering the great men who are right at her fingertips. Sameer goes to great lengths to spare Tessa any sort of suffering, trauma or mere inconvenience, including her fear of needles, which would get no sympathy from me. I’d jab her, quick, draw the blood, scan it, and tell her to shut up and take it like a man. Ah, Sameer. The things we do for love. (Did I mention that I love Sameer?)
The evacuation scene is a nightmare of patients on stretchers being flown out, planes blowing up, and gangbangers overtaking the hospital. Tessa manages to elude the evacuation. She can’t take her patient anywhere else, so she hides Gunnar and his mother, with the help of an unlikely trio: a rich Texas patient, the wise-cracking Lyle Simmons; his young Brazilian lover, Isabella, who takes his lame humor in stride; and his guard dog, a well-trained German Shepherd named Dixie. Instead of posting excerpts as proof of the dog’s greatness, I’ll just say she’s one of the best protagonists in a thriller, ever. #GottaLoveDixie, as I’d say on Twitter, but the ARC (advanced-review copy) didn’t allow me to Kindle-share.
Drug lords and gangbangers aren’t the only deadly threat Tessa and her cohorts face. A mysterious rabies-like infection appears in the Palacio’s chimpanzees and spreads to humans. It appears to be the result of a “reversion” unleashed by Tessa’s own tinkering with the rabies virus to combat Batten disease, an inherited disorder that wreaks havoc on the nervous system. Child victims gradually develop progressive vision loss, intellectual and motor disability, speech difficulties, and seizures. Gunnar had gone downhill and close to the abyss until Tessa’s treatment not only stops his decline, but reverses it. She modifies the rabies virus to carry the healthy gene Gunnar needs to survive. She uses “every molecular safeguard in the book to disable the virus,” and she vaccinates Gunnar against rabies, just to hedge her bets. Everyone working with the modified virus has taken the vaccine, “in case through some one-in-a-billion chance the virus overcame its genetic handicaps and found a way to breed. In case the virus reverted to wild type.”
No one could anticipate the circumstances that bring an actual case of rabies to the vicinity. The resulting “reversion” unleashes a whole new host of micro/bio/chemical catastrophes. Anyone who’s read “Shardik” by Richard Adams will remember how lurid nature can be when an animal attacks a human. Some scenes, once “seen” in our minds, can never be unseen. I advise squeamish readers to speed right through the bloodshed.
I cannot resist this semi-spoiler: fans of “Breaking Bad” who will never un-see a certain demise of a certain villain can look forward to an equally horrifying scene in “Reversion.” There’s more than one villain in this novel, so you’ll just have to read, read, read at breakneck speed to see who suffers most.
This novel is as smart as it is lurid. The prose is tightly crafted. Every little event holds some significance. What it is, the reader cannot guess until the story unfolds. Gradually, inexorably, we begin to see how everything happens for a reason.
Rogers says her goal is to do for science lovers what Harlequin did for romance fans. In addition to writing her own thrillers, she founded ScienceThrillers Media, a niche publisher of hard science fiction, medical thrillers, technothrillers, “LabLit,” and popular nonfiction. “The science need not be one hundred percent real,” the website informs aspiring authors, “but should be believable to scientifically literate readers.”
I dream of the day science fiction outsells paperback romances. Novels like “Reversion” and “The Neanderthal’s Aunt” (by Dr. Gina DeMarco, published by ScienceThrillers Media, reviewed in April, 2014, “Perihelion”) are an excellent start. Maybe if Rogers had sneaked a romance into the story (as DeMarco did), her fan base would rival Harlequin’s. While I don’t care much if I ever see Tessa in a sequel, have I mentioned how eager I am to see more of Cristo? (“Reversion,” Amy Rogers, ScienceThrillers Media) —Carol Kean
ORIGINAL REVIEW for GOODREADS:
My official review of this novel will go live at Perihelion Science Fiction ezine on November 12, 2014.
In the meantime, I can only say this is a splendid story of a mother who's also a scientist. She was unable to save her own son from dying of a terrible disease, but with her research into the rabies virus, she may have found a cure for Batten's disease (a real-life condition, but in real life, the rabies virus isn't under consideration as a cure).
But that's only one facet of the story. To conduct clinical trials on this radical, innovative new treatment, Dr. Tessa Price has to flee the restrictions of the States for a medical facility in Mexico, where government oversight is not an issue.
Dr. Vargas isn't one to let bureaucracy get in the way of medical progress, but when a drug lord takes over the hospital, we see the priorities of this doctor shift from his patients to saving his own hide.
But that, too, isn't the most riveting part of the story. There's the boy being treated with an altered rabies virus; there's a dog named Dixie, a sweetheart of a medic named Sameer, and Cristo (Cristo!), the native Mexican who works for Dr. Vargas and opens this novel with one of the most vivid, lurid scenes since...oh, since Vince Gilligan's epic TV show, "Breaking Bad."
Oops, I was only going to say one thing about "Reversions" - but I'm not repeating here anything I wrote for Perihelion.
Are there flaws in the novel? Nothing too distracting. Real life is filled with coincidence, to the point that people speak of fatalism or destiny. Some stupendous things happen in "Reversion." Unlike that Mel Gibson movie about the aliens in which every little glass of water or baseball bat comes into play with some sort of divine predestination, this story simply has us sighing "Ah!" with satisfaction when we see why one thing or another was there for a reason all along.
The synopsis tells enough about the plot, I won't summarize it here. But I will say this is a riveting story with memorable characters. Lyle and Isabelle seem a bit over the top, perhaps, but still lovable.
Science Thrillers Media is doing a great job of delivering strong heroines and a healthy dose of science. Five stars to another of their novels, "The Neanderthal's Aunt" by Dr. Gina DeMarco (also reviewed in Perihelion Science Fiction, April 2014).
February 23, 2018
Really engaging read
This book had it all which made for really engaging reading. The characters, especially Gunner, were all fantastically written, the storyline was well paced and carried the characters well. But my favorite character in the whole book was most definately Dixie
This book had it all which made for really engaging reading. The characters, especially Gunner, were all fantastically written, the storyline was well paced and carried the characters well. But my favorite character in the whole book was most definately Dixie
April 21, 2022
I would put this story in the category of medical thriller. Loved this story. Very exciting and a bit gory. Lots of action from the first page. Kept me turning the page. Could not put it down.
September 24, 2014
Although I compare, favorably, Amy Roger's last novel, PETROPLAGUE, to Michael Crichton's novels, I cannot compare her current novel, REVERSION, to that same author. That's because REVERSION does not seem to be far-out science fiction. While PETROPLAGUE and REVERSION are both written with the authenticity that an actual scientist author brings to them, REVERSION is not only a science but, also, a medical thriller. And the medicine, especially if you know anything about kidney failure, seems real. (I'd say "is real," but our scientist comes up with more than one cure for the incurable and performs as a medical doctor in the absence of the real thing.)
Tessa is our scientist. She is working on a cure for the disease that killed her own child. A seven-year-old boy needs her cure, but she cannot administer it in the U.S. Therefore, the child is receiving the experimental treatment at a hospital in Mexico.
Unfortunately, the hospital's owner deals with illegal drugs and the cartels he gets them from. Nothing good can come from those relationships, and tension builds from that--but not only that. There are also rabid animals let loose from their cages. And unethical doctors. And people becoming uncontrollably viscous for unknown reasons.
I'm glad I read this book before I read any reviews, and I suggest you do the same. While I am careful not to say too much, I think others do. Give yourself the pleasure of discovering this book rather than anticipating everything that's going to happen.
This review is of an uncorrected proof of REVERSION provided by Science Thrillers Media.
Tessa is our scientist. She is working on a cure for the disease that killed her own child. A seven-year-old boy needs her cure, but she cannot administer it in the U.S. Therefore, the child is receiving the experimental treatment at a hospital in Mexico.
Unfortunately, the hospital's owner deals with illegal drugs and the cartels he gets them from. Nothing good can come from those relationships, and tension builds from that--but not only that. There are also rabid animals let loose from their cages. And unethical doctors. And people becoming uncontrollably viscous for unknown reasons.
I'm glad I read this book before I read any reviews, and I suggest you do the same. While I am careful not to say too much, I think others do. Give yourself the pleasure of discovering this book rather than anticipating everything that's going to happen.
This review is of an uncorrected proof of REVERSION provided by Science Thrillers Media.
December 4, 2014
Wow this is a thrilling roller-coaster ride from start to finish. It has everything. Face-eating killer chimps, Drug Lords at war, deadly mind altering pathogens, Planes and helicopters being shot out of the air, and to top it all off the main character is deathly afraid of needles. This story takes place in the Palacio a ultra-chic hospital for the rich and famous located south of the border along Mexico's coastline. Tessa Price flies in to the Palacio to check on the extraordinary progress of an experimental gene therapy she developed. Little does she know, Vargas the Hospital's owner/administrator has a deal with the local drug Lord to provide medical care for the narcotic named Plack that's distributed to his patients for pain. When the head honcho of the drug cartel needs a kidney transplant. Vargas has to move heaven and hell to evacuate his hospital. He failed.....Hell isn't that easy to move. A rival Drug cartel gets wind of the transplant surgery and surrounds the hospital firing missiles at anything that flies. In the midst of all that Tess discovers an airborne pathogen similar to rabies, has infected some of the hospital staff. As I said this is one wild hellacious ride.
October 28, 2014
Book Review & Giveaway: After reading and reviewing Petroplague, I was delighted when Amy Rogers let me know she has a new novel coming out, Reversion. I was even more delighted when she offered a copy for a giveaway. With a background in microbiology and biochemistry, Amy Rogers knows her science so it’s probably not a surprise that she’s chosen to write thrillers with a strong scientific thread. That does not, however, mean that you’ll be bored – not by a long shot. In fact, her expertise lends such verisimilitude to her stories that you may want to lock yourself into an environmentally safe bubble. If you like the types of thrillers Michael Crichton writes, let’s just say that Amy Rogers is going to give him a run for his money! Read the rest of my review & enter our giveaway at http://popcornreads.com/?p=7834.
June 2, 2015
Excellent. This book is far better than those written currently by well established, best selling medical thriller authors who are currently published by mainstream publishers. Authentic, scary as hell, interesting/educational. This book kept me riveted. Not only was the story line engrossing, but I found the topic fascinating. I will definitely be reading more of Rogers. I only hope that this catches on with the mainstream reading crowd as Rogers deserves a huge following. (own the book).
November 12, 2014
This is a wonderful medical thriller that I just loved. Dr. Tessa Price is trapped in an experimental hospital by warring drug cartels and must save her fragile patient,Gunnar,her work,the hospital and herself. This great book speeds along and captivates you from the start.I can't wait to read more for
this author!
this author!
February 26, 2018
Medical thriller describes well this somewhat gruesome novel. Without overwhelming the reader, Rogers spins a tale of discovery, greed on so many levels, and absolutely corrupt power.
Opening with a nightmare scene of a bat attack on a tech on a drug run and in deep trouble, the story spirals out of control from the first page and breathlessly leads readers on a terrifying journey of terror and healing.
Harsh as it sounded, Dr. Tessa Price is what Administrator Vargas accuses—a medical school washout—one with a needle phobia that nearly costs her life. Refusing the required blood test upon entry to the luxurious Mexican medical resort, the doctor secretly in love with her, Sameer, resolves the matter by falsifying her record.
At first Tessa’s visit to the spa to make sure her experimental treatment continues even when the specialized tech is out sick seems like an idyllic break in her messy life. That idyll quickly turns into a nightmare when she is caught up in war between powerful gangs.
Tessa must come to several self-actualizing truths during her ordeal. Among many of her issues, needle phobia is the least is the least of them when she learns exactly what has happened with her research. She shows her true mettle when she learns how to operate on the fly, and what the depths of true, selfless love can do.
I give this book four stars instead of five because of the author’s habit of annoying switching around internal and external thoughts, and unnecessary sentences fragments attempting to ramp tension when there is plenty without it. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed the story and obvious excellent research. I did question whether a femoral arterial bleed can be halted with paper towels and pressure, but as the author has a medical degree, I accepted it. Recommended for those who like rapid action and don’t mind lots of blood and guts.
Opening with a nightmare scene of a bat attack on a tech on a drug run and in deep trouble, the story spirals out of control from the first page and breathlessly leads readers on a terrifying journey of terror and healing.
Harsh as it sounded, Dr. Tessa Price is what Administrator Vargas accuses—a medical school washout—one with a needle phobia that nearly costs her life. Refusing the required blood test upon entry to the luxurious Mexican medical resort, the doctor secretly in love with her, Sameer, resolves the matter by falsifying her record.
At first Tessa’s visit to the spa to make sure her experimental treatment continues even when the specialized tech is out sick seems like an idyllic break in her messy life. That idyll quickly turns into a nightmare when she is caught up in war between powerful gangs.
Tessa must come to several self-actualizing truths during her ordeal. Among many of her issues, needle phobia is the least is the least of them when she learns exactly what has happened with her research. She shows her true mettle when she learns how to operate on the fly, and what the depths of true, selfless love can do.
I give this book four stars instead of five because of the author’s habit of annoying switching around internal and external thoughts, and unnecessary sentences fragments attempting to ramp tension when there is plenty without it. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed the story and obvious excellent research. I did question whether a femoral arterial bleed can be halted with paper towels and pressure, but as the author has a medical degree, I accepted it. Recommended for those who like rapid action and don’t mind lots of blood and guts.
March 12, 2018
I was given a free review copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. After losing hrr own child to tge same disease, Tessa has developed a radical gene therapy that hopefully will save the young 7 year old boy Gunner. Gene therapy is unregulated in the States so treatment is in Mexico at a private run med facility. The king pin of one of the local drug cartels needs a kidney transplant and in exchange for a cocaine drug they call Plack, which the med facility uses, he wants his transplant now. All he'll breaks loose when an opposing drug cartel starts firing on the facility to kill the king pin. With test animals running loose its not just the crazies with guns they will need to beware of, rabid dogs and problematic chimps will add to the chaos. Time is running out for everyone, and trying to maintain Gunners vital gene therapy treatment and evade the drug cartel is just part of the problem. Who to trust, is there a airborne infection, rabies, time will tell.
December 9, 2017
A really good book that kept me reading, although some of the plot was predictable. Enjoyed the accuracy of the medical info without the story having to move too much into fringe medicine/science. Too bad no cure or even good treatment yet exists for Batten Disease. Will definitely look into this author's other book.
May 5, 2017
Solid story
Somewhat far fetched but plausible story with several plot lines converging into a seriously tense read. Almost every character is a hero or a villain, and I do love a loyal dog....
Somewhat far fetched but plausible story with several plot lines converging into a seriously tense read. Almost every character is a hero or a villain, and I do love a loyal dog....
January 21, 2020
Gut wrenching thriller
Medical thriller with groundbreaking viral technology, greed, drug cartel warfare with an idealistic Doctor, a little boy with terminal illness and a dog.
Everything you need for a ripping good yarn that was hard to put down!
Medical thriller with groundbreaking viral technology, greed, drug cartel warfare with an idealistic Doctor, a little boy with terminal illness and a dog.
Everything you need for a ripping good yarn that was hard to put down!
March 18, 2017
Great thriller
Great medical thriller... This is similar to a Michael Crichton or Robin Cook novel. Enjoyable characters and a nice, speedy pace.
Great medical thriller... This is similar to a Michael Crichton or Robin Cook novel. Enjoyable characters and a nice, speedy pace.
September 1, 2017
Great read
Very entertaining. Some medical science, mixed with action, and good dialogue . I especially liked the characters, good and bad. Well written. Glad I found this book.
Very entertaining. Some medical science, mixed with action, and good dialogue . I especially liked the characters, good and bad. Well written. Glad I found this book.
February 23, 2018
This book was so good! Tessa was a likable character. The book was a great medical science thriller packed with twists and turns. Strongly recommend!!
August 10, 2022
Excellent medical thriller, with just the right amount of action, science and gore. Amy Rogers brings everything you could want in this fast paced story.
October 24, 2014
My day job is managing and working in a laboratory, which means I have to endure countless government as well as institutional oversights for the day to day operations of the laboratory. First there are visits from EH&S, Environmental Health and Safety, who come around occasionally and check out to see if I have updated my SOPs, Standard Operating Procedures, a detailed description of what I do in the laboratory and MSDS, Material Safety Data Sheets, which are documents that describe in excruciating detail every chemical in the laboratory. Once these documents are produced, nobody ever looks at them again, but they are there just in case. If one works with radioactivity, they get to deal with the RSC, Radiation Safety Committee, or if they work with human subjects they get to work with the IRB, Institutional Review Board, or with animals the IACUC, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. I don’t even want to begin on the amount of regulation and oversight that is necessary if a drug trial is involved especially if it involves a live virus. Anytime that one gets the opportunity to work with one of these committees, it will surely mean countless piles of paper work and weeks, months and even years of delays before any research can even begin.
So you may ask, why am I boring you with a bunch of acronyms and what does this have to do with a review on Amy Rogers' medical thriller, Reversion? Plenty, because the main protagonist, Dr. Tessa Price, has made a pact with the devil in order to circumvent all the hoopla that goes on when a researcher wants to test their drug on real live people. Price has designed a drug based on gene therapy using the rabies virus as a vector to deliver the genetic material to the specific tissue to where it would be most effective and in this case nervous tissue. If she were to test this drug here in the US of A, it could take months if not years and countless mounds of paperwork and meetings at a huge cost before a human trial could be launched. Tessa Price avoids all of this by setting up her drug trial at a hospital in Mexico that accepts medical tourist. Mexico’s regulation on clinical trials and research testing are one of the most lenient in the world and Amy Rogers gives us a glimpse on a grand scale to why this may be a problem.
The devil that Tessa Price made a pact with is Dr. Manuel Vargas, who makes a comfortable living by hosting patients from around the world in his hospital, the Palacio, which is more like a posh resort than a hospital. Vargas has also made a pact with a devil that is even more evil then himself, which is Luis Angel de la Rosa, the leader of a drug cartel known as the Sinaloa. Vargas has been buying pain medication for his patients illegally through the Sinaloa and it is payback time, and the cost is a kidney transplant for de la Rosa. Once de la Rosa enters the hospital all things go to hell, so to speak, as a rival drug cartel, the Zetas, decide it is time to declare war on the Sinaloa. If that wasn’t bad enough, Vargas also conducts animal trials at his hospital which includes the use of chimpanzees in a facility that was not designed for primates especially chimpanzees. As a result of the poor conditions of the facility and the inadequate care of all the animals, an epidemic of what seems to be a rabies-like disease takes place among all of the animals in the facility, including the chimpanzees. Once the war between the drug cartels begin, the animals escape and as one would expect, the results are total mayhem.
As for our protagonist, Tessa Price, I have mixed feelings. A certain part of me sympathizes with her need to bypass regulations to test her drug but another part of me felt that her arrogance pushed forth her agenda that resulted in tremendous suffering for a number of people. The shining light of the story is Dr. Sameer Desai, a physician working with Price, who also has romantic feelings for her. His total selflessness and his need to do what is right is nothing less than inspiring.
Now I am one of the first to complain about the rigorous regulatory oversight that goes with the territory of research and medicine, but after reading Amy Rogers' Reversion, I might bite my tongue the next time I open my mouth to complain. Reversion is a fun medical thriller that not only gives you a great ride but also provides food for thought on the trials and tribulations of doing clinical trials in third world countries. It also raises awareness over the use of viruses in drug therapy especially viruses that may be pathogenic if they revert to a more lethal form, such as the rabies virus.
To learn more about Amy Rogers and her new book Reversion check out http://athrillaweek.com/amy-rogers-me...
So you may ask, why am I boring you with a bunch of acronyms and what does this have to do with a review on Amy Rogers' medical thriller, Reversion? Plenty, because the main protagonist, Dr. Tessa Price, has made a pact with the devil in order to circumvent all the hoopla that goes on when a researcher wants to test their drug on real live people. Price has designed a drug based on gene therapy using the rabies virus as a vector to deliver the genetic material to the specific tissue to where it would be most effective and in this case nervous tissue. If she were to test this drug here in the US of A, it could take months if not years and countless mounds of paperwork and meetings at a huge cost before a human trial could be launched. Tessa Price avoids all of this by setting up her drug trial at a hospital in Mexico that accepts medical tourist. Mexico’s regulation on clinical trials and research testing are one of the most lenient in the world and Amy Rogers gives us a glimpse on a grand scale to why this may be a problem.
The devil that Tessa Price made a pact with is Dr. Manuel Vargas, who makes a comfortable living by hosting patients from around the world in his hospital, the Palacio, which is more like a posh resort than a hospital. Vargas has also made a pact with a devil that is even more evil then himself, which is Luis Angel de la Rosa, the leader of a drug cartel known as the Sinaloa. Vargas has been buying pain medication for his patients illegally through the Sinaloa and it is payback time, and the cost is a kidney transplant for de la Rosa. Once de la Rosa enters the hospital all things go to hell, so to speak, as a rival drug cartel, the Zetas, decide it is time to declare war on the Sinaloa. If that wasn’t bad enough, Vargas also conducts animal trials at his hospital which includes the use of chimpanzees in a facility that was not designed for primates especially chimpanzees. As a result of the poor conditions of the facility and the inadequate care of all the animals, an epidemic of what seems to be a rabies-like disease takes place among all of the animals in the facility, including the chimpanzees. Once the war between the drug cartels begin, the animals escape and as one would expect, the results are total mayhem.
As for our protagonist, Tessa Price, I have mixed feelings. A certain part of me sympathizes with her need to bypass regulations to test her drug but another part of me felt that her arrogance pushed forth her agenda that resulted in tremendous suffering for a number of people. The shining light of the story is Dr. Sameer Desai, a physician working with Price, who also has romantic feelings for her. His total selflessness and his need to do what is right is nothing less than inspiring.
Now I am one of the first to complain about the rigorous regulatory oversight that goes with the territory of research and medicine, but after reading Amy Rogers' Reversion, I might bite my tongue the next time I open my mouth to complain. Reversion is a fun medical thriller that not only gives you a great ride but also provides food for thought on the trials and tribulations of doing clinical trials in third world countries. It also raises awareness over the use of viruses in drug therapy especially viruses that may be pathogenic if they revert to a more lethal form, such as the rabies virus.
To learn more about Amy Rogers and her new book Reversion check out http://athrillaweek.com/amy-rogers-me...
March 13, 2017
An excellent precept for the book kept me very entertained as a novel should.
Read
September 10, 2016I received a free copy of the ARC, Reversion, from Goodreads First Reads.
Initial review:
So far so good. A few awkward writing elements (like the onomatopoeia), but, overall, an interesting read. I love the diversity of characters, and the medical/science references and lingo. (Reading this book also reminds of how much I really, really miss lab work. *sigh*)
Final review:
I was well on my way to giving this book a rating of 4 to 4.5 stars. And then, near the end, things took a turn for the worst. Not that anything was wrong with the plot per se, but one line really ruined it for me. This book would definitely be Rated R, with all the blood and gore (from medical procedures and violent carnage) and the profanity (my personal pet peeve). After all, it is a medical/science thriller. So, be warned.
The characters are pretty interesting; some of them really worked on my nerves, which was expected because of the type of people they are. I guess you could say I was most invested in Gunnar, the child with Batten disease that Tessa (one of the main protagonists) is trying to help, and his mother. The others are questionable, ethically.
The storyline is pretty intricate and well developed. It's told in third person but shifts its focus to different characters from Cristo (a lab worker--one of Tessa's colleague) at the beginning, and then primarily alternates between Sameer (a medical doctor--another of Tessa's colleagues), Tessa, and Vargas (the cruel, egotistical director of the Palacio hospital where Tessa and her colleagues treat Gunnar and the main setting of the story). Still, much about certain characters (their thoughts, feelings, ambitions, secrets, etc.) is left unsaid until the end when all is revealed, or, at least, most is.
Even though many of the story's developments seemed predictable (to me, at least), some of the details are not, which kept it interesting. It also kept me an attentive reader, riding waves of curiosity, anger, frustration, agony, and, finally, relief. ...or is there true relief? Should there be a calm after the storm? After so much loss? Are all the problems solved? (For instance, what about the drug lord? The boy?) Not really.
Because of my mixed feelings, I decided not to rate this book. Instead, I leave it to others to decide what they think of it on their own, without too much encouragement. And...who knows...the uncorrected proof I received may have gone through a number of changes before its final copy emerges--one of which may omit the line I feel is unpardonable.
Initial review:
So far so good. A few awkward writing elements (like the onomatopoeia), but, overall, an interesting read. I love the diversity of characters, and the medical/science references and lingo. (Reading this book also reminds of how much I really, really miss lab work. *sigh*)
Final review:
I was well on my way to giving this book a rating of 4 to 4.5 stars. And then, near the end, things took a turn for the worst. Not that anything was wrong with the plot per se, but one line really ruined it for me. This book would definitely be Rated R, with all the blood and gore (from medical procedures and violent carnage) and the profanity (my personal pet peeve). After all, it is a medical/science thriller. So, be warned.
The characters are pretty interesting; some of them really worked on my nerves, which was expected because of the type of people they are. I guess you could say I was most invested in Gunnar, the child with Batten disease that Tessa (one of the main protagonists) is trying to help, and his mother. The others are questionable, ethically.
The storyline is pretty intricate and well developed. It's told in third person but shifts its focus to different characters from Cristo (a lab worker--one of Tessa's colleague) at the beginning, and then primarily alternates between Sameer (a medical doctor--another of Tessa's colleagues), Tessa, and Vargas (the cruel, egotistical director of the Palacio hospital where Tessa and her colleagues treat Gunnar and the main setting of the story). Still, much about certain characters (their thoughts, feelings, ambitions, secrets, etc.) is left unsaid until the end when all is revealed, or, at least, most is.
Even though many of the story's developments seemed predictable (to me, at least), some of the details are not, which kept it interesting. It also kept me an attentive reader, riding waves of curiosity, anger, frustration, agony, and, finally, relief. ...or is there true relief? Should there be a calm after the storm? After so much loss? Are all the problems solved? (For instance, what about the drug lord? The boy?) Not really.
Because of my mixed feelings, I decided not to rate this book. Instead, I leave it to others to decide what they think of it on their own, without too much encouragement. And...who knows...the uncorrected proof I received may have gone through a number of changes before its final copy emerges--one of which may omit the line I feel is unpardonable.
July 21, 2015
Tessa Price, a scientist researching a cure for a rare neurodegenerative disease, gets more than she bargained for when she heads to a private medical facility in Mexico to help with a child when one of the other scientists becomes ill. The Mexican facility is funding her project, and the child is her research subject. Her desire to save the boy stems from both a professional and personal interest. Unfortunately, anything and everything that can go wrong does, and before Tessa knows it, she—and those are around her—are in grave danger. They’re caught up in a drug war when a drug lord assumes the hospital as his own personal treatment center, and if that wasn’t bad enough, a lethal infection is spreading through the complex.
Reversion is a real page-turner with escalating tension and nonstop action. The science, though complex in nature, is easily understandable thanks to the author’s deft touch. As with all fiction, some suspension of disbelief is required, but Rogers makes the events seem plausible. Great characters compliment Tessa in her quest to survive. All in all, a very enjoyable read for fans of science thrillers.
Review is based on an ARC (advance reading copy) I received of this novel.
Reversion is a real page-turner with escalating tension and nonstop action. The science, though complex in nature, is easily understandable thanks to the author’s deft touch. As with all fiction, some suspension of disbelief is required, but Rogers makes the events seem plausible. Great characters compliment Tessa in her quest to survive. All in all, a very enjoyable read for fans of science thrillers.
Review is based on an ARC (advance reading copy) I received of this novel.
October 21, 2014
From the first page you will be intrigued with the story. There are cartels killing each other, medical experiments, greedy people and much more.
It touches on topics that are very sensitive right now, and Tessa has to figure out what is morally correct.
The story takes place in Guerrero in a clinic called Palacio Centro Medico. This clinic is where the tourist go and get things done medically that might not be allowed in their country.
Tessa practices a gene therapy that is not approved in the US and takes her experiments to the Palacio to test it on a kid that suffers from a medical illness.
Things go wrong when a drug cartel takes over the Palacio and many things develop from that.
The story is very interersting and I truly see a clinic like the Palacio Centro Medico existing somewhere outside the US. I live in a Border Town and see many people heading south to get treatments that are cheaper or are not allowed in the US. The author did her reasearch very well and many things, if not all things were accurate and very real to me.
If you want to read a book where love, suspense and greed is involved, this book is for you.
It touches on topics that are very sensitive right now, and Tessa has to figure out what is morally correct.
The story takes place in Guerrero in a clinic called Palacio Centro Medico. This clinic is where the tourist go and get things done medically that might not be allowed in their country.
Tessa practices a gene therapy that is not approved in the US and takes her experiments to the Palacio to test it on a kid that suffers from a medical illness.
Things go wrong when a drug cartel takes over the Palacio and many things develop from that.
The story is very interersting and I truly see a clinic like the Palacio Centro Medico existing somewhere outside the US. I live in a Border Town and see many people heading south to get treatments that are cheaper or are not allowed in the US. The author did her reasearch very well and many things, if not all things were accurate and very real to me.
If you want to read a book where love, suspense and greed is involved, this book is for you.
October 18, 2014
This book grabs you at the very first paragraph and doesn't let go! Amy Rogers has been compared to several other well known authors but I honestly don't see that, she's a force to be reckoned with and a writing style all her own.
Dr. Tessa Price is flown into the Palacio Centro Medico by helicopter located in the jungle outside of Acapulco, Mexico. The Palacio caters to the very wealthy and doesn't always adhere to AMA rules, which keeps it very busy. Tessa is going to the Palacio for a specific reason - to try to cure a 7 year old boy of a rare disease. Due to the reputation of the Palacio, Tessa's world spins out of control and she finds herself in a life or death situation.
Reversion is a medical thriller that will keep you up late into the wee hours of morning, your heart racing as if you're right there with Tessa cheering her on and hoping for more. Inevitably, we reach the end of the book but I'm hoping for more from Amy Rogers and am getting ready to dive into Petroplague.
Dr. Tessa Price is flown into the Palacio Centro Medico by helicopter located in the jungle outside of Acapulco, Mexico. The Palacio caters to the very wealthy and doesn't always adhere to AMA rules, which keeps it very busy. Tessa is going to the Palacio for a specific reason - to try to cure a 7 year old boy of a rare disease. Due to the reputation of the Palacio, Tessa's world spins out of control and she finds herself in a life or death situation.
Reversion is a medical thriller that will keep you up late into the wee hours of morning, your heart racing as if you're right there with Tessa cheering her on and hoping for more. Inevitably, we reach the end of the book but I'm hoping for more from Amy Rogers and am getting ready to dive into Petroplague.
December 30, 2018
I have to say, I liked Petroplague better. Even though that issue was still caused by people meddling where they shouldn't, it had the feel of a natural disaster epic, and that just worked better for me than this experimental medical facility caught in the middle of a drug war. (The medical focus also made it really frustrating that one of the groups was constantly abbreviated as MS; I couldn't stop reading it as Multiple Sclerosis.) It was a quick, entertaining thriller, but it just didn't grab me the way her first novel did.
February 4, 2015
This is an action packed story, with lots of twists and turns as we follow Tessa the protagonist whose working on a cure for Batten disease and is doing her research at a high end hospital
in Mexico that caters to the wealthy. Dr. Vargas, who owns and operates the hospital has been buying Plack an allegedly non addictive pain killer from the cartel. The hospital becomes embroiled in the conflict between the cartel and a rival gang when the cartel leader, whose kidneys are failing, demands that Dr, Vargas perform a kidney transplant. A fast paced entertaining read worth reading.
in Mexico that caters to the wealthy. Dr. Vargas, who owns and operates the hospital has been buying Plack an allegedly non addictive pain killer from the cartel. The hospital becomes embroiled in the conflict between the cartel and a rival gang when the cartel leader, whose kidneys are failing, demands that Dr, Vargas perform a kidney transplant. A fast paced entertaining read worth reading.
November 23, 2014
I received this book free through Good Reads first reads. I'll admit that I started reading it unsure if it was something I would want to continue reading. It drew me in, so I was always ready to pick it back up and read further to find out what was going to happen!
May 4, 2015
This is generally not the genre I read, but this book was extremely well-written and entertaining.
April 25, 2017
Fascinating book
This book kept on getting better and better. Fascinating subject matter and wonderfully written. I couldn't put it down. Great ending.
This book kept on getting better and better. Fascinating subject matter and wonderfully written. I couldn't put it down. Great ending.
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