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Sapient
Abandoned by her husband after the birth of their child, Jane Dixon’s world is defined by her autistic son and the research she does to find a cure for his condition. She knows her work on animal intelligence may hold the key. She also knows that the research will take decades to complete. None of it will ultimately benefit her son.
All that changes when a lab rat named Einstein demonstrates that he can read and write. Just as her research yields results, the U.S. government discovers her program. The army wants to harness her research for its military potential. The CDC wants to shut her down completely. The implications of animal intelligence are too dangerous, particularly when the previously inert virus proves to be highly contagious.
She steals the virus to cure her son, but the government discovers the theft. She must now escape to Canada before the authorities can replace her son’s mental prison with a physical one.
All that changes when a lab rat named Einstein demonstrates that he can read and write. Just as her research yields results, the U.S. government discovers her program. The army wants to harness her research for its military potential. The CDC wants to shut her down completely. The implications of animal intelligence are too dangerous, particularly when the previously inert virus proves to be highly contagious.
She steals the virus to cure her son, but the government discovers the theft. She must now escape to Canada before the authorities can replace her son’s mental prison with a physical one.
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First published April 1, 2015
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June 10, 2015
“He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark.”
----J.K. Rowling
Jerry Kaczmarowski, an American author, pens his new book, Sapient that traces the thrilling journey of a mother who works as a scientist and is trying to find a cure for her autistic son, while her research involves in the field of animal intelligence.
Synopsis:
Abandoned by her husband after the birth of their child, Jane Dixon’s world is defined by her autistic son and the research she does to find a cure for his condition. She knows her work on animal intelligence may hold the key. She also knows that the research will take decades to complete. None of it will ultimately benefit her son.
All that changes when a lab rat named Einstein demonstrates that he can read and write. Just as her research yields results, the U.S. government discovers her program. The army wants to harness her research for its military potential. The CDC wants to shut her down completely. The implications of animal intelligence are too dangerous, particularly when the previously inert virus proves to be highly contagious.
She steals the virus to cure her son, but the government discovers the theft. She must now escape to Canada before the authorities can replace her son’s mental prison with a physical one.
Dr. Jane Dixon is working day and night to discover a cure for her son's autism side-by-side trying to find out intelligence among rats and dogs, and after futile attempts she saw that the intelligence between a rat named, Einstein and a dog named, Bear has increased and that left her with a tiny bit of hope for her son's diagnosis. Unfortunately, CDC and the government both are trying to take control and sabotaging her research. She must run away with that miracle serum before it's too late to save her only son.
The writing style is fine and crisp with thorough detailing and the pace of the book is steady. From the very initial chapters, the author managed to drew in our focus to the story. The narrative style is articulate and free-flowing. Given the fact that this is a science-fiction story layered behind lots of scientific logic and explanations, the author have done a great job with his imaginative skill to give justice to this plot.
The characters are strongly developed, be it humans or animals, especially, the latter made the plot bit entertaining with their skills and abilities. The author focuses on the subject of testing of new medicines on animals through this book that showed us the ugly truth about the inhuman treatments done to the helpless animals. The main character, Jane is a strong and determined mother who doesn't fear the challenges thrown into her way. The whole plot is layered with adrenaline-rushing action scenes which gave me a thrill to read this book.
There are never-ending twists and turns that no doubt, kept me on the loop but at times, I wished, the story to move forward a bit with it's actual theme, instead of misleading us. Anyhow, overall, this is an exciting and unique book where the mother goes at any length to save her son's life, in short, Jane is unstoppable even though political agenda is playing their role to stop her from getting her hands on that cure.
Verdict: Science fiction fans will appeal to this book largely or if you love reading a tight-packed action story, the you must definitely go for this book.
Courtesy: I received this book from Book Publicity Services.
----J.K. Rowling
Jerry Kaczmarowski, an American author, pens his new book, Sapient that traces the thrilling journey of a mother who works as a scientist and is trying to find a cure for her autistic son, while her research involves in the field of animal intelligence.
Synopsis:
Abandoned by her husband after the birth of their child, Jane Dixon’s world is defined by her autistic son and the research she does to find a cure for his condition. She knows her work on animal intelligence may hold the key. She also knows that the research will take decades to complete. None of it will ultimately benefit her son.
All that changes when a lab rat named Einstein demonstrates that he can read and write. Just as her research yields results, the U.S. government discovers her program. The army wants to harness her research for its military potential. The CDC wants to shut her down completely. The implications of animal intelligence are too dangerous, particularly when the previously inert virus proves to be highly contagious.
She steals the virus to cure her son, but the government discovers the theft. She must now escape to Canada before the authorities can replace her son’s mental prison with a physical one.
Dr. Jane Dixon is working day and night to discover a cure for her son's autism side-by-side trying to find out intelligence among rats and dogs, and after futile attempts she saw that the intelligence between a rat named, Einstein and a dog named, Bear has increased and that left her with a tiny bit of hope for her son's diagnosis. Unfortunately, CDC and the government both are trying to take control and sabotaging her research. She must run away with that miracle serum before it's too late to save her only son.
The writing style is fine and crisp with thorough detailing and the pace of the book is steady. From the very initial chapters, the author managed to drew in our focus to the story. The narrative style is articulate and free-flowing. Given the fact that this is a science-fiction story layered behind lots of scientific logic and explanations, the author have done a great job with his imaginative skill to give justice to this plot.
The characters are strongly developed, be it humans or animals, especially, the latter made the plot bit entertaining with their skills and abilities. The author focuses on the subject of testing of new medicines on animals through this book that showed us the ugly truth about the inhuman treatments done to the helpless animals. The main character, Jane is a strong and determined mother who doesn't fear the challenges thrown into her way. The whole plot is layered with adrenaline-rushing action scenes which gave me a thrill to read this book.
There are never-ending twists and turns that no doubt, kept me on the loop but at times, I wished, the story to move forward a bit with it's actual theme, instead of misleading us. Anyhow, overall, this is an exciting and unique book where the mother goes at any length to save her son's life, in short, Jane is unstoppable even though political agenda is playing their role to stop her from getting her hands on that cure.
Verdict: Science fiction fans will appeal to this book largely or if you love reading a tight-packed action story, the you must definitely go for this book.
Courtesy: I received this book from Book Publicity Services.
May 4, 2015
* I received this as a free eBook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. *
Two things are important in Jane Dixon’s life, her autistic son Robbie and her research into animal intelligence. She hopes that the research will eventually lead to a cure for Robbie’s autism, but to date all she has been able to do is increase one rat’s ability to run a virtual maze. The rat, Einstein, surprises her daily with his increased intelligence but Jane understands that any progress she makes is still decades away from helping Robbie in any meaningful way. When she splurges on another test animal, a dog named Bear, a strange relationship grows between the dog and the rat and Jane is astounded at how much their intelligence increases.
Always looking for investors to fund her research she is never the less wary when the army shows an interest, followed quickly by the CDC. One is interested in taking over her research and the other in shutting it down, but for now she needs to cooperate with both. Little did she know that working with these two adversaries would answer the one nagging question that up until then had stalled its progress. The light suddenly goes on as to why the serum worked on some animals and not others – and she realized it was a very small window of success that would never help Robbie – unless she acted immediately.
Jane makes a spur of the moment decision motivated by a mother’s love, injecting Robbie with the test serum. The result is miraculous but unfortunately it’s not long before Jane understands that the cure could be more dangerous than the disease. In fact, it could be virulent. Things start to spin out of control very quickly. Jane finds herself in protective custody and Robbie cannot be found. Jane must (and does) ask herself “What have I done?” Has she doomed Robbie and anyone he comes in contact with? Can she still get this under control and save her son as well as everything and everyone else he touches?
Sapient (definition): (1)wise or attempting to be wise, (2)of the human species (homosapiens)
Animals with artificially enhanced intelligence is not a new subject for novels but Mr. Kaczmarowski steps things up a notch with Einstein and Bear and their love/hate relationship. This book grabbed my interest from the get-go and that never ceased. While a little over the top, the action kept me turning the pages hoping for a happy resolution for Robbie, Jane and the animals. The plot seemed pretty straight forward where the good guys were good guys and the bad guys were bad guys, but were they really? Some kept me guessing which also kept me reading. Einstein really was one clever rat that had a preference for I-phones over Android and took great pleasure in telling “stupid dog” jokes at Bear’s expense. Sounds ridiculous but it was the comic relief the book needed in the most tense of the situations and somehow it worked. I fell under Einstein’s spell hook, line and sinker. I wanted an Einstein for myself!
The book tackled the ethical issues involved with animal testing and artificially enhanced intelligence as well as the impact it could have on any number of areas in everyday life. The author explored family and love and how far a mother would go to help her child. He also made a touching case for both the kindness of and the danger of strangers in difficult situations.
All in all it was a good read, so why not 5 stars? As I mentioned, the topic is not new and I could draw easy comparisons to both Dean Koontz’s “Watchers” and the beginning of any version of “Planet of the Apes”. “Sapient” was highly readable and did give me some new insights that made me think more about the enhanced intelligence issue … and, of course, there was Einstein. In my opinion this book would appeal to fans of science thrillers and fans of stories featuring super smart animals, so it does still warrant 4 stars.
Two things are important in Jane Dixon’s life, her autistic son Robbie and her research into animal intelligence. She hopes that the research will eventually lead to a cure for Robbie’s autism, but to date all she has been able to do is increase one rat’s ability to run a virtual maze. The rat, Einstein, surprises her daily with his increased intelligence but Jane understands that any progress she makes is still decades away from helping Robbie in any meaningful way. When she splurges on another test animal, a dog named Bear, a strange relationship grows between the dog and the rat and Jane is astounded at how much their intelligence increases.
Always looking for investors to fund her research she is never the less wary when the army shows an interest, followed quickly by the CDC. One is interested in taking over her research and the other in shutting it down, but for now she needs to cooperate with both. Little did she know that working with these two adversaries would answer the one nagging question that up until then had stalled its progress. The light suddenly goes on as to why the serum worked on some animals and not others – and she realized it was a very small window of success that would never help Robbie – unless she acted immediately.
Jane makes a spur of the moment decision motivated by a mother’s love, injecting Robbie with the test serum. The result is miraculous but unfortunately it’s not long before Jane understands that the cure could be more dangerous than the disease. In fact, it could be virulent. Things start to spin out of control very quickly. Jane finds herself in protective custody and Robbie cannot be found. Jane must (and does) ask herself “What have I done?” Has she doomed Robbie and anyone he comes in contact with? Can she still get this under control and save her son as well as everything and everyone else he touches?
Sapient (definition): (1)wise or attempting to be wise, (2)of the human species (homosapiens)
Animals with artificially enhanced intelligence is not a new subject for novels but Mr. Kaczmarowski steps things up a notch with Einstein and Bear and their love/hate relationship. This book grabbed my interest from the get-go and that never ceased. While a little over the top, the action kept me turning the pages hoping for a happy resolution for Robbie, Jane and the animals. The plot seemed pretty straight forward where the good guys were good guys and the bad guys were bad guys, but were they really? Some kept me guessing which also kept me reading. Einstein really was one clever rat that had a preference for I-phones over Android and took great pleasure in telling “stupid dog” jokes at Bear’s expense. Sounds ridiculous but it was the comic relief the book needed in the most tense of the situations and somehow it worked. I fell under Einstein’s spell hook, line and sinker. I wanted an Einstein for myself!
The book tackled the ethical issues involved with animal testing and artificially enhanced intelligence as well as the impact it could have on any number of areas in everyday life. The author explored family and love and how far a mother would go to help her child. He also made a touching case for both the kindness of and the danger of strangers in difficult situations.
All in all it was a good read, so why not 5 stars? As I mentioned, the topic is not new and I could draw easy comparisons to both Dean Koontz’s “Watchers” and the beginning of any version of “Planet of the Apes”. “Sapient” was highly readable and did give me some new insights that made me think more about the enhanced intelligence issue … and, of course, there was Einstein. In my opinion this book would appeal to fans of science thrillers and fans of stories featuring super smart animals, so it does still warrant 4 stars.
August 2, 2015
The review was first posted on For The Love of Fictional Worlds
I received an eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The blurb of the book was enough for me to actually be interested in reading this book. It had so many things I am interested in - Animal Research (albeit the ethical one!), Autism and Government being the jackass it usually is!
This book has multiple POV's (which you would know makes it all the better read for me :P) - but the interesting part was that the POV's included those of Bear, the dog and Einstein, the infinitely rude Rat with a superiority complex!
The multiple POV's (including those of the animals) was a brilliant stroke by the author - where in you understood that even when animals become Sapient beings - they do not loose their in born characteristics! Animals researches after all, do say that each animal has their own personality which is clearly outlined in the plot and has been taken advantage of!
Autism has always interested me at a professional level, so I was highly interested in reading this book - But while the writing itself was brilliant - the never ending twists and turns frankly exhausted me by the end.
Not to mention, halfway through it started to feel exactly like the plot of a Hollywood Movie and while I do like those action filled movies with the villainous government agencies and the Russians - I actually like my books to be a little more original.
But that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it. I honestly did! The multiple POV's kept everything interesting for me - enough that I completed the book within hours of starting it!
I received an eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The blurb of the book was enough for me to actually be interested in reading this book. It had so many things I am interested in - Animal Research (albeit the ethical one!), Autism and Government being the jackass it usually is!
This book has multiple POV's (which you would know makes it all the better read for me :P) - but the interesting part was that the POV's included those of Bear, the dog and Einstein, the infinitely rude Rat with a superiority complex!
The multiple POV's (including those of the animals) was a brilliant stroke by the author - where in you understood that even when animals become Sapient beings - they do not loose their in born characteristics! Animals researches after all, do say that each animal has their own personality which is clearly outlined in the plot and has been taken advantage of!
Autism has always interested me at a professional level, so I was highly interested in reading this book - But while the writing itself was brilliant - the never ending twists and turns frankly exhausted me by the end.
Not to mention, halfway through it started to feel exactly like the plot of a Hollywood Movie and while I do like those action filled movies with the villainous government agencies and the Russians - I actually like my books to be a little more original.
But that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it. I honestly did! The multiple POV's kept everything interesting for me - enough that I completed the book within hours of starting it!
June 3, 2015
Scientist Jane Dixon lives for her son, Robbie, who is autistic and prone to seizures, and her research work into animal intelligence with a view to finding a cure for autism. Although sure her findings will be too late to benefit her son, her hopes are raised when the comprehensive variety of tests on one particular rat produces amazing results. Einstein, as the rat is aptly named, develops the ability to understand dialogue, think for himself and communicate using the text facility on a phone. And not just any phone, Einstein is partial to iPhones, and dislikes Androids.
Jane acquires another test subject, a one-eyed German Shepherd called Bear, who hasn’t had the best start in life to begin with. Bear and Einstein develop a love/hate relationship as their respective intelligence increases immeasurably, however Einstein’s skills are more advanced and he never lets an opportunity pass to make a joke at Bear’s expense. These two are so comical together and make the story for me, and I desperately wanted a happy ending for both of them, as well as Robbie.
Although Jane is always open to offers of extra funding for her work the interest shown by The Centre for Disease Control and the Military is not quite what she has in mind. One has the intention to shut her program down and the other to use her research to enhance the intelligence of military dogs. Having no choice but to comply and work with the two agencies actually gives Jane the answer she’s been seeking as to why results differ so much from one rat to another. For the test serum to work, the subject has to be at a certain stage of development. Jane, in total mother mode, takes a momentous decision she has cause to regret as the ramifications of her actions become clearer and propel her, and Robbie, into drastic action.
Well defined characters, imaginative story telling and plenty of action, including some quite graphic scenes. A pity nothing nasty happened to Kenny. The drama and tension of the story is lightened by the interaction between Bear and Einstein. A compelling and thought-provoking read with a great ending which serves as quite a warning. The fundamental relationship between a mother and child is explored and begs the question what lengths would or should a desperate mother go to help her child, if the end result is uncertain and a possible threat. Dangers, as well as acts of kindness, to young, vulnerable people are also highlighted.
The complex, often emotive, and ethical issues of animal testing are also explored and show how these animals can sometimes be mistreated, quite apart from the actual testing. Do we have the right to inflict suffering on other creatures? Does the end result outweigh the means to reach it? The story also raises significant questions about the consequences and implications of some forms of medical research and the effect and/or repercussions it could have in everyday situations, and way of life generally.
Jane acquires another test subject, a one-eyed German Shepherd called Bear, who hasn’t had the best start in life to begin with. Bear and Einstein develop a love/hate relationship as their respective intelligence increases immeasurably, however Einstein’s skills are more advanced and he never lets an opportunity pass to make a joke at Bear’s expense. These two are so comical together and make the story for me, and I desperately wanted a happy ending for both of them, as well as Robbie.
Although Jane is always open to offers of extra funding for her work the interest shown by The Centre for Disease Control and the Military is not quite what she has in mind. One has the intention to shut her program down and the other to use her research to enhance the intelligence of military dogs. Having no choice but to comply and work with the two agencies actually gives Jane the answer she’s been seeking as to why results differ so much from one rat to another. For the test serum to work, the subject has to be at a certain stage of development. Jane, in total mother mode, takes a momentous decision she has cause to regret as the ramifications of her actions become clearer and propel her, and Robbie, into drastic action.
Well defined characters, imaginative story telling and plenty of action, including some quite graphic scenes. A pity nothing nasty happened to Kenny. The drama and tension of the story is lightened by the interaction between Bear and Einstein. A compelling and thought-provoking read with a great ending which serves as quite a warning. The fundamental relationship between a mother and child is explored and begs the question what lengths would or should a desperate mother go to help her child, if the end result is uncertain and a possible threat. Dangers, as well as acts of kindness, to young, vulnerable people are also highlighted.
The complex, often emotive, and ethical issues of animal testing are also explored and show how these animals can sometimes be mistreated, quite apart from the actual testing. Do we have the right to inflict suffering on other creatures? Does the end result outweigh the means to reach it? The story also raises significant questions about the consequences and implications of some forms of medical research and the effect and/or repercussions it could have in everyday situations, and way of life generally.
November 26, 2015
The description pretty much sums up what this book is about and because of it, I knew that this one was a must read that I had to pick up immediately. Was I glad that I did? Heck yes! This was money and time well spent for this kind of reading experience.
Sapient by Jerry Kaczmarowski had me hooked from page one and I could not put it down until I knew the outcome. Now that I think about it, 'hooked' isn't really a strong enough word to describe my experience. It consumed me and had a grip on me so bad, I was obsessed with it - needing to know more and frantically turning each page like my life depended on it. It was paced really well and the characters were amazing - especially Einstein and Bear. These two really steal the show and I fell in love with them instantly. I mean how can you not like a sarcastic funny lab rat and German Sheppard dog with one eye? The human characters weren't half bad either, but I really have a soft spot for the animal kingdom and Mr. Kaczmarowski really brought these characters to life.
This was not only a compelling and thought provoking read, it was intriguing and original. The story took many twists and turns, some I saw coming and others caught me totally off guard, which in my opinion make this not only a good read, but an awesome read. I highly recommend this thrilling and spectacular book - so one click it now! You won't be disappointed at all!
- See more at: The Avid Book Collector
Sapient by Jerry Kaczmarowski had me hooked from page one and I could not put it down until I knew the outcome. Now that I think about it, 'hooked' isn't really a strong enough word to describe my experience. It consumed me and had a grip on me so bad, I was obsessed with it - needing to know more and frantically turning each page like my life depended on it. It was paced really well and the characters were amazing - especially Einstein and Bear. These two really steal the show and I fell in love with them instantly. I mean how can you not like a sarcastic funny lab rat and German Sheppard dog with one eye? The human characters weren't half bad either, but I really have a soft spot for the animal kingdom and Mr. Kaczmarowski really brought these characters to life.
This was not only a compelling and thought provoking read, it was intriguing and original. The story took many twists and turns, some I saw coming and others caught me totally off guard, which in my opinion make this not only a good read, but an awesome read. I highly recommend this thrilling and spectacular book - so one click it now! You won't be disappointed at all!
- See more at: The Avid Book Collector
June 30, 2015
This book was so good! I could barely put it down. Love all the characters, and the whole book was very well written.
November 16, 2017
Sapient is an action-packed medical thriller about a mother who takes a major risk, her son, and two lab animals.
There is just something so intriguing to me about medical thrillers! I had so much fun reading this book! Right from page one I was drawn in and couldn't wait to see what happened next. Of course, with this genre, it's very easy to give too much away, so I will keep this brief.
First of all, the writing was great! I thought that it was very well written, it flowed wonderfully, and the pacing was perfect. I loved that the chapters changed perspective as necessary in order to give the full story.
While the ethics here were a bit questionable, I found myself really pulling for things to work out. Of course it helped that I really loved each of the characters, even the rough ones! The characters will definitely stick in my mind for a long time.
I loved how the book ended. But I have to say, while perfect, it also makes me want a second book!
My favorite passages:
In this book, there were MANY passages that I wrote down, but they were filled with spoilers! So to avoid that, I will just leave this one:
The rat tapped on the screen, and the mechanical voice said, "You have big teeth. Go get food. What good are you? SSIF."
Robbie clarified for him. "So Stupid It's Funny. He was looking up text message abbreviations earlier." Bear whined, unclear as to what any of this meant.
Einstein continued to tap. "I meant you, stupid FIF." He chattered to himself in what passed for rat laughter.
Bear let out a low growl and waited for Robbie to translate. "'Freak I'm Funny'. At least I hope he meant freak."
My final thoughts:
I already cannot wait to read this book again! It is such a fun and action-packed story! This is another that would make an awesome movie.
I would highly recommend this to readers that enjoy light medical thrillers with a dose of realistic fantasy.
There is just something so intriguing to me about medical thrillers! I had so much fun reading this book! Right from page one I was drawn in and couldn't wait to see what happened next. Of course, with this genre, it's very easy to give too much away, so I will keep this brief.
First of all, the writing was great! I thought that it was very well written, it flowed wonderfully, and the pacing was perfect. I loved that the chapters changed perspective as necessary in order to give the full story.
While the ethics here were a bit questionable, I found myself really pulling for things to work out. Of course it helped that I really loved each of the characters, even the rough ones! The characters will definitely stick in my mind for a long time.
I loved how the book ended. But I have to say, while perfect, it also makes me want a second book!
My favorite passages:
In this book, there were MANY passages that I wrote down, but they were filled with spoilers! So to avoid that, I will just leave this one:
The rat tapped on the screen, and the mechanical voice said, "You have big teeth. Go get food. What good are you? SSIF."
Robbie clarified for him. "So Stupid It's Funny. He was looking up text message abbreviations earlier." Bear whined, unclear as to what any of this meant.
Einstein continued to tap. "I meant you, stupid FIF." He chattered to himself in what passed for rat laughter.
Bear let out a low growl and waited for Robbie to translate. "'Freak I'm Funny'. At least I hope he meant freak."
My final thoughts:
I already cannot wait to read this book again! It is such a fun and action-packed story! This is another that would make an awesome movie.
I would highly recommend this to readers that enjoy light medical thrillers with a dose of realistic fantasy.
June 27, 2015
*This book was sent to me by the author/publicist in exchange for an honest review
Sapient is a well-written, deep-thinking, thrill of a read. It gets your brain running and your heart pumping, and puts the characters in interesting, scary, or stressful situations throughout the book, without rest. Whenever I thought things were going to settle down, something else happened, another twist came along, or something was revealed.
This book is told through multiple POVs. From Dr. Dixon (Jane), to Robbie, her son, to the animals that star in this novel—Bear, the dog, and Einstein, the rat, are pretty spectacular. It’s never confusing as to whose POV you’re reading, and it’s never a let-down that we’re seeing one POV when we’d like to see the other, which is something I think happens a lot when a book is written from more than two POVs.
There were a few times, however, when I was a bit exhausted with the never-ending twists and turns. It felt like things needed to be wrapped up and just as I began to think they would, or thought I saw an opportunity for the author to do so, something else happened. It got to the point, time and again, when I became a bit frustrated with the characters, that they kept landing themselves in trouble when, if they were a little bit smarter or less self-centered, things wouldn’t have happened the way they did.
The whole premise is based off of a scenario such as I am describing. Dr. Dixon is very smart, obviously; otherwise she wouldn’t be doing the work she is doing. But she made some of the dumbest decisions I can imagine. Some of them I can’t even contemplate WHY she thought she could get away with them. The whole time, she claims she’s doing it all for Robbie, keeps coming back to Robbie, only to keep Robbie safe and make him happy, etc, etc, etc...but then she did some pretty silly things that were not necessary, which got her into trouble. I mean, if you really think about it, she placed her son’s value below that of Einstein and Bear’s. It doesn’t matter if they’re sapient, it doesn’t matter if Einstein can count to 1,000 and make jokes about Bear’s stupidity, it doesn’t matter if Bear learns quickly and has very human emotions, it doesn’t matter because Robbie is her son, and she compromised his safety After that, I had trouble connecting with Dr. Dixon in the slightest. I began to feel pity for her, but felt like she deserved everything she’d gotten herself into, and never rooted for her, not even once. I still stood on Robbie’s side. With all he faced and endured, because of his mother’s decisions, his actions and heroics and experiences were admirable and how he faced them. I was impressed with him.
I was not impressed with Einstein. I know some people said he was very likeable, funny, and endearing. No. He was really rude and crude and gross and awful, and I felt like he was just a little rat murderer at heart. Like, no kidding, he scared me. That is not the creature you want to be sapient. I kept thinking of the mice from Narnia, that wield swords and things, and thinking that Einstein was more like the evil mice from The Nutcracker. Bear, however, was so sweet. He tried, no matter what he was faced with, to impress and satisfy his masters—those who were giving the orders. Very accurate as to what a dog’s personality is. Though I sometimes thought, gosh this dog is dumb, I still found it endearing because he did everything for the right reasons, which I couldn’t say for any other character in this book except for maybe Robbie.
The concept was superb and I really thought the military involvement and all the craziness that started over the discovery of the disease’s potential was realistic and well-written. I liked Robbie’s side of the story more though, and found a lot of the scenes with Dr. Dixon (Jane) and all the CDC, DOD, military, etc stuff to be a bit boring. But that’s just me.
And what about that Jim guy? I thought he was being set up to be a love interest, with all of Jane’s inner-thought on how handsome he was for an older gentleman. I also thought he seemed to be really sweet, when the other half of me was suspecting he would be the bad guy. When everything gets crazy, I totally lost whatever hope I had for him and Jane to get together.
Overall, this book was really interesting, and the writing was well-done and fairly clean. I really, really loved the epilogue. I think it was very cool and reminded me of a little snippet at the end of a movie you’d see to let you know the story isn’t really over, though the characters think it is.
I don’t give stars away easily, though, so it’s gonna be three. Three and a half, if that were allowed.
Sapient is a well-written, deep-thinking, thrill of a read. It gets your brain running and your heart pumping, and puts the characters in interesting, scary, or stressful situations throughout the book, without rest. Whenever I thought things were going to settle down, something else happened, another twist came along, or something was revealed.
This book is told through multiple POVs. From Dr. Dixon (Jane), to Robbie, her son, to the animals that star in this novel—Bear, the dog, and Einstein, the rat, are pretty spectacular. It’s never confusing as to whose POV you’re reading, and it’s never a let-down that we’re seeing one POV when we’d like to see the other, which is something I think happens a lot when a book is written from more than two POVs.
There were a few times, however, when I was a bit exhausted with the never-ending twists and turns. It felt like things needed to be wrapped up and just as I began to think they would, or thought I saw an opportunity for the author to do so, something else happened. It got to the point, time and again, when I became a bit frustrated with the characters, that they kept landing themselves in trouble when, if they were a little bit smarter or less self-centered, things wouldn’t have happened the way they did.
The whole premise is based off of a scenario such as I am describing. Dr. Dixon is very smart, obviously; otherwise she wouldn’t be doing the work she is doing. But she made some of the dumbest decisions I can imagine. Some of them I can’t even contemplate WHY she thought she could get away with them. The whole time, she claims she’s doing it all for Robbie, keeps coming back to Robbie, only to keep Robbie safe and make him happy, etc, etc, etc...but then she did some pretty silly things that were not necessary, which got her into trouble. I mean, if you really think about it, she placed her son’s value below that of Einstein and Bear’s. It doesn’t matter if they’re sapient, it doesn’t matter if Einstein can count to 1,000 and make jokes about Bear’s stupidity, it doesn’t matter if Bear learns quickly and has very human emotions, it doesn’t matter because Robbie is her son, and she compromised his safety After that, I had trouble connecting with Dr. Dixon in the slightest. I began to feel pity for her, but felt like she deserved everything she’d gotten herself into, and never rooted for her, not even once. I still stood on Robbie’s side. With all he faced and endured, because of his mother’s decisions, his actions and heroics and experiences were admirable and how he faced them. I was impressed with him.
I was not impressed with Einstein. I know some people said he was very likeable, funny, and endearing. No. He was really rude and crude and gross and awful, and I felt like he was just a little rat murderer at heart. Like, no kidding, he scared me. That is not the creature you want to be sapient. I kept thinking of the mice from Narnia, that wield swords and things, and thinking that Einstein was more like the evil mice from The Nutcracker. Bear, however, was so sweet. He tried, no matter what he was faced with, to impress and satisfy his masters—those who were giving the orders. Very accurate as to what a dog’s personality is. Though I sometimes thought, gosh this dog is dumb, I still found it endearing because he did everything for the right reasons, which I couldn’t say for any other character in this book except for maybe Robbie.
The concept was superb and I really thought the military involvement and all the craziness that started over the discovery of the disease’s potential was realistic and well-written. I liked Robbie’s side of the story more though, and found a lot of the scenes with Dr. Dixon (Jane) and all the CDC, DOD, military, etc stuff to be a bit boring. But that’s just me.
And what about that Jim guy? I thought he was being set up to be a love interest, with all of Jane’s inner-thought on how handsome he was for an older gentleman. I also thought he seemed to be really sweet, when the other half of me was suspecting he would be the bad guy. When everything gets crazy, I totally lost whatever hope I had for him and Jane to get together.
Overall, this book was really interesting, and the writing was well-done and fairly clean. I really, really loved the epilogue. I think it was very cool and reminded me of a little snippet at the end of a movie you’d see to let you know the story isn’t really over, though the characters think it is.
I don’t give stars away easily, though, so it’s gonna be three. Three and a half, if that were allowed.
June 3, 2015
I was gifted a free copy of this book, by the author, in exchange for an honest review.
When I was first contacted and asked if I would review "Sapient", I’ll be honest, I had never heard of the book, nor the author, Jerry Kaczmarowski.
But wow, am I glad that I had the opportunity to read and review it.
"Sapient", is not only a compelling, page turner of a book, it is also very thought provoking and I often found it was still whizzing around my mind, well after I had put the book down. At one point I had finished a chapter, that ended on a cliff hanger, and for the rest of that night I couldn’t sleep until I knew what happened next. For a book to be able to do that to me is truly remarkable.
Dr. Jane Dixon is a woman on a mission to help find a cure for those with autism. She is dedicated to her job, working in a laboratory as a researcher on animal intelligence. She has injected many rats with the virus she has been developing, but none are as smart as Einstein, who can count to a thousand and communicate as well as complete the maze challenges she sets him.
Her chemistry with her test subject, Einstein the Rat and later a German Shepherd named Bear show how caring and loyal she is. She is very protective of them and doesn’t think of them as animals, but as little children.
Robbie is Jane’s 12 year old autistic son. He is a remarkable character. His mannerisms and actions, give people an insight into the mind of an someone with autism. Being the mother of an autistic 12 year old, I thought Jerry got Robbie’s character spot on and I could see my own son in Robbie.
When Jane does the unthinkable to Robbie and injects him with the virus, that hasn’t been tested on humans, we see a very different Robbie as the virus takes hold. A more confident Robbie, who has to learn to take care of himself, when the authorities find out what Jane has done.
I loved the cat and mouse style chase that ran through the story, with the authorities trying to track down Robbie after Jane tells him to run, worried that they’ll put her son in a cage and do tests on him. I was kept amused at the novel ways he got himself out of sticky situations.
I found the animals of the story kept the fun aspect in the book. The way Einstein and Bear bounced off each other and thought that they were better than each other had me laughing.
The book is filled to the brim with dilemmas. There are lots of twists and turns and moments when I had no idea where the story was going to take me next, which kept me on my toes.
I found the book addictive and hard to put down, as there was just so much going on, on every page.
The book had me thinking about a world where peoples intelligence could be improved, but would it always be for the better?
Overall, I thought the book was engaging and thrilling and I loved every page of it.
When I was first contacted and asked if I would review "Sapient", I’ll be honest, I had never heard of the book, nor the author, Jerry Kaczmarowski.
But wow, am I glad that I had the opportunity to read and review it.
"Sapient", is not only a compelling, page turner of a book, it is also very thought provoking and I often found it was still whizzing around my mind, well after I had put the book down. At one point I had finished a chapter, that ended on a cliff hanger, and for the rest of that night I couldn’t sleep until I knew what happened next. For a book to be able to do that to me is truly remarkable.
Dr. Jane Dixon is a woman on a mission to help find a cure for those with autism. She is dedicated to her job, working in a laboratory as a researcher on animal intelligence. She has injected many rats with the virus she has been developing, but none are as smart as Einstein, who can count to a thousand and communicate as well as complete the maze challenges she sets him.
Her chemistry with her test subject, Einstein the Rat and later a German Shepherd named Bear show how caring and loyal she is. She is very protective of them and doesn’t think of them as animals, but as little children.
Robbie is Jane’s 12 year old autistic son. He is a remarkable character. His mannerisms and actions, give people an insight into the mind of an someone with autism. Being the mother of an autistic 12 year old, I thought Jerry got Robbie’s character spot on and I could see my own son in Robbie.
When Jane does the unthinkable to Robbie and injects him with the virus, that hasn’t been tested on humans, we see a very different Robbie as the virus takes hold. A more confident Robbie, who has to learn to take care of himself, when the authorities find out what Jane has done.
I loved the cat and mouse style chase that ran through the story, with the authorities trying to track down Robbie after Jane tells him to run, worried that they’ll put her son in a cage and do tests on him. I was kept amused at the novel ways he got himself out of sticky situations.
I found the animals of the story kept the fun aspect in the book. The way Einstein and Bear bounced off each other and thought that they were better than each other had me laughing.
The book is filled to the brim with dilemmas. There are lots of twists and turns and moments when I had no idea where the story was going to take me next, which kept me on my toes.
I found the book addictive and hard to put down, as there was just so much going on, on every page.
The book had me thinking about a world where peoples intelligence could be improved, but would it always be for the better?
Overall, I thought the book was engaging and thrilling and I loved every page of it.
July 23, 2015
This is Jerry Kaczmarowksi's second book and it is written for the Y/A age group. I truly enjoyed the book and found I was drawn in from page one. It is intense, full of suspense and action with lots of twists and turns that made me keep turning pages because I had to find out what was going to happen next.
Dr. Jane Dixon, a scientist, is working night and day to try to find a cure for autism. Her beloved son Robbie is autistic, suffers from seizures and is OCD which causes great anxiety in him. She experiments on lab rats and has one dog, Bear, that she decides to do research on too. To her amazement and delight one of the rats, Einstein by name, develops exceptional abilities enabling him to read and write. Could this be the cure she needs to help her son? Then Bear shows signs of increased intelligence signalling to Dr. Dixon that she is on the right track with her research.
Unfortunately the US military become aware of her findings and try to take over her work and the CDC also become involved, wanting to shut her down completely, warning her that implications of animal intelligence are way too dangerous, particularly when the previous inert virus proves to be highly contagious.
Dr. Dixon takes her formula and injects her son. She is held hostage by her adversaries and she instructs her son to take the two animals and run. They had discussed after his injection that they would escape to Canada and seek asylum there where they would be safe and off the radar. She has no choice but to do as she is told and they take her off to with them by force while her son is separated from her trying to get to the Canadian destination that they had decided on. Talk about suspense... it doesn't get any better than that.
Wow! Will Robbie be able to make it on his own? Can he survive away from his mom, with two animals to care for as he escapes the danger of being caught himself and put in a cage to be analyzed? This book will have you up nights wanting to finish it so you can see how the author pulls it all together and if it does indeed have a happily-ever-after ending. I highly, highly recommend this book and I sincerely hope the author has many more books to write because I'm going to read every one of them.
Dr. Jane Dixon, a scientist, is working night and day to try to find a cure for autism. Her beloved son Robbie is autistic, suffers from seizures and is OCD which causes great anxiety in him. She experiments on lab rats and has one dog, Bear, that she decides to do research on too. To her amazement and delight one of the rats, Einstein by name, develops exceptional abilities enabling him to read and write. Could this be the cure she needs to help her son? Then Bear shows signs of increased intelligence signalling to Dr. Dixon that she is on the right track with her research.
Unfortunately the US military become aware of her findings and try to take over her work and the CDC also become involved, wanting to shut her down completely, warning her that implications of animal intelligence are way too dangerous, particularly when the previous inert virus proves to be highly contagious.
Dr. Dixon takes her formula and injects her son. She is held hostage by her adversaries and she instructs her son to take the two animals and run. They had discussed after his injection that they would escape to Canada and seek asylum there where they would be safe and off the radar. She has no choice but to do as she is told and they take her off to with them by force while her son is separated from her trying to get to the Canadian destination that they had decided on. Talk about suspense... it doesn't get any better than that.
Wow! Will Robbie be able to make it on his own? Can he survive away from his mom, with two animals to care for as he escapes the danger of being caught himself and put in a cage to be analyzed? This book will have you up nights wanting to finish it so you can see how the author pulls it all together and if it does indeed have a happily-ever-after ending. I highly, highly recommend this book and I sincerely hope the author has many more books to write because I'm going to read every one of them.
July 8, 2015
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
What would you do to help your child? In Sapient we find Jane Dixon, a scientist working hard to find a cure for autism. This is something her own son has. While experimenting on rats and other animals she has a breakthrough. Einstein a rat can suddenly read and write. We see Einstein and Bear a dog interact in ways that animals don’t usually interact. Some of these interactions are funny. She thinks there is something in the serum that will also help her son. She makes a connection between her test subjects and when the serum begins to work on them. She realizes her own son is approaching that time period and her window is limited. Now the CDC and the army are both interested in her results. She injects her son Robbie to try to cure him. This causes a problem of epidemic proportions. When she is held, her son and the animals go on the run. The entire time I was reading about her animal testing I kept thinking, if I taught older students and used this book the first thing I would do is get their perspective on whether it is right to use animals as test subjects. I love reading books that have a controversial theme running through them.
As parents we often react without fully thinking of any possible consequences. The author has shown a mother who does just that, under the false assumption that she is doing it for her son’s best interest. The story flowed smoothly and quickly. There were enough twists and turns to keep the reader involved with this story. Highly recommend this to people who like that science fiction thriller quality in a book.
What would you do to help your child? In Sapient we find Jane Dixon, a scientist working hard to find a cure for autism. This is something her own son has. While experimenting on rats and other animals she has a breakthrough. Einstein a rat can suddenly read and write. We see Einstein and Bear a dog interact in ways that animals don’t usually interact. Some of these interactions are funny. She thinks there is something in the serum that will also help her son. She makes a connection between her test subjects and when the serum begins to work on them. She realizes her own son is approaching that time period and her window is limited. Now the CDC and the army are both interested in her results. She injects her son Robbie to try to cure him. This causes a problem of epidemic proportions. When she is held, her son and the animals go on the run. The entire time I was reading about her animal testing I kept thinking, if I taught older students and used this book the first thing I would do is get their perspective on whether it is right to use animals as test subjects. I love reading books that have a controversial theme running through them.
As parents we often react without fully thinking of any possible consequences. The author has shown a mother who does just that, under the false assumption that she is doing it for her son’s best interest. The story flowed smoothly and quickly. There were enough twists and turns to keep the reader involved with this story. Highly recommend this to people who like that science fiction thriller quality in a book.
November 26, 2015
Animal Farm IRL
This is a stand alone novel as far as I can tell.
Jane is a research scientist who will go to any length to help her autistic son truly connect with the world around him. That is why she develepoed the gene therapy virus ... And it works... Or at least it has worked once so far. Einstein the rat is as intelligent as a person... And now she is going to try her virus on a dog. If all goes well she hopes to eventually have the funding and the go ahead for human trials that would include Robbie. NOTHING will stop her from making progress! Will she destroy the world in her quest to cure her son? Will she die trying? How will the world react to super intelligent animals?
This is an uplifting and yet chilling SciFi book about a mother who would stop at nothing to cure her son of his Autism. It is both plausible and possible and that makes it a very though provoking and nightmare inducing read :) Part love story, part coming of age , this story leaves you wanting more! I would definitely read a sequel if it is ever written and look forward to reading more books by this author!
***This book is suitable for mature young adult through adult readers who lime a little inspiration in their SciFi thriller action adventures :)
This is a stand alone novel as far as I can tell.
Jane is a research scientist who will go to any length to help her autistic son truly connect with the world around him. That is why she develepoed the gene therapy virus ... And it works... Or at least it has worked once so far. Einstein the rat is as intelligent as a person... And now she is going to try her virus on a dog. If all goes well she hopes to eventually have the funding and the go ahead for human trials that would include Robbie. NOTHING will stop her from making progress! Will she destroy the world in her quest to cure her son? Will she die trying? How will the world react to super intelligent animals?
This is an uplifting and yet chilling SciFi book about a mother who would stop at nothing to cure her son of his Autism. It is both plausible and possible and that makes it a very though provoking and nightmare inducing read :) Part love story, part coming of age , this story leaves you wanting more! I would definitely read a sequel if it is ever written and look forward to reading more books by this author!
***This book is suitable for mature young adult through adult readers who lime a little inspiration in their SciFi thriller action adventures :)
April 18, 2015
Perhaps measuring animal intelligence by comparing it to human intelligence isn't the best litmus test. - Ingrid Newkirk
What do you get when you combine the novel FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes, the movie THE SECRET OF NIMH, and the novel WATCHERS by Dean Koontz? You get this fun, rip roaring story about animal and human intelligence.
Dr. Jane Dixon is a research scientist doing work on finding a cure for autism (her son Robbie is autistic) and also doing research on enhancing animal intelligence because she thinks the answer to Robbie's cure lies in her work with animals.
I loved this story and I especially liked its animal characters - Einstein the lab rat with the keen sense of humor and Bear, the one-eyed German Shepherd dog who seems to always be the butt of Einstein's jokes. And the human characters aren't half bad either.
The storyline isn't entirely new but author Kaczmarowski adds his own flare to this story that, along with being entertaining, brings up questions of what's ethical in the world of animal testing and research.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book from Create Space through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
What do you get when you combine the novel FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes, the movie THE SECRET OF NIMH, and the novel WATCHERS by Dean Koontz? You get this fun, rip roaring story about animal and human intelligence.
Dr. Jane Dixon is a research scientist doing work on finding a cure for autism (her son Robbie is autistic) and also doing research on enhancing animal intelligence because she thinks the answer to Robbie's cure lies in her work with animals.
I loved this story and I especially liked its animal characters - Einstein the lab rat with the keen sense of humor and Bear, the one-eyed German Shepherd dog who seems to always be the butt of Einstein's jokes. And the human characters aren't half bad either.
The storyline isn't entirely new but author Kaczmarowski adds his own flare to this story that, along with being entertaining, brings up questions of what's ethical in the world of animal testing and research.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book from Create Space through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
April 23, 2015
A dog, a rat and a boy walk into a bar. But before that, 12 year old Robbie's mother, a research scientist, has been experimenting on animals trying to find a cure for Robbie's autism. When it seems to be working on a rat she has named Einstein, she also injects her virus into a dog. What she does not realize is that the US military, the CDC and others are highly interested in a virus that imparts sapience to animals. Desperate to cure her son, she injects him with the virus and then he and the animals must run for their lives. Einstein can "talk" by typing on a cell phone and makes many jokes about the dog, but together, the three of them make quite a team. There are, however, side effects that come with the serum that Robbie was injected with and he needs an antidote soon. The plot is fast-paced, thought provoking and funny at times and kept me reading to find out what would happen next. I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I think that the YA audience will love it.
June 22, 2015
Full review posted on my blog, Nut Free Nerd: http://nutfreenerd.com/2015/06/03/boo...
First, thank you so much to the author for the review copy!!
I think this is a solid story. It isn't amazing, but it definitely is worth reading and has a unique idea to bring to the table. I mean, there's a rat named Einstein who can communicate via texting- how awesome is that?? It also raises some interesting and important ethical questions about animal intelligence and how we treat animals in modern society. Is it fundamentally right that we use them for transportation, food, and the military? Is it okay to increase this use or should we scale it back? How would the introduction of greater animal intelligence change the way we perceive and treat animals? I haven't seen this talked about in fiction a lot before, so it was really fascinating and refreshing to read about.
Sometimes the pacing was slow and the ending was rather odd (the epilogue in particular) but all in all this was a good, solid read. If you like science fiction or science in general, I recommend it!
First, thank you so much to the author for the review copy!!
I think this is a solid story. It isn't amazing, but it definitely is worth reading and has a unique idea to bring to the table. I mean, there's a rat named Einstein who can communicate via texting- how awesome is that?? It also raises some interesting and important ethical questions about animal intelligence and how we treat animals in modern society. Is it fundamentally right that we use them for transportation, food, and the military? Is it okay to increase this use or should we scale it back? How would the introduction of greater animal intelligence change the way we perceive and treat animals? I haven't seen this talked about in fiction a lot before, so it was really fascinating and refreshing to read about.
Sometimes the pacing was slow and the ending was rather odd (the epilogue in particular) but all in all this was a good, solid read. If you like science fiction or science in general, I recommend it!
June 26, 2015
One of a kind and totally unique, this story hooked me from the get go. Autism researcher Jane Dixon, has been testing a virus on rats and is amazed to discover that one of them, aptly named Einstein, has started developing amazing intelligence, he can count to 1,000, understand words, and can type out his thoughts. She decides to test it out on a dog and is amazed when he develops intelligence too. When she finally discovers that it only works when the test subjects are approaching the end of their adolescence she freaks out; her autistic son is rapidly approaching puberty. Against all ethics and morality and injects her son. What comes next is a full blown scandal, the CDC gets involved, it becomes transmittable and worse of all it has unforeseen side effects. Can she save her son? Vegetarians, Vegans, and animal lovers should especially enjoy this book as the animals continue to become more and more intelligent. An enjoyable read.
I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.
I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.
June 21, 2015
This book was given to me via Book Publicity Services
This has a very unique premise. It was really intriguing. A world where animals can be as superior as human? Now that's amazing. I haven't watched the movies Planet of the Apes, which I gather seems pretty similar with this book, so I don't know what to expect. It wasn't as bad as I thought. It was great, even. Although it has a gripping story line, some chapters tend to be boring for my liking so I had to put it down.
Full review here
This has a very unique premise. It was really intriguing. A world where animals can be as superior as human? Now that's amazing. I haven't watched the movies Planet of the Apes, which I gather seems pretty similar with this book, so I don't know what to expect. It wasn't as bad as I thought. It was great, even. Although it has a gripping story line, some chapters tend to be boring for my liking so I had to put it down.
Full review here
July 31, 2015
REVIEW TO COME
October 27, 2015
"'Tell them we're dead.'
The man nodded, now rushing to comply. He pulled a mobile phone out of a shirt pocket.
'No tricks. English only.' The man glanced at his torn ankle and knee and nodded in submission.
He pushed a speed-dial button, and Bear heard it ringing through the speaker. After a perfunctory greeting the man said, 'I got the dog.' The man listened for a moment. 'Yes, and the rat. We're good. I'm returning now.' The man hung up the phone and looked with a pleading expression at Einstein before turning to face Bear again. His eyes settled on Bear's still-bloody fangs.
Einstein tapped on the keys, but no sound came from the phone. He paused to stare at the man before hitting the Enter key. 'Now kill him.'"
This quote summarises the emotions I felt throughout this book. I loved Einstein and Bear throughout the story. A scientifically modified rat and dog. However, Einstein repeatedly showed a side which was not only cruel but borderline obsessed with causing pain to other humans.
I was provided with Sapient with a request to review it. I had not heard of the author before, Jerry Kaczmarowki, but I will certainly be looking for any past and future books which he creates. Wow! I was engrossed in the book from start to finish. From the opening chapter of finding Einstein, a research project, can communicate with others, to the twist at the end of the story about which organisation is really following Dr Jane Dixon's research into autism. Dr Dixon continuously tries to convince herself and others the research she carries out on any animals is to help the who autistic community and she has no motive to try and help her autistic son. This is never successful and the only person she is trying to convince is herself. Dr Dixon provides her own son with the injection she has given to both Einstein and Bear to help develop his understanding and abilities whilst living with autism. She does not think about the implications this could have. Injecting your child, or anyone, with an untested drug, where the only research is that based on a self obnoxious rat and a dog with one eye, is beyond dangerous and scary. Not only does she not know the side effects she does not have a cure should the injection fail and cause a wide spread epidemic. This is something Jane is convinced and adamant wont happen. How very wrong she can be!
I really enjoyed the story! I loved the character of Bear and Einstein, even if he can be a patronising so and so! I was constantly in fear for all of the characters about what would happen to them whilst they were trying to evade the authorities. What I did thoroughly enjoy was whilst Robbie was a child with autism, Kaczmarowski successfully created his character and allowed me to understand what it can be like to have autism. Having very little experience of autism I was not 100% aware of how it can feel and what the person can experience with anxiety and discomfort at the slightest noise or disruption in regular routine. I do not know if Kaczmarowski has personal experience of autism but I was very impressed with the informative perspective he gave of Robbie. Well done!
Whilst I was about 50 pages from the end of the book I felt like it was comping to a close and I thought, "this can't possibly be it, he can't possibly close the story and just talk about the characters future lives, not after all the suspense and excitement during the story." I was not disappointed. I believed the remaining 50 pages were going to be talking about the lives of the characters after dealing with the repercussions of injecting humans and animals with an uncontrolled drug. This was not the case. Kaczmarowski provided an unexpected twist at the end and allowed the reader to continue their suspense on what would happen to Jane, Robbie, Bear, Einstein and the very helpful and caring Colonel Jim Rodgers, who works for the Department of Defence as a animal behaviourist. Would Jane and Jim realise they like each other and develop their relationship? Would Robbie contain the drug effects and be able to manage them without a cure? Would a cure ever be developed to get to the animals and Robbie in time? You must read the book to find out!
This is a definite must read. I couldn't put the book down once I started. Thankfully I have half term from school to spend my time reading rather than marking and planning! Would I read it again? Definitely. Would I like to read other books by Jerry Kaczmarowski? Definitely!
I will give you all one warning. Although, the story is funny, interesting, gripping and informative, it is a bit gruesome sometimes. Usually at an unexpected moment. I would be happily reading, building the suspense of how Robbie would get away from the wide range of "undesirables" he meets while trying to escape and then Kaczmarowski uses a graphically gruesome description of how this is accomplished. Certainly gave me a lovely mental image of the scene. Thanks for this when just getting ready to go to bed! This does add to the story though and it enhances the panic and worry Robbie has whilst trying to escape but remaining inconspicuous. Once again, well done Mr Kaczmarowski.
Rating: 9/10
10 word review: A definite read! Do it! Go and buy it now!
Check out my blog at http://threeminutesfortyfiveseconds.b...
The man nodded, now rushing to comply. He pulled a mobile phone out of a shirt pocket.
'No tricks. English only.' The man glanced at his torn ankle and knee and nodded in submission.
He pushed a speed-dial button, and Bear heard it ringing through the speaker. After a perfunctory greeting the man said, 'I got the dog.' The man listened for a moment. 'Yes, and the rat. We're good. I'm returning now.' The man hung up the phone and looked with a pleading expression at Einstein before turning to face Bear again. His eyes settled on Bear's still-bloody fangs.
Einstein tapped on the keys, but no sound came from the phone. He paused to stare at the man before hitting the Enter key. 'Now kill him.'"
This quote summarises the emotions I felt throughout this book. I loved Einstein and Bear throughout the story. A scientifically modified rat and dog. However, Einstein repeatedly showed a side which was not only cruel but borderline obsessed with causing pain to other humans.
I was provided with Sapient with a request to review it. I had not heard of the author before, Jerry Kaczmarowki, but I will certainly be looking for any past and future books which he creates. Wow! I was engrossed in the book from start to finish. From the opening chapter of finding Einstein, a research project, can communicate with others, to the twist at the end of the story about which organisation is really following Dr Jane Dixon's research into autism. Dr Dixon continuously tries to convince herself and others the research she carries out on any animals is to help the who autistic community and she has no motive to try and help her autistic son. This is never successful and the only person she is trying to convince is herself. Dr Dixon provides her own son with the injection she has given to both Einstein and Bear to help develop his understanding and abilities whilst living with autism. She does not think about the implications this could have. Injecting your child, or anyone, with an untested drug, where the only research is that based on a self obnoxious rat and a dog with one eye, is beyond dangerous and scary. Not only does she not know the side effects she does not have a cure should the injection fail and cause a wide spread epidemic. This is something Jane is convinced and adamant wont happen. How very wrong she can be!
I really enjoyed the story! I loved the character of Bear and Einstein, even if he can be a patronising so and so! I was constantly in fear for all of the characters about what would happen to them whilst they were trying to evade the authorities. What I did thoroughly enjoy was whilst Robbie was a child with autism, Kaczmarowski successfully created his character and allowed me to understand what it can be like to have autism. Having very little experience of autism I was not 100% aware of how it can feel and what the person can experience with anxiety and discomfort at the slightest noise or disruption in regular routine. I do not know if Kaczmarowski has personal experience of autism but I was very impressed with the informative perspective he gave of Robbie. Well done!
Whilst I was about 50 pages from the end of the book I felt like it was comping to a close and I thought, "this can't possibly be it, he can't possibly close the story and just talk about the characters future lives, not after all the suspense and excitement during the story." I was not disappointed. I believed the remaining 50 pages were going to be talking about the lives of the characters after dealing with the repercussions of injecting humans and animals with an uncontrolled drug. This was not the case. Kaczmarowski provided an unexpected twist at the end and allowed the reader to continue their suspense on what would happen to Jane, Robbie, Bear, Einstein and the very helpful and caring Colonel Jim Rodgers, who works for the Department of Defence as a animal behaviourist. Would Jane and Jim realise they like each other and develop their relationship? Would Robbie contain the drug effects and be able to manage them without a cure? Would a cure ever be developed to get to the animals and Robbie in time? You must read the book to find out!
This is a definite must read. I couldn't put the book down once I started. Thankfully I have half term from school to spend my time reading rather than marking and planning! Would I read it again? Definitely. Would I like to read other books by Jerry Kaczmarowski? Definitely!
I will give you all one warning. Although, the story is funny, interesting, gripping and informative, it is a bit gruesome sometimes. Usually at an unexpected moment. I would be happily reading, building the suspense of how Robbie would get away from the wide range of "undesirables" he meets while trying to escape and then Kaczmarowski uses a graphically gruesome description of how this is accomplished. Certainly gave me a lovely mental image of the scene. Thanks for this when just getting ready to go to bed! This does add to the story though and it enhances the panic and worry Robbie has whilst trying to escape but remaining inconspicuous. Once again, well done Mr Kaczmarowski.
Rating: 9/10
10 word review: A definite read! Do it! Go and buy it now!
Check out my blog at http://threeminutesfortyfiveseconds.b...
January 20, 2016
*** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ***
I was intrigued and fascinated by the general idea of this story from the first time I even read a blurb about it. Animal intelligence is not a common topic in fiction, (at least, not that I 19ve encountered), so I was really interested to see the author 19s take on it. This story brings up several important ethical questions concerning animals and the way we treat them in modern society. For example, would we treat them the same way if they should signs of increased intelligence? Could we live with ourselves if we ate animals that could read, write, and communicate with us? Would we allow the military to use animals with heightened levels of intelligence? Countless other questions can be raised about this topic, and the answers are complicated and overwhelmingly in the gray area.
Personally, I feel as though a drastic change like this would send many people raging against the American food industry. I 19m not even sure where I would stand on the topic, because it would be such an enormous and unexpected change. Anyways, the point I 19m trying to make is that the concept behind this book is extremely thought-provoking and worthy of more attention by the media and individuals.
My favorite character in this book is definitely Einstein the rat, who is Jane 19s original successful test subject. He can communicate via texting on a phone, and he is so sassy and funny! His humor was greatly appreciated, as was the tough personality of Bear, the 1Csapient 1D dog. The author doesn 19t quite personify them because they still have the thought processes of the animals. However, their minds work at a more rapid pace and they are able to understand and even communicate with humans. Several chapters are written from the perspective of Bear, and it 19s really interesting to view the world from his eyes.
My opinions are not so clear about Jane, however. Although I respect Jane for her great courage in standing up for what she believes in and never giving up, there were times when I wished she would just look at the bigger picture. Spontaneously spreading animal intelligence throughout society would undoubtedly have had many serious negative consequences, but she never seemed to consider them. Instead, she was blinded by her desire for Robbie (her autistic son) to live a normal life that benefits from her work. It was frustrating to watch Jane abandon help and common sense for quite selfish reasons. I 19m sure most people (myself included) would behave similarly if they were caught in a dilemma (family comes first, not the wishes of the government) but that doesn 19t mean it 19s always the most enjoyable thing to read about.
Moreover, I would have liked the pacing of the plot to be more steady. The beginning and ending were really fast-paced and exciting, but the middle lacked a similar amount of momentum. It felt like the story was dragging on a bit because I was just waiting for Jane or the government to make a decision first. Perhaps if so many different places had not been involved, then it would have made the pacing seem more even.
Overall, Sapient was a solid read for me. The science behind it was fascinating and the story itself was remarkably unique, but I think some improvements could have been made to the way it is written. Nevertheless, it surely is a worthwhile and entertaining novel!
Thanks so much to Book Publicity Services and Jerry Kaczmarowski for giving me the opportunity to review this book!
My Rating: :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys. Solid!
Would I recommend it to a friend?: Yes, especially one who is interested in animals, scientific theories, or science fiction in general.
Yours,
HOLLY
http://nutfreenerd.com/2015/06/03/boo...
I was intrigued and fascinated by the general idea of this story from the first time I even read a blurb about it. Animal intelligence is not a common topic in fiction, (at least, not that I 19ve encountered), so I was really interested to see the author 19s take on it. This story brings up several important ethical questions concerning animals and the way we treat them in modern society. For example, would we treat them the same way if they should signs of increased intelligence? Could we live with ourselves if we ate animals that could read, write, and communicate with us? Would we allow the military to use animals with heightened levels of intelligence? Countless other questions can be raised about this topic, and the answers are complicated and overwhelmingly in the gray area.
Personally, I feel as though a drastic change like this would send many people raging against the American food industry. I 19m not even sure where I would stand on the topic, because it would be such an enormous and unexpected change. Anyways, the point I 19m trying to make is that the concept behind this book is extremely thought-provoking and worthy of more attention by the media and individuals.
My favorite character in this book is definitely Einstein the rat, who is Jane 19s original successful test subject. He can communicate via texting on a phone, and he is so sassy and funny! His humor was greatly appreciated, as was the tough personality of Bear, the 1Csapient 1D dog. The author doesn 19t quite personify them because they still have the thought processes of the animals. However, their minds work at a more rapid pace and they are able to understand and even communicate with humans. Several chapters are written from the perspective of Bear, and it 19s really interesting to view the world from his eyes.
My opinions are not so clear about Jane, however. Although I respect Jane for her great courage in standing up for what she believes in and never giving up, there were times when I wished she would just look at the bigger picture. Spontaneously spreading animal intelligence throughout society would undoubtedly have had many serious negative consequences, but she never seemed to consider them. Instead, she was blinded by her desire for Robbie (her autistic son) to live a normal life that benefits from her work. It was frustrating to watch Jane abandon help and common sense for quite selfish reasons. I 19m sure most people (myself included) would behave similarly if they were caught in a dilemma (family comes first, not the wishes of the government) but that doesn 19t mean it 19s always the most enjoyable thing to read about.
Moreover, I would have liked the pacing of the plot to be more steady. The beginning and ending were really fast-paced and exciting, but the middle lacked a similar amount of momentum. It felt like the story was dragging on a bit because I was just waiting for Jane or the government to make a decision first. Perhaps if so many different places had not been involved, then it would have made the pacing seem more even.
Overall, Sapient was a solid read for me. The science behind it was fascinating and the story itself was remarkably unique, but I think some improvements could have been made to the way it is written. Nevertheless, it surely is a worthwhile and entertaining novel!
Thanks so much to Book Publicity Services and Jerry Kaczmarowski for giving me the opportunity to review this book!
My Rating: :0) :0) :0) 3 out of 5 smileys. Solid!
Would I recommend it to a friend?: Yes, especially one who is interested in animals, scientific theories, or science fiction in general.
Yours,
HOLLY
http://nutfreenerd.com/2015/06/03/boo...
October 1, 2015
I wrote this review of Sapient a couple of months ago, a few days after I finished the book, and while all the thoughts written here still remain, I have to add what I think about this book now.
Sapient is not my typical kind of read. When I was speaking about it, a lot of friends even told me that they thought it weird that I was reading something other than YA. Well, technically, this book is a cross between YA/Regular Fiction, because it is told in several points of view and one of them is a young boy with autism. But it is so different from my other YA books. This book's reading level is more advanced, but I didn't find it difficult to understand. In the end, I came to enjoy Sapient a lot.
I'll break it down to three reasons:
The Characters & POV's. This book is not only told from Jane's pov (the mother looking for a cure) and Robbie (her boy with autism), but it's also told from a lab rat named Einstein and a one-eyed dog named Bear. This diverse set of characters was what made (in my opinion) the story all the more intriguing. I admired much Jane risks for to find a cure for her son, the length she goes through even though it's dangerous. Being inside Robbie's head was astounding since we are there with him when he has autism and when he slowly starts to get cured. Einstein and Robbie has to be my favorite characters. Their bantering, actions and quick-wits (they are submitted with autism tests with positive results) had me chuckling and enjoying their characters too much.
The Plot. I honestly thought I was going to get a bit bored with the story when I first started Sapient what with all the lab research and stuff, but I didn't. In fact, Sapient had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was a race against time full of revelations on every corner! What I learned from all of this is that research, testing and finding a cure for something certainly looks like a risky thing.
The Journey. Yes, I'm making this into a reason because even though it's part of the plot, I feel like emphasizing how cool it was for me to know about the places and a bit about the people Robbie, Einstein and Bear meet on their trek. From San Jose and all the way to small towns in Washington. That Mexican camp? I've seen it! And while I was reading that particular part of the book, I thought the author was going with the same-old stereotype that us Mexicans only eat tortillas and tamales. But just after I finished this book, I went outside and saw gramps eating Tamales and a quesadilla! You can't imagine how hard I laughed at that. But we do eat other stuff besides that of course. ;)
So all in all, Sapient turned out to be a good read. It was entertaining, though I must emphasize again that it's not entirely YA so if you aren't much into regular fiction, maybe this won't be your type of read. There's a teensy bit of romance, but it's not really something worth rooting for.
Sapient is about the lengths one goes to save the people you love, to give them an opportunity for a better life. Even when the world is against you.
*Big thanks to the author for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This review can also be found at The Reader and the Chef.*
Sapient is not my typical kind of read. When I was speaking about it, a lot of friends even told me that they thought it weird that I was reading something other than YA. Well, technically, this book is a cross between YA/Regular Fiction, because it is told in several points of view and one of them is a young boy with autism. But it is so different from my other YA books. This book's reading level is more advanced, but I didn't find it difficult to understand. In the end, I came to enjoy Sapient a lot.
I'll break it down to three reasons:
The Characters & POV's. This book is not only told from Jane's pov (the mother looking for a cure) and Robbie (her boy with autism), but it's also told from a lab rat named Einstein and a one-eyed dog named Bear. This diverse set of characters was what made (in my opinion) the story all the more intriguing. I admired much Jane risks for to find a cure for her son, the length she goes through even though it's dangerous. Being inside Robbie's head was astounding since we are there with him when he has autism and when he slowly starts to get cured. Einstein and Robbie has to be my favorite characters. Their bantering, actions and quick-wits (they are submitted with autism tests with positive results) had me chuckling and enjoying their characters too much.
The Plot. I honestly thought I was going to get a bit bored with the story when I first started Sapient what with all the lab research and stuff, but I didn't. In fact, Sapient had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was a race against time full of revelations on every corner! What I learned from all of this is that research, testing and finding a cure for something certainly looks like a risky thing.
The Journey. Yes, I'm making this into a reason because even though it's part of the plot, I feel like emphasizing how cool it was for me to know about the places and a bit about the people Robbie, Einstein and Bear meet on their trek. From San Jose and all the way to small towns in Washington. That Mexican camp? I've seen it! And while I was reading that particular part of the book, I thought the author was going with the same-old stereotype that us Mexicans only eat tortillas and tamales. But just after I finished this book, I went outside and saw gramps eating Tamales and a quesadilla! You can't imagine how hard I laughed at that. But we do eat other stuff besides that of course. ;)
So all in all, Sapient turned out to be a good read. It was entertaining, though I must emphasize again that it's not entirely YA so if you aren't much into regular fiction, maybe this won't be your type of read. There's a teensy bit of romance, but it's not really something worth rooting for.
Sapient is about the lengths one goes to save the people you love, to give them an opportunity for a better life. Even when the world is against you.
*Big thanks to the author for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. This review can also be found at The Reader and the Chef.*
June 29, 2015
The Premise: Autism research is Dr. Jane Dixon's life. Her son Robbie is autistic and Jane desperately wants to find a cure so that he can live a normal life. Her line of work finds her testing animals, injecting them with a substance that she hopes will increase their intelligence. When a rat named Einstein and a dog named Bear react positively to the substance, she believes she's found the answer. But after a surprise takeover by the Department of Defense and a threat of shutdown by the Center for Disease Control, her desperation leads her to give Robbie the injection prematurely. With the threat of an epidemic looming, Jane finds her life spinning rapidly out of control.
The Opening Line: A young research assistant poked his head through the laboratory door and said, “We’re heading out to grab some beers. Want to join us?”
Thoughts: I've read many a book in which there is an end of the world scenario. Zombies are shambling around, aliens have invaded, a meteorite has struck. Or an epidemic has led to the apocalypse. There aren't many books that feature the lead-up to that event, though. Which is why I found Sapient so intriguing. Although no apocalypse happens by the end of the book, this story of a woman's race to find a cure for autism for her son could feasibly serve as the sowing ground for that type of event.
What I loved the most about Sapient was watching Robbie's progression to health. Before the injection, he was withdrawn, fastidious, emotionally blank, and unable to connect with others. After the injection, he slowly gains an awareness of other people and is able to handle complex transactions and initiate complex events. For all intents and purposes, he is fully cured and is able to act and react like a non-Autistic child. In a sense, he may even be more intelligent than most children, and is certainly forced to think on his feet as he tries to protect the animals, outrace the authorities, and meet up with his mother. From one extreme to the other, Robbie's is a fascinating journey that I'm sure all those with an interest in finding a cure will enjoy.
My other favorite thing was the animals themselves. Einstein has been trained by Jane to count, solve maze simulations, and complete other typical lab tests. He can also type, understand and use language, and teach Bear how to do certain things. He displays a startling level of intelligence rarely seen in humans. While Bear isn't quite as smart (or snarky!), he is loyal and determined to do whatever is needed to save Robbie and keep the family together. The two make quite a pair and are ostensibly the main characters.
Sapient both fascinates and frightens me. I think we all realize that animals are intelligent. But the idea that animals could compete in intelligence on a human scale is terrifying. It's like the old fear that robots could become intelligent and take over the world. But on the other hand, if animals could communicate with humans, what might we learn? And how might things change? As technology grows, we could gain some answers in the future. The question is, do we really want to know?
The Opening Line: A young research assistant poked his head through the laboratory door and said, “We’re heading out to grab some beers. Want to join us?”
Thoughts: I've read many a book in which there is an end of the world scenario. Zombies are shambling around, aliens have invaded, a meteorite has struck. Or an epidemic has led to the apocalypse. There aren't many books that feature the lead-up to that event, though. Which is why I found Sapient so intriguing. Although no apocalypse happens by the end of the book, this story of a woman's race to find a cure for autism for her son could feasibly serve as the sowing ground for that type of event.
What I loved the most about Sapient was watching Robbie's progression to health. Before the injection, he was withdrawn, fastidious, emotionally blank, and unable to connect with others. After the injection, he slowly gains an awareness of other people and is able to handle complex transactions and initiate complex events. For all intents and purposes, he is fully cured and is able to act and react like a non-Autistic child. In a sense, he may even be more intelligent than most children, and is certainly forced to think on his feet as he tries to protect the animals, outrace the authorities, and meet up with his mother. From one extreme to the other, Robbie's is a fascinating journey that I'm sure all those with an interest in finding a cure will enjoy.
My other favorite thing was the animals themselves. Einstein has been trained by Jane to count, solve maze simulations, and complete other typical lab tests. He can also type, understand and use language, and teach Bear how to do certain things. He displays a startling level of intelligence rarely seen in humans. While Bear isn't quite as smart (or snarky!), he is loyal and determined to do whatever is needed to save Robbie and keep the family together. The two make quite a pair and are ostensibly the main characters.
Sapient both fascinates and frightens me. I think we all realize that animals are intelligent. But the idea that animals could compete in intelligence on a human scale is terrifying. It's like the old fear that robots could become intelligent and take over the world. But on the other hand, if animals could communicate with humans, what might we learn? And how might things change? As technology grows, we could gain some answers in the future. The question is, do we really want to know?
January 30, 2016
Sapient is a fantastic science-fiction story that shows us how far we could go to help those we love and how the consequences of our actions can have a worldwide effect.
Jane is a researcher whose ultimate goal is to find a cure (or something similar) to help her autistic child and the autistic community. Her job consists in experimenting with animals and this is how she helps Einstein and Bear to become more than a rat and a dog. It all starts to go down the road when the CDC and the US military get involve.
It’s easy to imagine this book as a movie. Its fast rhythm, the sense of movement that the words create and the action that never stop, create a story that catches your attention and never lets you go. The reading is super easy to follow but it still has a solid, complex and realistic plot. There are no holes in the story, because everything is taken care off. Another great thing was the changing POV, it allows to follow the story from all the perspectives.
Jane is a great character as well as her son Robbie. I think that anyone who has children or a kid in their life will understand her actions. She is an admirable woman, strong and brave. I enjoyed reading about Robbie and the world inside his head and how he evolves along the story.
The author did a magnificent job including the autistic world to the story. You can see that he did an intense research to create a believable character.
I absolutely loved Einstein and Bear, I’m an animal lover so imagine them as beings with an intelligence equal or superior to ours was amazing and very entertaining. They're super funny and essential to the story.
Overall, Sapient is a book with great characters, solid plot and a good outcome. It gives us the chance to think about our actions and how much they affect the world. It also brings to the table the impact that a simple change in any animal DNA could have on the environment.
*** I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. ***
Jane is a researcher whose ultimate goal is to find a cure (or something similar) to help her autistic child and the autistic community. Her job consists in experimenting with animals and this is how she helps Einstein and Bear to become more than a rat and a dog. It all starts to go down the road when the CDC and the US military get involve.
It’s easy to imagine this book as a movie. Its fast rhythm, the sense of movement that the words create and the action that never stop, create a story that catches your attention and never lets you go. The reading is super easy to follow but it still has a solid, complex and realistic plot. There are no holes in the story, because everything is taken care off. Another great thing was the changing POV, it allows to follow the story from all the perspectives.
Jane is a great character as well as her son Robbie. I think that anyone who has children or a kid in their life will understand her actions. She is an admirable woman, strong and brave. I enjoyed reading about Robbie and the world inside his head and how he evolves along the story.
The author did a magnificent job including the autistic world to the story. You can see that he did an intense research to create a believable character.
I absolutely loved Einstein and Bear, I’m an animal lover so imagine them as beings with an intelligence equal or superior to ours was amazing and very entertaining. They're super funny and essential to the story.
Overall, Sapient is a book with great characters, solid plot and a good outcome. It gives us the chance to think about our actions and how much they affect the world. It also brings to the table the impact that a simple change in any animal DNA could have on the environment.
*** I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. ***
July 8, 2015
This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.
Jane Dixon is on the hunt for a cure for autism – a subject close to her heart because of her son, Robbie. Robbie is a high functioning autistic pre-teen, who nevertheless needs complete order and routine to survive. After Jane successfully transforms a rat, Einstein, into a brilliant typing rat she finds Robbie on the run and herself imprisoned.
Although the blurb makes a big deal out of Jane being single thanks to an abusive husband, this wasn’t something that really concerned me. I was more interested in her current relationships, which I felt weren’t particularly influenced by her past.
I loved seeing things from the different perspectives. Each character had a very distinctive mind-voice, and I knew what was going on at all times, even if I felt pleasantly frustrated that the other characters were so clueless. All the characters were real people to me by chapter 2.
You can absolutely feel the tension radiating through Jane and the entire novel. Robbie and the animals add some humour at least, but I found myself wanting more and sitting on the edge of my seat. The plot is gripping and well thought out.
Even the end is innovative. I wanted to know what happened next! And I wouldn’t have objected if there was a sequel in the making. At the same time, I was satisfied by the ending, and didn’t feel cheated.
All I can think to myself after reading this novel is “Wow, let me get my hands on Jerry’s other novels!” I read this novel in pretty much one sitting while on vacation. I was completely absorbed and didn’t feel like doing anything else. I had forgotten what compulsive reading felt like – this is it. Get your hands on it ASAP.
Jane Dixon is on the hunt for a cure for autism – a subject close to her heart because of her son, Robbie. Robbie is a high functioning autistic pre-teen, who nevertheless needs complete order and routine to survive. After Jane successfully transforms a rat, Einstein, into a brilliant typing rat she finds Robbie on the run and herself imprisoned.
Although the blurb makes a big deal out of Jane being single thanks to an abusive husband, this wasn’t something that really concerned me. I was more interested in her current relationships, which I felt weren’t particularly influenced by her past.
I loved seeing things from the different perspectives. Each character had a very distinctive mind-voice, and I knew what was going on at all times, even if I felt pleasantly frustrated that the other characters were so clueless. All the characters were real people to me by chapter 2.
You can absolutely feel the tension radiating through Jane and the entire novel. Robbie and the animals add some humour at least, but I found myself wanting more and sitting on the edge of my seat. The plot is gripping and well thought out.
Even the end is innovative. I wanted to know what happened next! And I wouldn’t have objected if there was a sequel in the making. At the same time, I was satisfied by the ending, and didn’t feel cheated.
All I can think to myself after reading this novel is “Wow, let me get my hands on Jerry’s other novels!” I read this novel in pretty much one sitting while on vacation. I was completely absorbed and didn’t feel like doing anything else. I had forgotten what compulsive reading felt like – this is it. Get your hands on it ASAP.
July 14, 2015
Original Post: http://booknauthors.blogspot.com/2015...
A researcher, Jane Dixon is working her best on finding the cure of autism for her son. Everything changes when the lab rat, Einstein starts responding to the virus that Jane is working on. Will this virus work on her son? Or will it destroy him? But when some of the research animals starts dying due to the virus, Jane out of fear that CDC will shut down her research, steals the virus and plans to quietly leave to Canada. But at the last moment, the CDC shuts down her research and arrests her, and her son, Robbie runs away from his home along with Einstein and the dog, Bear. Will he be able to save himself from the CDC? Or will the CDC find him and use him as a experiment?
I love sci-fi stories, and this one is very unique and I enjoyed it alot. I loved how Robbie changed into a normal kid when his mother injected him the virus. He became better at expressing his emotions and he became a really bold kid. Robbie had a wonderful bond with her mother so it was difficult for him to be on the run all by himself. You won't believe how Robbie survived from all the evil people alone.
Robbie is very adorable and he is the protagonist of the story. The whole story revolves around him being on the run. You will feel hundreds of emotions as you read about poor Robbie. But Robbie will have to pay the consequences because this virus could be the end of his life.
One amazing thing about this story is that it was very cinematic, and I felt like I was watching a suspenseful movie. A mother whose doing her best to find a cure for her son. Her son Robbie is on the run so the CDC can't find him and perform experiments on him. If the CDC didn't find Robbie in time, he will die.
A researcher, Jane Dixon is working her best on finding the cure of autism for her son. Everything changes when the lab rat, Einstein starts responding to the virus that Jane is working on. Will this virus work on her son? Or will it destroy him? But when some of the research animals starts dying due to the virus, Jane out of fear that CDC will shut down her research, steals the virus and plans to quietly leave to Canada. But at the last moment, the CDC shuts down her research and arrests her, and her son, Robbie runs away from his home along with Einstein and the dog, Bear. Will he be able to save himself from the CDC? Or will the CDC find him and use him as a experiment?
I love sci-fi stories, and this one is very unique and I enjoyed it alot. I loved how Robbie changed into a normal kid when his mother injected him the virus. He became better at expressing his emotions and he became a really bold kid. Robbie had a wonderful bond with her mother so it was difficult for him to be on the run all by himself. You won't believe how Robbie survived from all the evil people alone.
Robbie is very adorable and he is the protagonist of the story. The whole story revolves around him being on the run. You will feel hundreds of emotions as you read about poor Robbie. But Robbie will have to pay the consequences because this virus could be the end of his life.
One amazing thing about this story is that it was very cinematic, and I felt like I was watching a suspenseful movie. A mother whose doing her best to find a cure for her son. Her son Robbie is on the run so the CDC can't find him and perform experiments on him. If the CDC didn't find Robbie in time, he will die.
December 25, 2015
I don't give five stars out much to adult books because there is always something I don't like. But this book gets five because the ending made me say "whaaaaaat?" It actually took me a while to read as life got really busy for me but I'm so glad I kept close at hand.
A scientist is on the verge of find a vaccine that will help children with autism. Her test subject is a highly intelligent albeit snarky rat named Einstein. Just as her research is ready to move forward to the next phase of testing, interested is showed by the military. Her research is on the verge of being taken from her when she decides to try the vaccine on her son. It works but with side effects even she could not anticipate. The vaccine becomes a virus which begins to spread and infect other animals. She gets in trouble then sends her son on the run. Robby goes on one heck of an adventure as he tries to make it on his own to their secret meetup location with only his intelligent pets to keep him company, Einstein and Bear, a dog his mother infected with the vaccine to see if it would have the same effect as it did with the rat. As the virus continues to spread and effect wildlife outside the scientist's lab, the hunt is on to find Robby and his infected pets and time is running out. The vaccine she gave Robby could kill him if she does not administer the antidote she created to stop the ill effects of the vaccine. To make matters worse, the government is not the only ones looking for Robby and his highly intelligent animals.
A really good!
A scientist is on the verge of find a vaccine that will help children with autism. Her test subject is a highly intelligent albeit snarky rat named Einstein. Just as her research is ready to move forward to the next phase of testing, interested is showed by the military. Her research is on the verge of being taken from her when she decides to try the vaccine on her son. It works but with side effects even she could not anticipate. The vaccine becomes a virus which begins to spread and infect other animals. She gets in trouble then sends her son on the run. Robby goes on one heck of an adventure as he tries to make it on his own to their secret meetup location with only his intelligent pets to keep him company, Einstein and Bear, a dog his mother infected with the vaccine to see if it would have the same effect as it did with the rat. As the virus continues to spread and effect wildlife outside the scientist's lab, the hunt is on to find Robby and his infected pets and time is running out. The vaccine she gave Robby could kill him if she does not administer the antidote she created to stop the ill effects of the vaccine. To make matters worse, the government is not the only ones looking for Robby and his highly intelligent animals.
A really good!
October 7, 2015
Jane Dixon is determined to find a cure for Autism. This is a cause close to her heart. When she has a breakthrough she is ecstatic. But, when the government and CDC come in and begin looking into her experiments she begins to panic and does things that are illegal and unethical because of her fear. When it is discovered that her “cure” has mutated and is infectious and possibly dangerous things change dramatically. How can something meant for good change to something so dangerous so fast? It is the actions after that will change Jane and her son’s lives forever.
What wouldn’t you do for your child? The character of Jane Dixon will resonate with all mothers. Her unwillingness to give up on her son is what drives her. This is both fortunate and unfortunate. For it is this that changes her good work to dangerous work and becomes a threat. It is her drive to save her son no matter what that changes everything. Though this isn’t the normal kind of book I’d read, this really was a fantastic story. It is one that is both based in reality and allows the reader to have an emotional connection with all the characters, even Einstein and Bear. This story will really have you thinking whether something like this is possible and how bad this would really be if something like this got out of control. Overall, I really liked this book and would read another by Jerry Kaczmarowski.
What wouldn’t you do for your child? The character of Jane Dixon will resonate with all mothers. Her unwillingness to give up on her son is what drives her. This is both fortunate and unfortunate. For it is this that changes her good work to dangerous work and becomes a threat. It is her drive to save her son no matter what that changes everything. Though this isn’t the normal kind of book I’d read, this really was a fantastic story. It is one that is both based in reality and allows the reader to have an emotional connection with all the characters, even Einstein and Bear. This story will really have you thinking whether something like this is possible and how bad this would really be if something like this got out of control. Overall, I really liked this book and would read another by Jerry Kaczmarowski.
December 10, 2015
This 373 page novel had me bickering with myself on whether or not I liked it. It begins with testing animals. Straight away I had a bad feeling. Because it wasn't like the book was supporting or opposing such testing. It made me wonder was stuff like this still going on. So my first impression was shock and almost disgust. However despite my own moral conflicts with that subject I found the story was really engaging. I didn’t want to like it yet I couldn’t help but really enjoy it. Basically its about a woman working in an animal test lab who has an autistic son and who becomes very involved with her work because she thinks that what they develop will help her son. It's interesting to see the relationships between a mother and her son and between animals and people. The book develops into an incredible read while getting to know the autistic boy, the almost-smart dog and the highly intelligent rat. The pace of the book is quite fast in places, especially when "somebody" is on the run and the life and death situations. I also loved the little twist near the end and the romance in the background. I’d recommend this book to anyone who isn’t too soft hearted. I surprised myself by really enjoying because it is actually a very good story. I give it 4 stars.
June 29, 2015
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/arc-sapient/
action; it talked about research labs and viruses without getting too science-y. I had a few problems with it, but on the whole, I found it enjoyable.
I liked that one of the main characters, Robbie, was autistic, and that the book talked about his mother Jane’s difficulties in giving him a “normal” life, but he’s not really autistic for long. I would love to read a book that deals more head on with the issue of raising an autistic child. Robbie’s autism is more of a plot device than a character trait, and because his autism is not fully explored, his mother’s behavior is much less understandable. I found myself getting so irritated with Jane! Sure, she just wanted to take care of her kid, but she made some insane decisions that created some pretty violent and dangerous results.
I was also not a fan of the intelligent animals as protagonists thing. As you may have noticed, I do not generally like animal stories, because I find them too gimmicky. Just a personal preference, but Einstein especially got on my nerves at times.
Note: I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
action; it talked about research labs and viruses without getting too science-y. I had a few problems with it, but on the whole, I found it enjoyable.
I liked that one of the main characters, Robbie, was autistic, and that the book talked about his mother Jane’s difficulties in giving him a “normal” life, but he’s not really autistic for long. I would love to read a book that deals more head on with the issue of raising an autistic child. Robbie’s autism is more of a plot device than a character trait, and because his autism is not fully explored, his mother’s behavior is much less understandable. I found myself getting so irritated with Jane! Sure, she just wanted to take care of her kid, but she made some insane decisions that created some pretty violent and dangerous results.
I was also not a fan of the intelligent animals as protagonists thing. As you may have noticed, I do not generally like animal stories, because I find them too gimmicky. Just a personal preference, but Einstein especially got on my nerves at times.
Note: I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 4, 2016
The premise of this book really intrigued me when I first heard about it, as it was something I had never thought myself to be interested in, but I was. Sapient is unlike anything I have read before, and probably ever will, and I loved that about it.
I feel like this book would make such a good basis for an action-packed film, as that's what it read like.
Jane as a character was inspiring to read about - she was so determined to find a cure for her autistic son and would stop at nothing to make his life even a tiny bit better. She also made sure that she was an active part of his life, despite having such a time-consuming job.
This book had so many twists and turns that kept you hooked, but at times I was left confused, especially whenever the government and the CDC were involved in the story, as it became quite hard to keep track of everything.
I liked getting to see Jane's character growth throughout the story, and also just how desperate she becomes, and unwilling to be controlled because for her, her son came first.
This is a very exciting book that keeps you on your toes at all times.
I feel like this book would make such a good basis for an action-packed film, as that's what it read like.
Jane as a character was inspiring to read about - she was so determined to find a cure for her autistic son and would stop at nothing to make his life even a tiny bit better. She also made sure that she was an active part of his life, despite having such a time-consuming job.
This book had so many twists and turns that kept you hooked, but at times I was left confused, especially whenever the government and the CDC were involved in the story, as it became quite hard to keep track of everything.
I liked getting to see Jane's character growth throughout the story, and also just how desperate she becomes, and unwilling to be controlled because for her, her son came first.
This is a very exciting book that keeps you on your toes at all times.
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