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The Waking
Los Angeles, 2006 : Dr Nate Sheehan is casually murdered in a parking lot. His wife, also a doctor, hopes to rescue at least a part of him for cryonic preservation. She performs an unprecedented operation. Gamma Gulch Penitentiary, California, 2069 : twenty-six-year-old Duane Williams is about to be sent to the death chamber for the and murder of a young woman. Icor Regrowth Programme, Arizona, 2070 : sixty-four years after his own violent death, Nate is resuscitated using the body of an anonymous donor. Despite the advances in science, neurotechnologist Dr Persis Bandelier and her colleague Garth Bannerman never expected their covert operation to be a success. So when the patient responds to their treatment, no one is ready . . . And all too soon, an investigative journalist blows the cover of the sensational “waking”. The news story threatens to expose the identity of both the mysterious donor and unravel the truth behind Sheehan’s murder all those years ago . . .
- GenresScience Fiction
400 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2006
2 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 7, 2018
I started this book for research and was expecting a total B-grade and cheesy read (because of the synopsis), but the book quickly becomes something more... more entertaining... more scientific... It becomes a thrilling read that’s held together by real science and real medicine.
It’s only the fourth act that tarnishes the pacing — it wraps up too quickly and way too neatly, and the “big twist” is predictable. But, that’s the surprising thing about this book: it doesn’t really matter. It’s still fun and it’s still interesting.
It’s only the fourth act that tarnishes the pacing — it wraps up too quickly and way too neatly, and the “big twist” is predictable. But, that’s the surprising thing about this book: it doesn’t really matter. It’s still fun and it’s still interesting.
July 28, 2018
Finished it a couple of days ago. I liked the book, it was entertaining and it made me think about earth and what we do to it and I wonder how life will be for my children and so forth when I'm dead.
July 26, 2018
I had mixed feelings about this book. Don't get me wrong, I loved it! It's like one of the best medical sci-fi I've ever read. Lots of biomedical & neurological terms which are cool if you're familiar with them. If not, this book is still readable; it explained most of the terms. Love the book...
BUT!
The pacing of the book was the reason this book couldn't get a 5-star from me. There were parts that they were too fast, while some were better paced. There were also a number of unanswered questions in the story. It ended rather abruptly with lots of cliffhangers. Maybe the story is better off in a 800-1000 pages book instead of the 450 pages it is.
I love the idea of reawakening the dead. Not like a zombie, but something that resembled a Frankenstein. They revived Dr Sheehan after 64 years; his head with another body.
-SPOILER ALERT?-
Here are the questions that for me are not yet answered (or maybe I didn't quite catch those answers)
1. Was Duane's body is really meant for Nate? I did assume Persis was bluffing to Nate when she explained bout the body, saying it was someone else's body but there was a part of the story that made it seemed like Persis didn't even know bout the body being Duane's/
2. Who was the old guy from the Plane Park? The one with a blind 4 y.o kid? What was their significance for the plot?
3. President. What will happen to his father, now that the technology of revival was here and without much of complication?
and a lot more.
-END SPOILER-
I loved the idea. Medical sci-fi is one of my favourites genre and with the setting being in the future, it's definitely right up of my alley. Oh, another thing regarding the setting. It terrifies me that the condition of the future Earth is almost something that we are heading to. Climate changes with temperatures soaring at some places, and dipping so low. Arctic ices totally melted and huge earthquakes. The book was written in 2006, and yet, the author sort of predicted what will happen somewhere 12 years later.
BUT!
The pacing of the book was the reason this book couldn't get a 5-star from me. There were parts that they were too fast, while some were better paced. There were also a number of unanswered questions in the story. It ended rather abruptly with lots of cliffhangers. Maybe the story is better off in a 800-1000 pages book instead of the 450 pages it is.
I love the idea of reawakening the dead. Not like a zombie, but something that resembled a Frankenstein. They revived Dr Sheehan after 64 years; his head with another body.
-SPOILER ALERT?-
Here are the questions that for me are not yet answered (or maybe I didn't quite catch those answers)
1. Was Duane's body is really meant for Nate? I did assume Persis was bluffing to Nate when she explained bout the body, saying it was someone else's body but there was a part of the story that made it seemed like Persis didn't even know bout the body being Duane's/
2. Who was the old guy from the Plane Park? The one with a blind 4 y.o kid? What was their significance for the plot?
3. President. What will happen to his father, now that the technology of revival was here and without much of complication?
and a lot more.
-END SPOILER-
I loved the idea. Medical sci-fi is one of my favourites genre and with the setting being in the future, it's definitely right up of my alley. Oh, another thing regarding the setting. It terrifies me that the condition of the future Earth is almost something that we are heading to. Climate changes with temperatures soaring at some places, and dipping so low. Arctic ices totally melted and huge earthquakes. The book was written in 2006, and yet, the author sort of predicted what will happen somewhere 12 years later.
August 27, 2024
A not so far away future thriller.
I think I had read this book once before. But I am not sure. Some parts in the book sounded familiar. But either that it’s a strange piece of story.
Thinking that the book was written in 2006, many things have change and a lot of the SciFi stuff is bad reality now.
”When did he died.”
“2006”
“Make sure I can ask him why his generation f**led up the whole planet.”
That is in my opinion the main part of the book.
So what is this book about.
It’s a thriller about a planned murder.
It’s a SciFi book about cryogenic research.
It’s a reality book about the catastrophic climate change.
It’s a statement of our fu**ed up health system.
A doctor has been shot into the stomach in 2006. His wife saved his life by departing body and head. The head wandered into cryogenic for 64 years. After that time the head where reattached to a young body and brought back to live.
This is the cryogenic part of the book.
Waking up after more than 60 years into a world which couldn’t have changed more than that is devastating thought.
This is the ecological part.
We should learn from books like this. Like it’s said. Why the generation of our time fu**ed the whole planet.
I think I had read this book once before. But I am not sure. Some parts in the book sounded familiar. But either that it’s a strange piece of story.
Thinking that the book was written in 2006, many things have change and a lot of the SciFi stuff is bad reality now.
”When did he died.”
“2006”
“Make sure I can ask him why his generation f**led up the whole planet.”
That is in my opinion the main part of the book.
So what is this book about.
It’s a thriller about a planned murder.
It’s a SciFi book about cryogenic research.
It’s a reality book about the catastrophic climate change.
It’s a statement of our fu**ed up health system.
A doctor has been shot into the stomach in 2006. His wife saved his life by departing body and head. The head wandered into cryogenic for 64 years. After that time the head where reattached to a young body and brought back to live.
This is the cryogenic part of the book.
Waking up after more than 60 years into a world which couldn’t have changed more than that is devastating thought.
This is the ecological part.
We should learn from books like this. Like it’s said. Why the generation of our time fu**ed the whole planet.
January 5, 2021
Holy!!!! This is a fantastic read!!! The twists and turns really kept me guessing. I found myself completely immersed in a story that one day could be ours. I think I went through every available emotion with Nate and even shed a tear at the end.
October 20, 2019
Eigentlich eine sehr spannende Geschichte, die leider nicht bis zum Ende durchdacht wurde.
May 18, 2020
A little heavy handed in the technical terms at the beginning, but once it got rolling along the story became more interesting.
February 15, 2015
When I bought this book I start reading straight away. With 454 pages I read it in only three days which is quite good for me. Around 150 pages per day. Quite a feat. Well I still remember a lot from this book... This book is kind of Frankenstein in nowadays. Well for the plot... Dr Nate Sheehan is gunned down in the parking lot of a Los Angeles, the apparent victim of a random robbery gone wrong. Mary his wife, a researcher in cryogenic regeneration, severs Nate's head from his body before police can claim the corpse in hope of a future regeneration. After several decades in the future with a changed LA due to a massive earthquake and the change of energy because of lack of oil or even the water they drink is fruit of desalination, his head is put into the body of Duane Williams a convicted criminal. With the help of Dr Persis Bandelier wife of the director Rick Bandelier. Over time, Sheehan learns to walk and talk again under the guidance of Persis and Nate's personal nurse Monty. He's not the man he used to be, though. Confused by all that's happened in the world since his death, and devastated by the knowledge that his wife and son died in the 2012 earthquake, Nate tries to end his life through suicide. He's saved by Monty, only to face a worse future at the hands of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, an arm of the Center for Disease Control. The EIS has been monitoring Dr Bannerman's work, and when they find he's succeeded in reviving Dr. Sheehan, they invade Icor and take Nate to a detention center for examination. Nate's escape from the center sends him on a journey of discovery that ends back in Los Angeles. There his past clashes with his present life when he finds the canister of mementoes once hidden in his home. Was his murder a random act as everyone thought? Or was his death ordered by someone who wished to claim Wasserstrom's work as his own? He soon discovers of John Rando is the son of Martin Rando (a man he suspected that kill his closed friend and which he had some proofs). With several parties searching for him he must find himself in this new world and find what happened to him... Well the end was not predictable and it ended wanting for more. Jenkins sure can make a good reading book. I've tried to find another book by him but it seems that he only wrote this book. Most unfortunally.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2016
Favorite book of all time. This incredibly scientific yet emotionally powerful journey across time via cryogenics is a must read for any sci-fi fans. Especially for those with a proclivity for cryogenics and dream of a future of reanimation through cryogenics.
September 21, 2014
It started off well, but I thought it became dull very quickly. Disappointing.
*** here's your spoiler alert ***
And was there a major plot-hole during Nate's escape in the body bag, or did I miss something? When he's discovered, he tells the woman she's going to simply wheel him out past the guards and drive him wherever. And she does? What's stopping her from agreeing, and then simply signalling to the guards that there was a problem? I don't know, that bit annoyed me, probably spoiled the rest of the book because I couldn't help but think that I missed something there. (And come to think of it, some of the people he met in the airplane fields after that were fairly pointless. It seemed like they were taking the story in a new direction, but they fizzled out to nothing).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2016
Starts at an exciting breakneck pace but then after 30 or so pages slows to a crawl and never gets back up.
The main problem I had with the book was that the narrative felt so staged. You have the narrative of this guy being reborn through amazing science breakthroughs but then you also have this plot device character who you can tell right away is very clearly only there to cause some fuss later on. He is not likable or interesting, yet a good chunk of the book is devoted to him.
Nigh faceless villains also paint this in an unfavorable light.
Overall interesting premise but poor execution.
The main problem I had with the book was that the narrative felt so staged. You have the narrative of this guy being reborn through amazing science breakthroughs but then you also have this plot device character who you can tell right away is very clearly only there to cause some fuss later on. He is not likable or interesting, yet a good chunk of the book is devoted to him.
Nigh faceless villains also paint this in an unfavorable light.
Overall interesting premise but poor execution.
June 11, 2011
Certainly not great but easy read. Lots of research done and and the scientific details about cyronics sound okay. The story less so. It lacks tension at the right time, goes on and on about environmental details, that are just to predictable. The character development is also not flawless and the all hang around at caricature level or a total lack of death. Also too many coinsidences in the story line.Fuent style of writing though and the reason why it gets a secon star is because it is T.M. Jenkins first try.
March 24, 2010
A brilliant sci-fi read.A haunting unfolding of events in the future.
July 30, 2011
Great book - very thought provoking. If that's what life will be like when I'm 100, I'm glad I'll probably not be around!
December 3, 2013
Promising start. It lacked depth and purpose, pointless ending.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews