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Provectus: Survival of the Fittest
David Mariani is a successful doctor in Beverly Hills. Just as he begins to suspect a big-pharma conspiracy related to a number of his young patients, a mysterious and beautiful woman sweeps into his life, turning it upside down but then, just as quickly as she appeared, she disappears with her young daughter, and the mild-mannered doctor finds himself pulled into the adventure of his life . . . unraveling a world of international intrigue and government conspiracies, and immersed in a genetic code mystery that could affect the future of the entire human race.
398 pages, Paperback
Published October 4, 2016
222 people want to read
About the author
M.L. Stover
2 booksM. L. Stover holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology and is certified in Forensic Identification. Stover brings her real life interests and experience, including volunteer work at the Ventura County Crime Lab, to her writing. She lives in Southern California with her music producer husband.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 4, 2017
Note: contains spoilers; spoilers are some thoughts on the science involved which include some plot points, a large on in at least on case. You have been warned.
Overall this is a very well written, fast paced, sci-fi/action story. I enjoyed it very much once I suspended disbelief (more on that later). The print is slightly smaller than similar books, but not so small that you would need a magnifying glass to read it. The story clocks in at 372 pages; however, if the font had been larger it would have been a bit more. This makes for a nice, long story that you can really sink your teeth into and get to know the characters well.
A doctor, David, has three mysterious visitors to his office on the same day: a mother seeking treatment for her child and a man from either the (state? county?) Health Department or the CDC (book says both). The doctor gives some basic treatment to the daughter but doesn't send her to the ER or an urgent care center. He draws some blood that he is planning on testing somehow.
OK, pedantic time out about medical care in this book. Most medical offices don't have the equipment necessary to perform lab tests beyond a pregnancy or strep test nor start an IV. Also, doctors don't routinely do lab tests; they send specimens to the lab and wait for results. I don't know if your average physician would even know how to operate the lab equipment. David could have been cited for not sending the child on to the ER or an urgent care center quickly if she had gone south. The word toxin is used to mean any poison (instead of toxicant). These things and others are minor and not really pertinent to the plot, but as someone who works in the medical field they caught my attention. These are often things that medical TV shows mess up, too, so if you can watch House or ER and not be distracted by the errors, you will be fine with this story. Please don't think because of this list of issues I didn't enjoy the story; I did very much.
The mother and child disappear but later return to the story. David becomes involved in tracking them down and this is where the action really starts. I'm not going to give away too much of the plot because it really was a exciting thriller and would not like to spoil too much for possible readers. If you like action or sci-fi, give this a read.
Depending on your scientific beliefs, you may need to suspend disbelief for full enjoyment. This is really not too uncommon for many movies, books, TV shows, and other entertainment (*cough* midichlorians, hearing space ships explode in outer space, and clones with memories from the original specimens *cough*). In this story, global warming isn't happening. In fact, it is just the opposite; an ice age is approaching. There is an essay on pages 375 to 384 dedicated to this subject and its impact on evolution. In addition, those expressing a new phenotype know they are a separate subspecies than the rest of humanity and know they are the future even as a very small minority of the population.
Somewhat important plot point approaching: scroll past this paragraph to skip it. A weapon is developed that causes DNA to unzip and it works very quickly. There are some enzymes that do unzip DNA (the helicase family, for example) and if they don't work correctly they can cause sometimes fatal disorders (including premature ageing and some cancers). This weapon could be a version of this enzyme or a drug that causes the overproduction of enzymes like helicase, but it probably wouldn't work as quickly as written. This fictional weapon has a unique mechanism of action and that creativity is one of the things I really loved about this novel.
There is some cursing, but it is rare. Violence is also part of the story. Very readable and appropriate for high school readers to adults.
I received this book through the Goodreads Giveaways program. Thank you to the author and/or publisher.
Overall this is a very well written, fast paced, sci-fi/action story. I enjoyed it very much once I suspended disbelief (more on that later). The print is slightly smaller than similar books, but not so small that you would need a magnifying glass to read it. The story clocks in at 372 pages; however, if the font had been larger it would have been a bit more. This makes for a nice, long story that you can really sink your teeth into and get to know the characters well.
A doctor, David, has three mysterious visitors to his office on the same day: a mother seeking treatment for her child and a man from either the (state? county?) Health Department or the CDC (book says both). The doctor gives some basic treatment to the daughter but doesn't send her to the ER or an urgent care center. He draws some blood that he is planning on testing somehow.
OK, pedantic time out about medical care in this book. Most medical offices don't have the equipment necessary to perform lab tests beyond a pregnancy or strep test nor start an IV. Also, doctors don't routinely do lab tests; they send specimens to the lab and wait for results. I don't know if your average physician would even know how to operate the lab equipment. David could have been cited for not sending the child on to the ER or an urgent care center quickly if she had gone south. The word toxin is used to mean any poison (instead of toxicant). These things and others are minor and not really pertinent to the plot, but as someone who works in the medical field they caught my attention. These are often things that medical TV shows mess up, too, so if you can watch House or ER and not be distracted by the errors, you will be fine with this story. Please don't think because of this list of issues I didn't enjoy the story; I did very much.
The mother and child disappear but later return to the story. David becomes involved in tracking them down and this is where the action really starts. I'm not going to give away too much of the plot because it really was a exciting thriller and would not like to spoil too much for possible readers. If you like action or sci-fi, give this a read.
Depending on your scientific beliefs, you may need to suspend disbelief for full enjoyment. This is really not too uncommon for many movies, books, TV shows, and other entertainment (*cough* midichlorians, hearing space ships explode in outer space, and clones with memories from the original specimens *cough*). In this story, global warming isn't happening. In fact, it is just the opposite; an ice age is approaching. There is an essay on pages 375 to 384 dedicated to this subject and its impact on evolution. In addition, those expressing a new phenotype know they are a separate subspecies than the rest of humanity and know they are the future even as a very small minority of the population.
Somewhat important plot point approaching: scroll past this paragraph to skip it. A weapon is developed that causes DNA to unzip and it works very quickly. There are some enzymes that do unzip DNA (the helicase family, for example) and if they don't work correctly they can cause sometimes fatal disorders (including premature ageing and some cancers). This weapon could be a version of this enzyme or a drug that causes the overproduction of enzymes like helicase, but it probably wouldn't work as quickly as written. This fictional weapon has a unique mechanism of action and that creativity is one of the things I really loved about this novel.
There is some cursing, but it is rare. Violence is also part of the story. Very readable and appropriate for high school readers to adults.
I received this book through the Goodreads Giveaways program. Thank you to the author and/or publisher.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2019
Very indepth character development, captivating story line the keeps the readdr engaged, interesting concept about the evolution of mankind
April 26, 2023
fun read - alternate future
I enjoyed the characters, the anthropology and the love interests. If you enjoy future scenarios that aren’t always dystopia, give this book a read
I enjoyed the characters, the anthropology and the love interests. If you enjoy future scenarios that aren’t always dystopia, give this book a read
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews