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Gabriel Born
Sheila Jensen, desperate to invent a genetic cure, defies rules against combining animal and human DNA. She stirs outrage, so her fiancé and boss, Philip Ohl, blames her for the illegal and immoral work, destroying her career. Still, Sheila is motivated; her diagnosis will kill her, so she engineers her last ovum to make a deadly nerve disorder cure. Risking her life, she bears the child, hoping her transferable DNA cure will work, but she can't find the cure in Gabriel's DNA. She loses faith; soon her strength and health deteriorate.
As Gabriel grows, her perception shifts. He is a prodigy that wins her wounded heart. She is shocked when he develops perfect blue wings at age five. All he wants to do is fly. Sheila can't contain him. When he flies, some of each watcher's consciousness joins him; his audience feels as if they fly too. When video goes viral, devotees flock to watch the angel boy, hoping to join the ecstatic ride. Violent protestors arrive too, spewing vitriol against him.
Sheila flees with Gabriel, afraid that Philip will claim her son. When he does so with a court order that shuts Sheila out, she fears for Gabriel. She knows the institution will do anything in the name of research. Gabriel has completely opened her heart, healed her, and given her a taste of unimagined freedom. Clearly, the only way to rescue him is to accept his expanded vision and allow him to teach her how to actually fly.
As Gabriel grows, her perception shifts. He is a prodigy that wins her wounded heart. She is shocked when he develops perfect blue wings at age five. All he wants to do is fly. Sheila can't contain him. When he flies, some of each watcher's consciousness joins him; his audience feels as if they fly too. When video goes viral, devotees flock to watch the angel boy, hoping to join the ecstatic ride. Violent protestors arrive too, spewing vitriol against him.
Sheila flees with Gabriel, afraid that Philip will claim her son. When he does so with a court order that shuts Sheila out, she fears for Gabriel. She knows the institution will do anything in the name of research. Gabriel has completely opened her heart, healed her, and given her a taste of unimagined freedom. Clearly, the only way to rescue him is to accept his expanded vision and allow him to teach her how to actually fly.
266 pages, Paperback
Published December 6, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 5, 2017
It's my book so I've read it multiple times and loved it every read.
December 23, 2018
Upon reading the first pages, I was perplexed because I am not used to reading stories in the present tense. But once I got the hang of it, I realized how the use of the tense adds greatly to the tension of the scenes, and the imminence of the characters' emotions.
I enjoyed Stockdale's keen portrayal of the main character's singular focus and determination. Sheila, the MC, sees all things through her scientific mind, and once the miracle she has so long sought happens, she calls upon it to detach herself from the emotions she would have felt otherwise. Stockdale also does a good job at showing the MC's failures, one of which is the very detachment which eventually led her to a miraculous success. But in the end, Sheila the geneticist does become Sheila the mother and her love for her child grows beautifully. I still do not know what happened to her child, Gabriel, if he was created an angel through her genetic manipulations, by God's intervention, or by both. And I still do not know whether Sheila and others were flying too, in the end. But I think of it as the story intended it: a mystery which will reveal itself to those who can see it.
I enjoyed Stockdale's keen portrayal of the main character's singular focus and determination. Sheila, the MC, sees all things through her scientific mind, and once the miracle she has so long sought happens, she calls upon it to detach herself from the emotions she would have felt otherwise. Stockdale also does a good job at showing the MC's failures, one of which is the very detachment which eventually led her to a miraculous success. But in the end, Sheila the geneticist does become Sheila the mother and her love for her child grows beautifully. I still do not know what happened to her child, Gabriel, if he was created an angel through her genetic manipulations, by God's intervention, or by both. And I still do not know whether Sheila and others were flying too, in the end. But I think of it as the story intended it: a mystery which will reveal itself to those who can see it.
March 31, 2018
Gabriel Born is a story about Dr Sheila Jensen and how she brings Gabriel to the world by combining animal and human DNA. Gabriel is not a normal child. He develops WINGS at the age of 5. All he wants to do is fly. Sheila can’t contain him. When he flies, some of each watcher’s consciousness joins him; his audience feels as if they fly too.
The story is about the mother and son relationship. The mother who tries every possible thing to save his son from getting unwanted attention and the son who’s only wish is to heal his mother and give her a taste of unimagined freedom.
The story is really interesting and kept me hooked from the very beginning.
The story is about the mother and son relationship. The mother who tries every possible thing to save his son from getting unwanted attention and the son who’s only wish is to heal his mother and give her a taste of unimagined freedom.
The story is really interesting and kept me hooked from the very beginning.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews