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Duo
When genetic doping steals your soul, going rogue is the only way to get it back…
Three hundred years in our future, the Akuru Temple on Earth genetically engineers empathic healers who have special powers to cure patients of emotional trauma.
For Akuru healers, those powers come with a steep price. They can never leave the Temple because constant exposure to "normal humans" will cause madness and death from empathic overload.
Eamon, the Temple's master healer, is the most powerful empath in Akuru history. He chafes against his Temple confinement, but has made a grudging peace with it because he accepts that being a healer is his divine mission and he believes in the Temple's teachings that compassion and nonviolence are the only true paths.
That is, until he meets Rachel Blue, a genetically engineered assassin called a Duo who has been captured and tortured by the leader of a terrorist war. Suicidal and extremely dangerous, Rachel is the most difficult patient Eamon has ever encountered.
When his attempt to heal Rachel ends in disaster, Eamon discovers he has unintentionally set her on a path to destroy a colony on Europa.
Risking madness and death from empathic overload, Eamon leaves the Temple's safety to chase Rachel across the solar system, hoping to catch her and fix the damage he's done before the souls of a million innocent people land on both of their heads. What he discovers out in The Worlds will shake the bedrock of every "divine truth" he has ever believed.
DUO blends fast-paced, page-turning science fiction adventure with a love story and some genuinely funny moments as Eamon tries to navigate the compex outer worlds as an innocent abroad. At its heart, the story is a meditation on the value of overcoming dogma and whether genetic engineering will someday rob us of our true purpose.
Three hundred years in our future, the Akuru Temple on Earth genetically engineers empathic healers who have special powers to cure patients of emotional trauma.
For Akuru healers, those powers come with a steep price. They can never leave the Temple because constant exposure to "normal humans" will cause madness and death from empathic overload.
Eamon, the Temple's master healer, is the most powerful empath in Akuru history. He chafes against his Temple confinement, but has made a grudging peace with it because he accepts that being a healer is his divine mission and he believes in the Temple's teachings that compassion and nonviolence are the only true paths.
That is, until he meets Rachel Blue, a genetically engineered assassin called a Duo who has been captured and tortured by the leader of a terrorist war. Suicidal and extremely dangerous, Rachel is the most difficult patient Eamon has ever encountered.
When his attempt to heal Rachel ends in disaster, Eamon discovers he has unintentionally set her on a path to destroy a colony on Europa.
Risking madness and death from empathic overload, Eamon leaves the Temple's safety to chase Rachel across the solar system, hoping to catch her and fix the damage he's done before the souls of a million innocent people land on both of their heads. What he discovers out in The Worlds will shake the bedrock of every "divine truth" he has ever believed.
DUO blends fast-paced, page-turning science fiction adventure with a love story and some genuinely funny moments as Eamon tries to navigate the compex outer worlds as an innocent abroad. At its heart, the story is a meditation on the value of overcoming dogma and whether genetic engineering will someday rob us of our true purpose.
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 22, 2015
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18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 10, 2015
"Duo" should come with the following warning label. "WARNING. Do not start reading if you intend to do anything else until the book is finished. Sleeping, eating and work will take a backseat to finding out what's going to happen next."
This was my experience! It's been a long time since I've stayed up to the wee small hours of the night reading, but with Duo I couldn't put it down. The characters are complex, the world is intriguing, and the pace goes along at a good clip. My body was saying "get some sleep" but my imagination countered with "just ONE more page"... and suddenly it was 1am... two nights in a row!
Damn you TK Greenleaf for writing such a brilliant novel. My eyebags and I will be sending you a bill in the morning.
This was my experience! It's been a long time since I've stayed up to the wee small hours of the night reading, but with Duo I couldn't put it down. The characters are complex, the world is intriguing, and the pace goes along at a good clip. My body was saying "get some sleep" but my imagination countered with "just ONE more page"... and suddenly it was 1am... two nights in a row!
Damn you TK Greenleaf for writing such a brilliant novel. My eyebags and I will be sending you a bill in the morning.
March 25, 2017
It was refreshing to read a book with a male lead who is literally an empath, a warrior female lead and interesting ethical issues. I particularly enjoyed the word-building and the universe the author created. The main character's journey was that of a man used to seeing the world one way being forced to see it from another perspective- specifically a woman's- and question his own narrow view of morality.
August 26, 2022
I enjoyed this version of an empathic healer storyline and didn't see the twist coming.
June 13, 2015
I liked the world-building and that the roles were not what you would normally find (the guy was the one with the empath abilities and the woman was the kick-a&$ soldier.) This was an enjoyable read and I would definitely try another book by this author.
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December 6, 2015I am the author of this book!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews