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Human Error
Librarian note: This is an alternate cover edition record for ISBN 0-312-93332-0. It appears to be the first edition and states "First printing: October 1985" with no number line.
Adrian Storey wasn't feeling well. Not quite himself. When he disrupted the lavish press party that his company threw to announce a breakthrough new product, Epicell, Compugen's tame psychologist declared that Adrian had suffered a nervous breakdown from overwork. But Joana Davies, the beautiful young psychiatrist assigned to him at the sanatorium, knows better - if only she can prove it.
Adrian Storey and Toby Bridgeman are geniuses when it comes to genetic engineering - their work is the foundation of Compugen's success. They can rebuild a virus to order, tailor it to any purpose; they can make the stuff of life itself jump through hoops. But they couldn't make the president of Compugen stop the early release of Epicell. Compugen is in financial trouble and any delay might destroy the company.
Joana Davies knows that Adrian's nervous system has been infected by an unknown virus. Toby Bridgeman has a terrible suspicion what that virus is. They must join forces to unravel the deadly secret, before time runs out. Because Adrian isn't the only person who isn't feeling well ...
The first major novel of genetic engineering!
Adrian Storey wasn't feeling well. Not quite himself. When he disrupted the lavish press party that his company threw to announce a breakthrough new product, Epicell, Compugen's tame psychologist declared that Adrian had suffered a nervous breakdown from overwork. But Joana Davies, the beautiful young psychiatrist assigned to him at the sanatorium, knows better - if only she can prove it.
Adrian Storey and Toby Bridgeman are geniuses when it comes to genetic engineering - their work is the foundation of Compugen's success. They can rebuild a virus to order, tailor it to any purpose; they can make the stuff of life itself jump through hoops. But they couldn't make the president of Compugen stop the early release of Epicell. Compugen is in financial trouble and any delay might destroy the company.
Joana Davies knows that Adrian's nervous system has been infected by an unknown virus. Toby Bridgeman has a terrible suspicion what that virus is. They must join forces to unravel the deadly secret, before time runs out. Because Adrian isn't the only person who isn't feeling well ...
The first major novel of genetic engineering!
350 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
4 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Paul Preuss
34 books21 followersPaul Preuss is an American writer of science fiction and science articles, who also works as science consultant for film companies. He is the author of numerous stand-alone novels as well as novels in Arthur C. Clarke's Venus Prime series, based upon incidents, characters, and places from Clarke's short stories. (source: wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 2, 2020
Human Error blurs the lines between tech-fi and horror and largely succeeds in doing so. The only problem is that it takes a very long time for the horror element to embed itself in the technology. That, and a whole lot of nonsensical scenes and equally nonsensical dialogue hinder what could’ve been a pretty decent book.
Written in the mid 1980’s when computers were in their infancy, there’s a lot of unknown about their capability and capacity to change ‘modern’ ways of working. Here, the author attempts to fuse organic with artificial intelligence to form a suite of computers which can ‘think’ and solve real world problems just as good as, if not better, than humans. Whilst far-fetched and completely unrealistic, the noise surrounding computers in the mid 80’s meant there was a degree of apprehension and excitement attributed to this unknown qualitative computing mechanism. The plot doesn’t age well, but I could see how it’d have more impact closer to the original publication date.
Silly story aside, the downfall really is the dialogue and strange characters; their behavior, mannerisms, social interactions…the list goes on – they’re just not well written and that really dampers the reader experience. Cool cover on the mass market paperback edition though.
Written in the mid 1980’s when computers were in their infancy, there’s a lot of unknown about their capability and capacity to change ‘modern’ ways of working. Here, the author attempts to fuse organic with artificial intelligence to form a suite of computers which can ‘think’ and solve real world problems just as good as, if not better, than humans. Whilst far-fetched and completely unrealistic, the noise surrounding computers in the mid 80’s meant there was a degree of apprehension and excitement attributed to this unknown qualitative computing mechanism. The plot doesn’t age well, but I could see how it’d have more impact closer to the original publication date.
Silly story aside, the downfall really is the dialogue and strange characters; their behavior, mannerisms, social interactions…the list goes on – they’re just not well written and that really dampers the reader experience. Cool cover on the mass market paperback edition though.
April 27, 2021
A real page turner
This book was so well written. The sto4y is exciting and thought provoking. Every character is interesting and well developed. I was sad when it was over. I wanted more. I could not put this book down.
This book was so well written. The sto4y is exciting and thought provoking. Every character is interesting and well developed. I was sad when it was over. I wanted more. I could not put this book down.
September 19, 2025
im quite convinced if this was written after 1985 it would have been far more homosexual (if that is even possible)
March 31, 2022
Released in 1987 and still to this day credible in its possible scenario. I found this book to be fascinating, exciting, hopeful and scary. A book that I will definitely be picking up to read again.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews