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Mary Johns

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The DrugTech Trilogy

by Marcel Victor Sahade (Goodreads Author)

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in November 2021

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Mary Johns said: " The DrugTech Trilogy is a combination of three small novels into one big novel.

It tells the story of a fictitious major pharmaceutical company called DrugTech. In book one, each chapter begins as a seemingly unrelated short story with a twist at the The DrugTech Trilogy is a combination of three small novels into one big novel.

It tells the story of a fictitious major pharmaceutical company called DrugTech. In book one, each chapter begins as a seemingly unrelated short story with a twist at the end. The stories are diverse ranging from a year eight child who finds a wizard's book, a pirate ship on a hunt for treasure, a barrister with mystical powers, a spaceship on its maiden voyage to Mars etc. But as each of these stories unfold, there is another story unfolding in the background which has in some way or another, influenced all of these stories. The book culminates into a unifying theme where the storyteller himself is a twist, being a major character in the novel itself.

Book two continues with the ever growing empire of the DrugTech business, this time merging with a multi-billion dollar conglomeration and becoming a major company on the world stage. We meet the Contessa Medici, the woman behind the merger, and discover that Dr Jamieson, the evil director from book one is still at the helm of the merged company, now operating from New York.

In a similar style to book one, the book also begins with diverse short stories, seemingly unrelated and with plot twists at the end of them. But the unifying theme with DrugTech is now more pronounced and evident and the theme of "The DeepState Deepens" shows how DrugTech's influence is growing in the "political, judicial and administrative spheres". Many of the stories begin to show favouritism to DrugTech in the legal system and in government institutions, but the favouritism is unspoken, secretive, and never acknowledged officially. Many of the short stories are legal scenes from court cases and the book is almost a crime-thriller at this point. But the author in exposing the deep tentacles of DrugTech does a brilliant job of commenting on society and what is explicit in the theme of the book, are what would be mere "conspiracy theories" in real life. The stories in book two merge much quicker and in a more relatable way than in book one because the background of book one applies in book two and the 'background story' in book one is now moved to the foreground in book two.

In book three, the major characters that we were introduced to in books one and two now take centre stage in a direct conflict with the DrugTech empire. The mission they began in book two, to expose and bringdown the DrugTech Empire, now comes to fruition in book three. The author makes a fantastic analogy to the naval Battle of Lepanto with seemingly unrelated flashbacks to the historic battle. The reader is taken on a wild ride beginning with a fraud case of a 'self-proclaimed' gambler, to a murder case of a character introduced to us in book two. But it soon emerges that that character is innocent of the murder charger and is being framed by DrugTech. The lead detective who investigated the character of fraud in book one, becomes convinced of his innocence of the murder in book two and decides to assist him in the name of justice. And that means exposing DrugTech; but at the same time, that can't be done officially for various reasons that pose a real dilemma to the characters involved.

The detective turns to the help of three university students, who refer to their meetings as, "The Society of Creative Talent". Their 'talent' includes a ten-year-old whiz kid from book two, who is now 15 and just as brilliant. And a nun from book two, who was a work-experience student in book one to the barrister who had somewhat 'mystical' powers (similar to a vampire, mind reading, strength, immortality etc) and who has contracted those powers herself, and boy does she use them in book three!

The analogy to the Battle of Lepanto continues throughout the book and the reader is taken on a wonderful journey into the tents of both sides before, during and after the battle at various chapters throughout the book. The reader gets to live the battle at all of its stages! The ultimate scientific invention in book two, referred to as "the Finger of God" is now modified in book three so that it is even more powerful and capable of viewing all historic events.

Book three, which is only about two-thirds the size of books one and two, culminates in the 'demerger' of the DrugTech Empire and the evil Dr Jamieson being brought to justice, but only somewhat, and even then after a major event that almost thwarted the attempt. The Contessa Medici goes from villainess to subdued hero, and the book concludes with one of the major characters, steadfast throughout books one and two, emerges as the new managing director of DrugTech in the end, with the implication that DrugTech is now on the ethically-correct course.

Apart from the Lepanto analogy, there are no other unrelated short stories in book three, as the background story of the entrenched DrugTech has definitely become the focal point in book three and addressed directly in the foreground.

I was amazed at the three stories in The DrugTech Trilogy. The magic established in books one and two is brought to a thrilling conclusion in book three. There is never an indication of rambling by the author. On the contrary, each chapter is obviously well thought-out before hand telling its own story, advancing the main one, and interconnecting with other stories in ways the reader becomes aware of much later throughout the novel. There is a wild imagination at play and it is suspenseful, mystical, magical and generally spine-tingling. I would have to say that from the moment the first chapter is read in book one, it is a 'page-turner' and that continues right throughout books two and three and the reader is rewarded with a thrilling conclusion to the story that unfolds.

I really enjoyed the book and am a little sad that it is now all over. I recommend it for its literary style, its detective approach full of mystery and intrigue, its comments on society that at times are quite hilarious, others full of satire and others just horrific. The cover of the book of the creepy man walking into the mist is explained in the final chapter of the book in book three, who was a major character in books one and two as well.

Enjoy the book, I couldn't put it down. ...more "

Nov 18, 2021 07:33AM · see review