If you need to know, just Go (with Gabriel)

This is the back cover blurb on the paperback edition of my novel 'Going with Gabriel' ISBN 978-0-9555193-1-4 from Amazon  .... 0r buy it for peanuts as an e-book





Are there simply too many of us? Are we trying to
grab much, much more from our planet than our planet has to give? Many of us
would agree with Gabriel, would know by now that these most acute of problems reach
out to threaten every form of life on earth, even our own. But then in all
probability we would quickly forget about them. Solutions seem either
unavailable or unacceptable.




On the other hand … Dr Gabriel Nicolson has long escaped from the frightening reality of
his team’s bio-scientific discovery into the anonymity of the streets; into the
world of his first love, that of music.




Going
with Gabriel is a
powerfully intertwined story about an exceptional talent and a man’s conscience
and about freedom and the lack of it, love and no love, celebrity and
anonymity. This is a truly thought-provoking literary adventure. 




*****




Going
with Gabriel is a thoroughly good read
but also carries a serious message - it provides a ‘wake up call’ as to the
consequences of man’s failure to adequately control human population growth ...
I earnestly hope that this book goes some way to undermining the taboo that
prevents public discussion of socially acceptable ways to limit our numbers
before the fiction of  ‘Going with
Gabriel’ becomes a reality.




Paul
Burgoyne, Ph.D,F.Med.Sci

(UK)
MRC Research Group Leader working on the link between sex chromosome anomalies
and infertility.







*****




“Going
With Gabriel” delves into a subject which seems to be something of a
taboo, despite being one of the most serious threats facing humanity in
the 21st century.

The story moves along at a rhythmical pace
following the musical Gabe as he moves from place to place with his
songs, his penny-whistle and his accompanist pal Sonny. His talent gets
him noticed wherever he plays but his desire for anonymity prevents him
from staying in one place. Relationships, the media, greedy
opportunists, secret organisations and his past life all conspire to
bring him out into the open and force him into making some difficult
decisions.

This is a well written book from an author previously
unknown to me. Islip manages to keep a non-scientist like myself
interested in the scientific technicalities and, at the same time,
retain a poetic feel befitting of the song-writing lyricist Gabriel.

My
only real gripe is the underlying religious zeal that some of the
characters display, which at best is unnecessary, and at worst seems
unrealistic given their profession and the work they are undertaking,
which would surely make such beliefs unlikely. Maybe my atheistic mind
is getting the better of me here, and anyhow the impact of this on the
whole story wasn’t enough to spoil my enjoyment.

Overall this was
a thoroughly enjoyable holiday read and raises important questions that
mankind is going to have to face up to sooner rather than later.






Reviewer on Goodreads - John Webb