Unnatural

Erica Rosen MD Trilogy #1

by Deven Greene

"A fascinating and thought-providing medical thriller about the ethical dilemmas posed by genetic manipulation." – Best Thrillers Dr. Erica Rosen is perplexed when she sees a young Chinese girl with blue eyes in her San Francisco pediatrics clinic. The girl's mother, Ting, is secretive, and Erica suspects she has entered the country illegally. Later, Erica encounters Ting's son and discovers he has an unusual mutation. Erica learns that Ting's children underwent embryonic stem cell gene editing as part of a secret Chinese government-run program. The Chinese government wants to murder Ting's son to prevent others from learning about his unusual mutation and the secret gene-editing program. At Ting's urging, Erica heads to China to expose the program and rescue the infant Ting was forced to leave behind, all while attempting to evade the watchful eye of the Chinese government.

Genres: Fiction

289 pages, Paperback

First published January 6, 2021

Reviews

[Caroline 'relaxing with my rescue dogs']

This was such an amazing and informative read. It reminded me of books from the cold war era when it was the Russians doing it, now updated for the Chinese. It did feel that it was believable and not far fetched.

The only thing I didn't like was the hook with the romance and the soppiness that came with that - this is why I marked it down a star. But that could appeal to other people - it was just not for me.

All in all a really good read.

I was given an advance copy by the author and voracious readers but the review is all my own.

Updated for audio version

I do love a Deven Greene book, they are always different and so I feel I am going to enjoy this series. This one was interesting but I can get how it is possible and how it would work - taken to the extreme though to make it dramatised.

I am off now to continue with the series.

The audio worked really well, just imagined I was part of the story

[Cheryl]

I was hooked right away with this story. While, this story is fiction; I actually could see it being a true story. I have read the stories that appear every once in a while in the news about a doctor here or there that has attempted to do gene mutation with human embryos. So, it is not far off to believe that the medical field can and succeed with gene mutation.

I got behind Ting and her desperate plea for help. Here comes Erica Rosen to the rescue. She was very understanding towards Ting and her situation. I connected emotionally towards both of these women. Thus, I was invested in this story till the last page had been turned.

Fans of medical thrillers will want to pick up a copy of this book. This is one that you will not want to miss.

[Vigilant Reader]

Title – Unnatural
Author – Deven Green
Genre – Medical Thriller, Romance
Word Count - 85900
Rating – Four stars out of Five
No. 04 - 2021
Posted 1/22/2021

My Impressions: Foreign intrigue, conflict, frequent action, romance.

Main Characters:
Erica Rosen M.D. – pediatrician.
Daisy Wong – Friend of Erica and co-conspirator.
Ms. Ting Chen – Chinese national with three children Wang Shu, Tang, Mingyu).
Lim Chen – Ting’s brother and a rebel against gene modification.
Ebba Lindgren – Friend and enabler of Ting Chen.

Dr. Erica Rosen treats Ting Chen’s daughter, Wang Shu, and notices the child has blue eyes. She assumes the child’s father is Caucasian. Later Ting’s three-year-old son, Tang is brought in after being hit by a car. Tests reveal he has abnormal hemoglobin levels. Ting insist Chinese assassins attacked the boy to murder him. No one believes her until a Chinese man posing as a doctor tries to get close to the boy. Ting pulls a gun on him and he runs off with a hostage. Later they learn the doctor whose I.D. badge the assassin stole was murdered.
Erica learns horrible details about what the Chinese government is doing to dominate the Olympics in the future. Their goal is to create super athletes to dominate all major sports categories. During the discussions, Erica learns Ting has a third child who is four-months-old and is still held in China. Ting was impregnated against her will with sperm from the head of the gene modification program for all three of her children.
Erica and Daisy plot to sneak into China, meet Lim, steal Ting’s second son, and record evidence of the illegal medical program. From there the conflict is intense and the action frequent. Along the way Erica and Lim become lovers and the story ends on a cliff hanger that will lead into a follow-up story.
During long dissertation of genes, DNA and RNA I skipped ahead because I found the details too technical and boring.
The story has an abundance of evil communist party members, assassins, and even pirates.

The editing and sentence structure are subpar and need help.
Character Development is thorough
Details are plentiful and research of gene sequencing and modification is evident.
The plot is fresh and horrifying.
The writing style is a bit slow with a lot of hand ringing and gnashing of teeth.

I enjoyed Unnatural in spite of the negatives listed.

Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.

[Lynne Stoppard-jones]

This is an enjoyable story if a bit longwinded. I read the preview and thought yes this will be exciting. It isn’t yet at 45% into the story. The plot is sound and thought provoking about how children could be genetically engineered it mutated to be supreme athletes. I just wish we could get on with rescuing the one the main character goes to China to rescue. Unfortunately I’m finding that I’m skim reading to get to on with the story. The in-depth background given of some of the characters feels as though it is a delay or a padding out of the story.
However I’m hoping the remaining 55% may speed up and I won’t want to ‘fly read’ pages.0

[Lynn Reynolds]

Dr. Rosen starts the book off with a picture I can’t get out of my head – and believe me it’s not a pretty one. If you like medical mysteries or thrillers you will want to see what this book is about. Erica reminded me of one of my favorite shows growing up, Dr. Quincy M.E.

She takes us on an adventure as she tries to help someone get to the truth and reunite a family. I wouldn’t consider this book a romance but there are several times where love is involved. Our author reminds me several times why it’s a good idea to find books outside your favorite genre. Never having read any work by this author, I didn’t know what to expect but she made me a fan by the time I finished the first chapter.

There are those that are ebook purists and others that love their audiobooks. I love both of those but there’s something about when you come across THE book, it has to be in paper form. I love sitting in a comfortable chair and relax while looking forward to turning the page to see what twist an author may have in store for her main character. Now that I have watched Erica Rosen go above and beyond for those in her care, I can’t wait to see what other favorite medical shows her next two books will remind me of.

I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Kathleen]

When Chinese immigrant, Ting, brings in her young daughter, Wang Shu for her Kindergarten physical, Dr. Erica Rosen has no idea what she's getting into. Ting, a former Chinese athlete, has been part of an evil Chinese experiment where she has been held captive to have her eggs harvested, fertilized, and genetically manipulated, before returned to her womb to go through a normal gestation. In her flight from China, Ting escaped with her two older children, while having to leave her baby behind. Erica and her roommate, Daisy, are enlisted to go to Chinas to retrieve baby Mingyu from the secret facility while also obtaining evidence that will shut the Chinese experiment down. There is plenty a action and danger, as well as a smattering of romance. The characters are well crafted so that they are interesting and relatable. Fortunately, the main character is a doctor, so the medical and scientific concepts presented in this story are explained in a way that makes the whole story understandable to the lay person. I very much enjoyed this book and will read the others in the series when they come out. I received this book as an advance readers copy from Voracious Readers Only.

[Michelle, The Book Critic]

Unnatural is one of those books that can make someone hesitant towards reading it. Besides most of the stereotypical asian characters and uncomfortable moments, this book does stand on a unique ground.
It's a medical thriller involving gene mutation and foreign conflicts, romance, and a TON of information about genes, DNA and RNA.

Sometimes I wished the pacing of the book could have gotten a lot faster; there were times where I felt like some of the events happening were (super) unnecessary. It felt like the author was purposely dragging us, making us wait for big-bada-booms... and I didn't quite enjoy that.

Another thing I must mention is the attention to detail. Now, the author knows their stuff, props to them, of course. But, when you lay the information out, whether it be explaining it thoroughly or not, it's still a big drag into the story. I wanted to get into the spicy-ness if you know what I mean. And as much as I love learning new things, we need to get to the point sometimes. That sometimes was quite often.

Other than that, I enjoyed this book. The author is someone who you can trust on and the writing style clearly shows that.

[jcl]

I was told this was a "medical mystery," but it reads more like a medical thriller--esp. after the setup, which is essential, but not as thrilling as the rest of the book. I've never been to China (and have no interest in going, unless the gov't. changes), but the book reads as if the author knew the area well. (Maybe someone who grew up there would disagree, but it was realistic enough to not detract from the story. It might seem trivial, but I like how the characters were introduced: they have "ordinary" jobs (doctor and programmer). I also felt the situations were (for the most part) believable. I actually read this on one rainy Saturday--it pulled me that strongly. I absolutely will read Book 2.

[Lily]

This was a great medical thriller. It has intrigue, edge-of-your seat moments, and medical/genetic advancements that, if they're not already possible, are probably in the not-so-far-off future. Greene made it seem so realistic that I had chills running down my spine just thinking about it. Erica is a great heroine, and she has such a big heart, it's hard not to like her. My heart really went out to Ting and her situation, and I love that Erica was so determined to help her, even with the mounting danger around them. If you enjoy medical thrillers, you'll quickly find yourself wrapped up in this one.

[Tina]

I thought this would be more similar to Christine Feehan's Ghostwalkers series. But while it's very different, the concept behind the plot is intriguing.
It's a little long-winded in parts and I found myself skimming to get to the action quicker.
It is a fascinating, potentially cautionary tale about the field of genetic manipulation and designer babies.
I received a copy via Librarything and all opinions are my own.

[Mary Rae]

Deven Greene takes a deep dive into the world and science of gene editing to create an engaging and thrilling read. Although this is a work of fiction, the reader will be on edge about the possibility of unethical uses of this scientific breakthrough. The protagonists take a fast paced tour of China as they attempt to rescue an infant caught up in this unprincipled research. I look forward to reading the next installment in Deven Greene's Erica Rosen Trilogy.

[Ken Whiting]

A different breed of Sci-fi

Women in danger and abuse of any sort is a negative for me but I suppose an argument could be made for the inclusion. That said I did enjoy the story and being “in the head” of a female physician. As a fan of genetics it was interesting to see where, how and why it might go. Most plot issues wrapped up in book one but some were left out as a hook (presumably) for book two. Rating of “maybe”…

[Judith]

Good book

Interesting science with far reaching implications. Perhaps it can even be applied to making more impathic human beings. Obviously, given the nature of mankind, the first modifications ar likely to be better athletes and soldiers. Curing of genetic defects will likely be second on the agenda.

[Laura]

This book completely surprised me! The cover is awful and the blurb sounded ridiculous and far-fetched! But I really enjoyed this book! The story is gripping and I devoured it in less than 2 days, but I do think it would make a better film as the writing isn't particularly great, but the story is brilliant!

[Katie]

Deven Greene takes gene manipulation and turns it into a fantastic medical thriller. The book had me captivated from the start. The possibilites of gene manipulation are endless and Deven Greene uses those possibilites to form a what-if situation. I absolutely loved this book!

[Ellen Aish]

First book in a trilogy and I can't wait to read the next two. This book was so intriguing that I had to read it in one sitting. The author's medical knowledge is written in a way that makes it easy for the reader to understand. So if you fancy a good dose of 'medicine' then this one is for you.

[Peggy]

This was an enjoyable read. Not one that you would expect from the cover, just a bit more. This is one that you would actually have to read for yourself not just from reviews. The plot is well put together as well as the characters.

[Ruth Vanotten]

Natural

Very interesting and compelling story, makes you wonder about possible future developments.
Following the characters as the story develops keeps you on edge and very interested

[Dawn Froese]

Captivating from beginning to end.

[Diana Ward-Pickering]

great read!

I couldn’t put the book down once I had some free time to read. I can’t wait to read the second book

[Gail McLaren]

Review

Great story. It is sad that I can envision something like this happening. I highly recommend this story for a good read.

[Amanda]

I hadn't read a medical thriller in quite a while and this one made me wonder why I am not reading them every day. The plot was intriguing, the characters were all believable and unique, there was enough action to keep me hooked and enough tension to keep me reading to the end.

From the beginning, when Erica first sees the blue-eyed child and starts questioning things, I knew I would be engrossed in the story. Then the man tried to kill the little brother in the hospital and I knew that I wouldn't be able to put the book down until I understood why.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys the thriller genre and especially medical thrillers. There is enough intrigue to keep you interested, interpersonal relationships to keep it realistic, and emotion to keep you engaged with the characters. I felt like the author did very well at capturing the emotions the characters would be feeling and drawing you into their world.

A solid four stars from me.

I did receive this book free or at a discount in order to read it and give my opinions on it. As usual, all thoughts are my own. I was not required to leave a review.

[Stanley McShane]

Read the full review on Rosepoint Publishing.

Could world sports dominance be an offshoot of gene manipulation? Deven Greene explores the concept in this spell-binding tale of international intrigue and romance! This book sweeps you away into a world of excessive national pride and the attempt at world domination in the sports’ world.

As Dr. Erica Rosen proceeds to do a physical exam for a kindergartener, she is struck by the impossible; this Chinese child has blue eyes! This is genetically impossible! A lack of any health history begins a very engaging tale of genetics, gene manipulation and seemingly science fictional intrigue and it doesn’t take long to get hooked in this unique premise.

Gene splicing and correction of DNA family traits that cause diseases or maladies in later life are replaced with gene sequences that do not have these traits! Imagine the way a child would look with more muscle mass, stronger bones, perfect complexion and optimum height and weight. Add a body extremely adept at utilizing oxygen and nutrients as well as the ability to run long distances without fatigue! The possibilities are endless and mind-blowing!

With technology utilized throughout the country to control the Chinese population and their opportunities for advancement, how can a foreigner get into the country and explore the newest technology. A very difficult task indeed for a non-native visitor.

Dr. Rosen undertakes the task of visiting China to find a missing child and unravel the ongoing research into gene technology. Once in country she learns quickly that you cannot trust anyone. People loyal to the communist regime will go to any lengths to protect the technology and states’ secrets. Can a lost child be rescued and the state secrets be unraveled? This read is unputdownable as the action is fast paced, well plotted, and very engaging. 5 Stars – CE Williams

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from NetGalley. These are my honest opinions.