The Darwin Strain: An R. J. MacCready Novel
In 1948, as the cold war is taking off, U.S. Army Intelligence Captain “Mac” MacCready, and his friend and colleague, “Special Agent” Yanni Thorne, a Brazilian indigenous woman with “Dr. Doolittle” abilities to relate to animals, are deployed overseas once again by the Pentagon. Now they find themselves on a famous and eerie Greek island researching a marine anomaly which supposedly has healing powers similar to phenomena they’ve encountered in the past.
Of course, the Soviets, under infamous Communist scientist, Trofim Lysenko, have gotten wind of the strange “miraculous” secret from the locals and are injecting themselves into the search. The Greek Orthodox Church also has a stake in the outcome. Frenchman and former naval officer Jacques Cousteau finds himself a member of Mac’s team, along with an assortment of special operators and scientists. A fourth contingent of players is made up of creatures of a highly intelligent, dangerous and fascinating aquatic species. Intricate espionage and naval combat ensue.
Third in a series of R. J. MacReady novels, this book is a fast-paced, science-infused, rollicking adventure which is just fine as a standalone. I reviewed the prior two, and all have been characterized by evocative capture of the times and venues, flashes of humor, and continuous injections of historical, scientific, and military facts. Characters are well developed, and even one of the Soviet spies comes across sympathetically. In addition to occasionally stepping back millions of years to explain how evolution impacts the story, the authors also provide us with short anecdotes from the last two thousand years which seem to buttress the strangest parts of the book. The concluding Authors’ Note-Reality Check is a must-read. Regrettably, we no longer have Michael Crichton, Jules Verne, or H.G. Wells, but Schutt and Finch have stepped into the breach with creative aplomb.
