Review of Mindweavers I
- ken4512
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- Latest Review: Mindweavers I by Paul Michael Privateer
Review of Mindweavers I
Paul Michael Privateer’s sci-fi novella, Mindweavers I: Origins, is a gripping, futuristic techno-thriller that brings together historical fiction and cutting-edge science, a story about viral biochemistry and AI technology. What if someone created a Mindweaver virus that could control human memory, identity, and freedom?
The novella, Mindweavers I: Origins, is a cliff-hanger, an introduction to the central character of Jack Kavanaugh, with a brilliant mind, and the capability to solve crimes involving bioinformatics. He has two Ph. D.s, one in bioforensic criminology, the other in nano bioinformatics from Oxford.
His genius is a family legacy. Jack’s grandfather, Sir Richard Kavanaugh, was an Oxford-trained mathematician and cryptanalyst, working at Bletchley Park, the top-secret British decryption facility in WWII. Sir Richard was found dead in his car in 1943, apparently of suicide. However, in the 1970s, Sir Richard’s son, Peter, came across notes showing that Sir Richard had deep suspicions that Nazi German scientists were working on creating a viral bioweapon, the Mindweavers Virus, to control the human mind. Peter was convinced Sir Richard was murdered. Peter is now in his sixties, an expert in viral biotechnology and an Interpol agent.
Peter’s son, Jack, is now an intelligence agent at Interpol’s London Bureau. He is at Interpol’s Washington D.C. Bureau, training for a special missions team, when he is assigned almost immediately as a key investigator in a series of gruesome murders. He discovers the murders are a vital clue to the Mindweaver Virus that his grandfather had suspected Nazi Germany was developing in WWII.
I was pulled right from the start into Mindweavers I: Origins for its masterfully crafted and character-driven story. I particularly liked how the story begins with the haunting historical legacy and death of Sir Richard, setting up the subsequent events that draw his grandson, Jack Kavanaugh, into the terrifying world of bioweapons designed to control and manipulate human minds. I loved the way the past, of Jack’s grandfather’s suspicions of WWII experimental work on a Mindweaver Virus, weaves in and out of the story.
The story springs vividly to life through the in-depth development of Jack, the central character, and is enriched by secondary characters connected to the story’s subplots and themes. The international nature of espionage and Interpol agents comes alive through the inclusion of German and Swedish languages and accents in well-crafted dialogues.
The profanity, violence, and gruesome, explicit descriptions of murder victims are in the context of the story. However, the use of profanity and graphic depictions of violence makes the novel inappropriate for younger or sensitive readers, and the novel is best suited to the general adult reading audience.
The novella has been carefully edited, and I found only a few typos and punctuation errors.
There was nothing I disliked in this story of crime, espionage, and the moral and ethical implications of controlling human minds and behavior through biogenetic manipulation.
I liked the way Mindweavers I: Origins ends, as a cliff-hanger, creating excitement about what happens next!
I am rating Paul Michael Privateer’s novella, Mindweavers I: Origins, 5 out of 5 stars. I liked its complex characters, the masterful development of the story relating to bioweapons, and the futuristic science fiction of creating humans with genetic codes that are a combination of human and viral genetic code and AI code.
I highly recommend Paul Michael Privateer’s novella, Mindweavers I: Origins, to readers of futuristic science fiction thrillers, stories of biogenetics, bioweapons, espionage, and crime.
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Mindweavers I
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