Official Review: The Cocaspore Project by William Claypool

[CaitlynLynch]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Cocaspore Project" by William Claypool.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The basic premise of The Cocaspore Project is all too plausible; a brilliant bioscientist theorizes a plant-killing fungus genetically engineered to be specific to the coca plant. He finds government funding for his project and the book picks up the story as the project is nearing what appears to be a successful conclusion.

Naturally, there are any number of people who absolutely do not want to see the project succeed. Dr Paul Sloan, the bioscientist, finds himself and his family threatened by ruthless men who stand to lose billions of dollars if Sloan can succeed in his mission to destroy the coca plant, and with it, the entire cocaine trade.

Discovering that word of his work has somehow leaked to those who would do anything to see him fail, Sloan turns to a Navy admiral, the only man who warned him ahead of time that he was likely to encounter dangerous resistance. The admiral is hampered by the Navy’s regulations, but still able to place a skilled intelligence operative, Miguel Franco, to watch over Sloan at his home base in Chicago.

The Cocaspore Project follows Sloan and Franco as they both race against the clock; Sloan to complete the testing phase of the project and hand it off to the military and Franco to somehow protect Sloan and his innocent family and friends from becoming collateral damage in the war on drugs. Driven by personal tragedy, Sloan is determined to succeed, but so are his enemies, and their resources are very nearly limitless.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable suspense thriller. Too often in thrillers, I find that too much suspension of disbelief is required in order to enjoy the book, but that was most certainly not the case here. From the beginning, the plot was completely plausible; to be honest, the only thing I found unlikely was that the project was not already being handled ‘in-house’ by the military, but considering Sloan’s background and his personal investment in seeing the cocaine trade destroyed, I allowed that one to slide. The science in the book was both accurate as far as I could tell and easily explained to the layperson; it was excellently done and I congratulate the author on his expertise on the subject, which shone clearly through in his writing.

Don Ricardo and his sidekicks were just as brutal as one would expect from drug traffickers and their enforcers, and there were some seriously gripping action scenes, especially when the traitor inside the government was revealed to be someone with the power to seriously derail the whole operation.

With two male protagonists in Sloan and Franco, the author did fall slightly into the trap of having the females in the story be little more than ‘arm candy’. Sloan’s wife and daughter were basically just there to play damsels in distress, and his lab assistant Denise became Franco’s love interest rather than getting her own story arc. In addition, I found myself distracted a little too frequently from the storyline by spelling and grammar errors which should be picked up by a competent editor.

In conclusion, I genuinely enjoyed The Cocaspore Project and I would particularly recommend it to fans of medical and biological thrillers such as those by Robin Cook. Those who enjoy TV shows about the drug trade such as Narcos and Queen Of The South will find the story thrilling and relevant.

However, I don’t feel quite able to award it top marks, for the editing issues I mentioned and the almost complete sidelining of female characters. I would urge the author to consider including more strong women in his works in order to appeal to a wider audience; there is no real reason why Dr Paul Sloan could not have been Dr Pauline Stone, in my opinion.

For these reasons, I am awarding The Cocaspore Project a rating of 3 out of 4 stars.

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The Cocaspore Project
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Like CaitlynLynch's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Scerakor]

What a unique concept for a novel and an amazingly interesting idea for a counter-drug initiative. This sounds not only thought-provoking but packed with action as well. Thanks for the review.

[gali]

A bioscientist discovers the means to eradicate cocaine and now has to run for his life? Sounds interesting. Too bad about the bad editing and the lack of strong women in the tale. Thank you for the review!

[Ferdinand_Otieno]

This book seems like a very interesting science fiction novel that I hope i get to read very soon. Congrats #BOTD

[tarafarah7]

Great review! It was helpful and insightful! Too bad about the editing errors that were not caught, though. I feel like we see this all too often with self-published books. Either way, the content sounds exciting and packed with suspenseful action. This is my favorite genre, so I think I may give it a try. Best of luck to Author William Claypool and congratulations!

[Rosemary Wright]

Interesting story. I read some percentage of the sample and I had to force myself to stop reading because I got fascinated by the flow of the story.

[Waragu Samuel]

Discovering that word of his work has somehow leaked to those who would do anything to see him fail,

Sure. Totally agree. There are people in this world who will go to any lengths possible to ensure the downfall of others. Good Review.

[Paul78]

If there are wars that are ruthless, then they are drug wars. The reviewer has noted clearly that the role of women in the fight against narcotics should never be relegated to the periphery. Rather, it should be enhanced and made central.

Most of the negative side effects are borne by the women.
Apart from that, the review has given the positive side of the book, of which I am of the opinion, that it outweighs the negative things noted.

[YUSUFATILA]

Good review indeed,its good to higlight some slight changes that should be looked at by the author.The book is thrilling and the reviewer has made it appear real too!

[Mwanaidi]

A story about countermeasures to e drug trafficking menace, quite a thriller. Love the SciFi bit of it. Great review

[Strangerthanfiction]

Nice review, very thorough. This book sounds quite intriguing and very realistic. I like it when a suspense thriller like this one lets you feel like everything going on in the story is totally plausible keeping you in the story not snorting with disbelief at ridiculous coincidences. Despite this being man-centric I’m going to give it a read it sounds too good to pass on. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Yoli García]

I find interesting the premise of a scientist discovering a fungus that kills the coca plant. However, I am not into books about the war on drugs. Glad you liked it! Thanks for the review!

[Miss_BeckyG]

I'm glad that despite the spelling and grammar errors, The cocaspore project still makes for a thrilling read. I can't wait to immerse myself in Dr. Sloan's story. Great job on the review.

[Shaat]

The story is very amazing. A very unique idea. Interesting and full of thrilling. I like it. Great review.

[mindyg123]

I love a good thriller and from what I've read this is one. A scientist discovers a way to eradicate cocaine, sounds great except for the drug Lord's who don't want that to happen. This is definitely going to be added to my TBR list. Congrats on being BOTD.