DNF at 96 Pages.

La clonación es el negocio del futuro. Un laboratorio sin escrúpulos ha creado una peligrosa loción capaz de convertirte en la persona que siempre soñaste. ReNacimiento. Puedes elegir la apariencia que desees de un catálogo de seres humanos y a cambio solo debes permitir que reescriban tu ADN para siempre. Pero no hay una sola cosa que la humanidad no pueda convertir en un arma. Y este sueño de vanidad muy pronto desatará el mismísimo fin del mundo. Un apocalipsis hilarantemente absurdo y terroríficamente posible de la mano del autor de la saga John Cleaver. ( )

"In a culture where we can be anything we want, only one thing is certain:

Nobody wants to be themselves".

Extreme Makeover by Dan Wells

Well! What a book I just finished.

This book..some words to describe it..crazy. Sick. Insane. Creepy. Horrifying. Wild ride. And soo GOOD! I could not put this thing down.

Extreme Makeover is at once a Syfy, a horror novel of what could be as well as one of the creepiest things I've ever had the pleasure of reading, all the while, keeping me laughing out loud, sometimes hysterically, while simultaneously being chilled to my bones.

This book is about a Big Pharma company called NewYew. The lead scientist, an interesting dude by the name of Lyle, has been developing a new Health and beauty lotion for women.

The only problem is that something went wrong along the way. The lotion works just fine but it does a heck of alot more then it's supposed to.

Due to some type of mutation , this lovely little "supplement" has the power to overide the DNA of any individual who uses it, turning them into a clone of someone else.

So just think about that for a minute. You'd think that the company, upon discovering this, would get rid of the supplement(aptly named "Rebirth").

Only the company does not want to get rid of it. The company wants to profit from it. Because why not? Everyone wants to be someone else. Nobody in society is happy just being who they are. And if they can package it and make people look different..even like super models..what could go wrong right?

This premise, while sounding wholly bizarre, somehow comes alive in the hands of this writer and any absurdity fades away into blanket horror as Rebirth is unleashed. Everyone wants some Rebirth..every..including the United States Government, The United State Military, wanna be celebrities, terrorist organizations, religious groups, cults, underground Rebirth dealers and..the list goes on.

None of this is a spoiler as much of this is revealed early on..including the "countdown to the end of the world" which starts on page one. We, the reader, get to experience the horror this crazy book takes us on, while it simultaneously pokes fun at every one of the above mentioned groups and organizations. It spares nobody. It even makes fun of itself. Combining Plain sheer horror and hysterical biting wit is no small deed so I'd have to give the book a five just for that.

Lyle is the well meaning scientist who unwittingly unleashes Armageddon. He is a very interesting character and there were times I sympathized with him, disliked him, was repulsed by him and felt for him. There are a whole array of colorful characters in this one and it was a joy to read about them all.

So I do not want to say much more. I would recommend this book for..everyone. I had never heard of it before even though it has been out since 2016. What a pity. I have rarely read such a complex and crazy book.

If anyone reading this, reads Extreme Makeover, please post a comment letting me know what you thought. I have to read more by this writer. Five stars for one of my best reads of 2019. ( )

I'm not sure why I bothered to finish it because the end didn't even make any sense. The idea was interesting, but the characters not so much. ( )

Pros: great characters, terrifying premise, thought-provoking

Cons:

Lyle Fontanelle is the head chemist at NewYew. His newest experimental product is an anti-aging cream developed from research conducted on burn victims. But the most recent test group starts showing strange side effects, which show alternate potential uses for the cream. Uses that could destroy the world.

Each chapter header of the book mentions a time and a place and the number of days until the end of the world. This is a slow apocalypse. It’s a story of an experiment that goes wrong - much like Dr. Jeckyll’s experiment - which is then exploited by one person after another until there’s no going back.

The book questions aspects of corporate greed, personal identity, having a purpose in life, and more.

There’s a variety of characters, though most of the book is told through Lyle’s point of view. He’s coasting through life, socially awkward, not well liked, doing work he enjoys but isn’t entirely comfortable with how the company plans to use his new product. He goes through some actual growth as the story progresses, examining his previous actions and personality in the face of what his cream has done to the world. I was surprised by who he becomes by the end of the book. Susan, his intern, also goes through a series of changes, becoming someone completely different as well. Outside those two, character motivations predominately circle around greed and power in some form or another. As the stakes increase, so do their tactics.

Things progress in a realistic way given the premise. Each decision compounds the previous ones, making things ten times worse. It’s a train wreck that’s impossible to look away from - and a quick read as a result.

There’s a surprising undercurrent of humour considering it’s detailing the end of the world. It’s black humour, to be sure, but it had me laughing out loud at points.

This is a brilliant book if you like novels detailing soft apocalypses or plagues. ( )