The Calypso Directive
A Novel
-
- £8.49
Publisher Description
An unprecedented genetic mutation, an underground think tank, and an unscrupulous pharmaceutical company collide in this dazzling debut thriller.
For one hundred and fifty-five days, Will Foster has been locked in medical quarantine without his consent. The doctors claim he is infected with a deadly virus, but this is a lie. Encoded in his DNA is a mutation that provides immunity from disease for all who possess it, source code that Vyrogen Pharmaceuticals aims to commercialize as a multi-billion-dollar gene therapy.
Against all odds, Foster escapes his laboratory prison and steals a virulent strain of bubonic plague as insurance. To help him unravel the mystery inside him, Foster contacts the only person he can trust: a former lover and microbiologist living Vienna and the two become fugitives, hunted across the heart of Europe.
Under the guise of averting a plague pandemic, Vryogen hires an elite, underground Think Tank to track down Foster. But the brilliant team discovers something unexpected—the ugly side of multinational pharmaceutical competition—and must choose between serving their client and saving Foster.
With unflagging suspense, unforgettable characters, and riveting biomedical detail, The Calypso Directive deftly explores the issues of genetic exploitation and piracy. Captivating, controversial, and courageous, Andrews debut is sure to thrill and leave you wondering what secrets are locked in your DNA.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ponderous prose ("His emotions were a raging river, dragging his mind toward a dangerous cascade") undermines Andrews's debut medical thriller. When Will Foster, initially identified only as Patient-65, breaks out of the facility where he's been held in quarantine for five months, he's surprised to find himself in Prague, not New York City. Will's escape sets off alarms at the de rigueur evil drug manufacturing giant, Vyrogen Pharmaceuticals, which has been pursuing an immortality drug in a project named for Calypso, the nymph who offered Odysseus eternal life. Foster reaches out to an old flame, Julie Ponte, for help, and the pair spend the rest of the book dodging thugs in the pay of ruthless Vyrogen executive Meredith Morley. A mysterious Boston think tank is also thrown into the mix, but transcripts of its team members' communications put the brakes on what little momentum the story line has.
