Sunday 5 June 2011

Book Review: Transfection by David Gaughran

TransfectionAs regular readers might have noticed I'm a bit of a short story fan, and I've read a few scientific based books in the past that I've really enjoyed so Transfection looked like a good bet for me. It is a short story, around 23 pages of real life book, so took me very little time to read.

Dr Carl Peters is a biologist who has sacrificed a lot to his research and has been struggling with funding.  When there is a suggestion that GM food is linked to cancer suddenly the money comes rolling in and he is on the up. However when he discovers the reason for it he's labelled crazy and is soon on a downward slope again.

This story touches on some interesting topics, and I would have happily read more should the author have chosen to expand on the themes. However for the length I was impressed that I felt sympathy for the Dr and everything he goes through in the course of the book, the character was obviously developed economically but well. I went through a range of emotions as I read, as the book ran the gamut from amusing to sinister. While the story is only short the author has obviously spent a lot of time in creating a polished product.

This was a really good quick , well written and I'm pleased to have more by the author on my kindle, to be read and reviewed at a later date.

Format: Kindle, review copy
My Rating: 4*

4 comments:

Jules said...

I don't read enough short stories - I'm glad you enjoyed this, it does sound interesting.

TC said...

Until I got the kindle I pretty much never touched short stories and novellas, now a whole new world has opened up!

David Gaughran said...

Thank you for the nice review TC!

Short stories are becoming more and more popular as e-books. I'm not sure exactly why that is. Part of it could be that people weren't exposed to them as much before.

But now, you can find good short stories in every genre from all sorts of writers. I think a lot of writers are enjoying the freedom of being able to write something one week and publish it the next.

That freedom can be very motivating.

TC said...

You're welcome David. I think the choice is much wider when it comes to short stories now. I don't think I can remember going into a book shop and seeing short stories available.