Raising Abel
By W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O'Neal Gear

     As anthropologist geneticists, Scott Ferris and Amanda Alexander were conducting a theoretical (or was it theoretical?) study of genetic cloning. When they are beaten, nailed to the floor, and burned alive in separate incidents, investigators are left with many unanswered questions. Then when a third scientist working with the couple in Tel Aviv is killed in similar fashion, a fourth coworker, Bryce, decides it is time to run for his life. Scott's sister, Veronica, a paleoanthropologist, received an answering machine message from her brother instructing her to go to a certain cabin if something happens to him. At the cabin, Veronica meets Bryce along with Rebecca Armely and little Abel, Rebecca's son. Abel is an odd little boy, who turns out to be Scott and Amanda's child, adopted at birth by Rebecca. Rebecca is killed by a sniper's bullet, and Veronica, Bryce and little Abel are keeping just ahead of the killers, who are bent on killing all three of them.

     The killings appear to be a conspiracy involving a famous evangelist and his Christian Fundamentalist Church...they do not want proof of evolution made public. This is a multi-character story with engaging reporters and FBI agents and a complex plot as fresh as today's headlines. With scientific intrigue and pulse-pounding suspense, the Gears deliver a fascinating exploration of the frontiers of science. Crichton fans will love this story...and while you do have to allow your imagination to work overtime a bit, it is a totally absorbing read. I was never quite clear on the reason that Scott and Amanda gave the child up for adoption, but the multiple strands of the plot twist together in an exciting narrative, and it kept me awake into the early morning hours.