The Lazarus Gene by Aubry Hildebrandt
I picked up this book after the author had made it free on Amazon for a few days.
After reading the blurb I was instantly hooked and while the book took me longer to read than normal (due to illness) I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
The reader firstly meets Embry, a youth who has a rather bad track record. Suspensions from school, arrests, ASBO's and a very cocky attitude. His home life is not great; a mother who is always in bed and a abusive step father.
He has no idea he possesses the Lazarus gene; until he gets killed in a convenience store robbery and he wakes up in the morgue. From there, he is thrown into a new life with three other teenage misfits who also possess the same gene.
Of course, they are not the only ones who possess the gene; through a series of events, the team meet Silas Mallow, a convicted serial killer who has just survived death row and is hell bent on destroying London.
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So, the plot was somewhat flawless. I did not guess any of the plot line and it all flowed along rather well. I did think it slowed down a tiny bit before Silas arrives, but, from there on in it continued at a decent pace.
It was lovely to have some refreshing characters and it is clear to see Hildebrandt has a wonderful ability to create such real characters.
Embry was so incredibly arrogant, but yet at the same time had this delicate nature about him. At times I wanted to strangle him but at others, I just wanted to nurture him.
Ada, who was "attractive in a certain slant of darkness - if you liked gingers" was fantastically quirky and the growing romance between her and Embry did not feel forced. It felt natural.
Will, "the swot". While he and Embry had a love/hate relationship at first and he does help with Embrys self discovery, I felt that Will was only written in to help with the plot later on with his hacking skills.
Dimitri the mute Russian. A character who says so few words but landed straight in my heart! I loved this boy. Yet, sadly like Will, he was very minor. We hear a little of his past and I would have loved to have known more. Another minor point; for someone who spends so much time at a punching bag and sharpening his knives; it was Embry who was doing all the action. I would have thought Dimitri would have got a bit more stuck in rather than standing in the corner like a useless prop.
Throughout the novel there were a few annoying word usages. The first being the word "pucking". Once, that is fair enough. However, every time Embry is to swear "pucking" is used. I've honestly never heard a teenager use it and I felt it was just unnecessary. I can understand if you do not wish to use actual swear words, but I'd rather use them, or don't allude to them.
Also, the use of the acronym "WTF"; again it is trying to swear without actually swearing and I feel that they should not really be used in a novel, but again, maybe I'm just old fashioned!
The speech patterns were also a little off; it was too much "said" or "asked" and often they really were not needed! Each character had a distinct voice anyway. However, I am sure this is an issue that can be resolved with another edit.
I would have been rather happy if the book had ended at 97%. I felt that was enough closure for me and also it would have been an interesting way to start the second book.
So, in all I give this book 4/5 stars because it was incredibly enjoyable and I've been suggesting it to all my friends! Another edit would fix those minor nagging bits, but other than that, it's perfect and I look forward to reading more of Hildebrandts work.
Price: £0.77
Where to buy: UK Amazon
USA Amazon
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