Sapient
* I received this as a free eBook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. *Two things are important in Jane Dixon’s life, her autistic son Robbie and her research into animal intelligence. She hopes that the research will eventually lead to a cure for Robbie’s autism, but to date all she has been able to do is increase one rat’s ability to run a virtual maze. The rat, Einstein, surprises her daily with his increased intelligence but Jane understands that any progress she makes is still decades away from helping Robbie in any meaningful way. When she splurges on another test animal, a dog named Bear, a strange relationship grows between the dog and the rat and Jane is astounded at how much their intelligence increases.
Always looking for investors to fund her research she is never the less wary when the army shows an interest, followed quickly by the CDC. One is interested in taking over her research and the other in shutting it down, but for now she needs to cooperate with both. Little did she know that working with these two adversaries would answer the one nagging question that up until then had stalled its progress. The light suddenly goes on as to why the serum worked on some animals and not others – and she realized it was a very small window of success that would never help Robbie – unless she acted immediately.
Jane makes a spur of the moment decision motivated by a mother’s love, injecting Robbie with the test serum. The result is miraculous but unfortunately it’s not long before Jane understands that the cure could be more dangerous than the disease. In fact, it could be virulent. Things start to spin out of control very quickly. Jane finds herself in protective custody and Robbie cannot be found. Jane must (and does) ask herself “What have I done?” Has she doomed Robbie and anyone he comes in contact with? Can she still get this under control and save her son as well as everything and everyone else he touches?
Sapient (definition): (1)wise or attempting to be wise, (2)of the human species (homosapiens)
Animals with artificially enhanced intelligence is not a new subject for novels but Mr. Kaczmarowski steps things up a notch with Einstein and Bear and their love/hate relationship. This book grabbed my interest from the get-go and that never ceased. While a little over the top, the action kept me turning the pages hoping for a happy resolution for Robbie, Jane and the animals. The plot seemed pretty straight forward where the good guys were good guys and the bad guys were bad guys, but were they really? Some kept me guessing which also kept me reading. Einstein really was one clever rat that had a preference for I-phones over Android and took great pleasure in telling “stupid dog” jokes at Bear’s expense. Sounds ridiculous but it was the comic relief the book needed in the most tense of the situations and somehow it worked. I fell under Einstein’s spell hook, line and sinker. I wanted an Einstein for myself!
The book tackled the ethical issues involved with animal testing and artificially enhanced intelligence as well as the impact it could have on any number of areas in everyday life. The author explored family and love and how far a mother would go to help her child. He also made a touching case for both the kindness of and the danger of strangers in difficult situations.
All in all it was a good read, so why not 5 stars? As I mentioned, the topic is not new and I could draw easy comparisons to both Dean Koontz’s “Watchers” and the beginning of any version of “Planet of the Apes”. “Sapient” was highly readable and did give me some new insights that made me think more about the enhanced intelligence issue … and, of course, there was Einstein. In my opinion this book would appeal to fans of science thrillers and fans of stories featuring super smart animals, so it does still warrant 4 stars.
