Saturday, December 14, 2013

Favorite Book Number Ten



 Darwin's Blade by Dan Simmons (Link to Amazon Books)

"Stupidity kills. Absolute stupidity kills absolutely."

Back in 2000, before the various incarnations of CSI ruined our fascination with forensics, there was Darwin's Blade. Dan Simmons, known more for his Science Fiction and Horror work, jumped genres and created a brilliant suspense thriller about Darwin Minor, a specialist in forensic accident reconstruction.

Featuring a protagonist who is both intelligent and funny, but also brash and deeply wounded, Darwin's Blade tells the story of Darwin's investigation into a series of fatal accidents. Common sense would dictate the accidents were too unpredictable and elaborate to have been staged, but Darwin suspects otherwise.

The book contains my favorite anecdote of all time. Darwin recounts an incident involving a school bus accident where public perception and supposed common sense turned out to be completely wrong. Yay, science!

Graphic, intense, and unpredictable, Darwin's Blade is an intelligent and thought-provoking thriller.

2 comments:

tjbmurph said...

Interesting. I will add it to my list to try

T. D. Fuhringer said...

I am pleased by this, tjbmurph :)