Perilous knowledge and global conspiracy!
The challenge here is how to review a novel that was a fun read without giving too much away…
The plot is eerily plausible. A postgraduate geneticist discovers an unexpected gene sequence appearing with an increasing frequency in blood donations. Her attempts at scientific curiosity are met with false accusations, cover-up, and escalating peril. She and her plucky band of colleagues soon discover that there are many powerful players who are interested in keeping things secret, including a shadowy corporation, Odyssey, that is orchestrating an international conspiracy to ‘save’ humanity. Brian McKinstry has clearly channelled an affection for Edinburgh and a depth of biomedical knowledge in a thriller about how horizon technologies might land among ordinary people. We are certainly more aware of viruses since COVID-19, and the use of a virus as a doomsday weapon has certainly done the rounds in pulp fiction, notably in Inferno by Dan Brown.1 The Quantum Gene deploys a virus in a way that is altogether more subtle. This has hints of Dan Brown and hints of Lee Child, though less silly than one and less grisly than the other.
Rather like medicine, the plot of the novel has bursts of action and jeopardy but also has spells of explanation and, for want of a better word, ‘handover’. Around the world, a sizeable cast support the protagonists. I didn’t quite need to create a spreadsheet — that would probably have lead to me abandoning the novel.
Occasionally, and I really do mean occasionally, there is the odd sentence that betrays the lack of an editor (perhaps I should declare a conflict of interest here). A policeman (for example) quips that common things occur commonly, which is a phrase endemic to academic doctors and not to coppers. In a heated discussion, one of the characters uses the word ‘ameliorate’. To my mind the word ameliorate tends to be more written than spoken.
I also feel the title of the novel really does not do its plot justice. The Quantum Gene is about much, much more than a gene. This is a plot involving geniuses, billionaires, governments, spies, academic skullduggery, corruption, and bioterrorism — more suited to a good Netflix 10-episode miniseries than a movie (guys, are you listening?). While a title like The Odyssey Plot might sound too tacky and apocryphal (like The Odessa File), perhaps something like The Edinburgh Sequence or Perilous Knowledge — does anyone remember the pop-science genetics book by Tom Wilkie?2 Having said this, I can imagine the boardroom where all of these discussions are had and where the executives all decide on the title The Quantum Gene, which sounds far more James Bond!
McKinstry is emeritus professor of primary care eHealth at the University of Edinburgh. His ostensibly self-published debut novel is a biomedical thriller with potent themes of genetics and global conspiracy, and a hint of artificial intelligence. Despite any criticisms, this is the first self-published novel in awhile that I have been able to read from cover to cover and enjoy. It’s solid beach-reading, with a real sense of place and a subtle seasoning of scandal.
“... the use of a virus as a doomsday weapon has certainly done the rounds in pulp fiction, notably in Inferno by Dan Brown. The Quantum Gene deploys a virus in a way that is altogether more subtle.”
