Mutation
Robin Cook

When ob/gyn and biomolecular researcher Dr. Victor Frank learns of his wife's infertility, he initiates a bold - and dangerous - experiment. Unbeknownst to everyone, including his wife, Dr. Frank has adapted the methods of animal husbandry and molecular genetics to human reproduction. Fusing his wife's egg and his own sperm, he sets in motion the production of a superior being, his child.
The result of this experiment, a son, VJ, is born to a surrogate mother and legally adopted by the Franks. To their delight, their son is physically perfect, and, by the age of three, displays complex problem-solving abilities of a prodigy. Victor Frank is a happy man. He has produced a flawless human being, and that success - plus the subsequently healthy births he has covertly engineered through his obstetrics practice - bodes well for a dazzling professional future.
Then, without warning, VJ's intelligence level plunges to a point appropriate to his age, but stabilizes. For the moment, Frank can breathe a sigh of relief: Even if VJ is no longer the genius he was, at least he will be normal.
But that relief is tragically short-lived, for all too soon VJ begins to change again. And this time, there is no cause for comfort - only terror.

This book starts out rather slowly, and unlike a lot of the novels I read did not suck me in from the beginning. It was only about halfway to three quarters of the way through that I really got into it. However, at that point, the story did begin to impress me.

I don't think there's any coincidence that the name of the main character in this novel is Dr. Victor Frank. With the genetic manipulation that he has done with his son and numerous other children, the author had to have made the connection to the infamous literary character of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The result of this Doctor's meddlings with genetics has a much worse results than that of Frankenstein's meddlings with the reanimation of dead flesh.

During the course of the novel the reader begins to realize that the true villain is the ten year old son of Dr. Frank and that his intelligence is only outstripped by his absolute lack of morals. This novel ends up becoming a chilling look at the very real possibility of tampering with genetics to the point of being able to create the "perfect" human - and then realizing that what might seem perfect is actually monstrous.

As with all of his novels, Robin Cook's knowledge of the medical field is spot on and makes a plotline like this seem realistic and terrifying. His writing is top notch and even though the book was released in 1989, it still fits in very well with the modern era. In fact, not once did I even think that the book was from more than twenty years ago.

I recommend this book, if you don't mind it starting out slow. It is worth it for the punch that it packs in the end.

My rating: Four out of five snails.