Change Agent

Executive Summary: Despite a bit of a bumpy start, I think this is my favorite book by Mr. Suarez since [b:Daemon 6665847 Daemon Daniel Suarez https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348912643s/6665847.jpg 4763873].Audiobook: [a:Jeff Gurner 2843870 Jeff Gurner https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] continues to be a good fit for Daniel Suarez books. He reads well, and does a few voices to add that little extra something to the audiobook. These are exactly the kind of books I think are well suited to doing in audio.Full ReviewI picked up [b:Daemon 6665847 Daemon Daniel Suarez https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348912643s/6665847.jpg 4763873] a few years back on the recommendation of a co-worker. It was kind of remarkable that I hadn't found it on my own earlier. That book was totally in my wheelhouse. A near-future sci-fi thriller about a computer program gone crazy? Yes please. However unlike many people I found the sequel [b:Freedom™ 7132363 Freedom™ (Daemon, #2) Daniel Suarez https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442895538s/7132363.jpg 7394861] to just be too over the top for me to read it without constantly rolling my eyes.In fact, I've found most of his work after [b:Daemon 6665847 Daemon Daniel Suarez https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348912643s/6665847.jpg 4763873] just a little too ridiculous at times for me, but always good for a fun quick listen. I'd say this book is no different, except I found myself enjoying this one a lot more by the end than the last few.Bioengineering seems to be a pretty popular topic for near-future science fiction recently, but I found Mr. Suarez's take on things to be pretty interesting and unique. I did struggle a bit in the beginning with the whole “Wrongfully accused Fugitive” trope. It felt too generic for me, and I found myself starting to grow bored.However once things got past the setup, I found that the sci-fi elements that Mr. Suarez added in made his spin on the story unique enough to be quite enjoyable. As with most of his books, things start of in the realm of believability and end up veering into the realm of ridiculousness at times. I sometimes struggled with Kenneth Durand as a protagonist, but overall I thought his story does a good job of posing interesting questions about how much of who we are is biology vs. our upbringing. The whole nurture vs. nature debate. The book as a whole brings up some interesting ideas of what should be allowed and what should be illegal in terms of biological engineering.I don't pretend to have the same level of comprehension about biology and what's possible in that field as I do in computers, but some parts of the story were just a bit too much for me to not to roll my eyes. I'd be curious to find out if Biology folks will have the same kinds of issues with this book that I had with [b:Freedom™ 7132363 Freedom™ (Daemon, #2) Daniel Suarez https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442895538s/7132363.jpg 7394861]. Maybe they'll tell me that Mr. Suarez isn't too ridiculous after all. I sure hope not, because it would be pretty terrifying.Like all of his books, he takes interesting science, extrapolates on what might be, and uses that to frame an over the top thriller story. It was a fun book, and I'll be eager to pick up his next book when that comes out as well.

The science imagined in this near-future story is incredible. In addition to the imagined technology advances, the environmental, social and political changes are thought provoking. The biggest problem that I had with the story is that I couldn't believe the way that Otto affected the people he met.

Marvellously entertaining, with non stop action and a fascinating rendering of the world in 2045 (not a very happy place for most people but life goes on). Love the What If scenario - what if adults can be gene-edited to become another person entirely? The protagonist, Kenneth Durand, is a rather bland Interpol analyst who gets gene edited into becoming the notorious criminal he's chasing, Marcus Wyckes. His neat little life in Singapore (tech capital of the world in 2045) gets ripped to shreds, and his efforts to regain his genes take us to 2045 Malaysia (kinda crummy), Thailand (still the same), and Myanmar (even worse).
There's nothing literary about this novel but the questions it raises on gene editing, identity, the right to choose one's genes, may be ones we would have to face in the near future.

This started out really intriguing but then got rather boring and predictable. All the world building was great, the future of 2043, with genediting, a neverending refugee crisis, biohacking, etc but all this fades away when the plot becomes pure action-driven. Suddenly there are stereotypical baddies and our hero's path is conveniently filled with helpful allies. He doesn't even have to do much thinking, as all the solutions (and so much money and equipment) are pretty much just handed to him. The psychological troubles he experiences on 2 pages during this adventure feel uninspired and like a forced add-on. Also, what sexist future is this with this less than exciting men-women ratio.

2.5, but I gotta go with 2, because it just went downhill, which means it disappointed me more.

Yet another fast and furious novel by Daniel Suarez.

This guy definitely has the knack for writing novels which start up quickly and move fast the whole way through. He generally takes an idea from some sort of technological advancement and crafts a story around how that can either go wrong, or be taken too far. In that sense, he's somewhat similar to Michael Crichton and I suspect that if you've enjoyed Crichton's stuff, you'll enjoy Suarez' works as well.

In this novel, the scene is set in the not-too-distant 2030's. America has lost it's position as global technological leader by resisting change and missing out on the biotech revolution that comes with disruptive force. Asia is the place to be and the whole novel is set in southeast Asia. The main character is an agent with Interpol working with a unit which aims to stop the many groups of underground genetic manipulators who promise to use CRISPR techniques to alter embryos, providing the baby with exceptional strength, intelligence, etc. All of this is highly illegal, of course. One particularly advanced and powerful group rises above the rest and sets up the battle that proceeds.

The main protagonist, Ken Durand, gets attacked in a crowded area and is infected with a “change agent” that ultimately transforms him into his arch enemy (and is supposed to kill him). Unexpectedly, he survives, discovering that that form of genetic change is possible, but unable to convince his team of his true identity, he has to go on the run from both Interpol and the Huli jing cartel.

This book isn't deep. The characters are pretty consistent, but shallow. It basically reads like an action movie, which is just fine with me. Change Agent would probably make a very fun movie. Don't expect huge character development, but I don't really think the novel suffers any in that department, because there definitely is character growth and change. The characters you get to know are pretty diverse and pretty reasonable.

I'm a sucker for techno-thrillers and Daniel Suarez does a great job of delivering novels where technology is pushed to some barely foreseeable degree. This time its genetic modifications. Fast moving as always and story driven by tech. If you enjoyed Michael Crichton novels then you'll most likely enjoy Daniel Suarez's work.