runner

This book surprised me, having read The Genesis Code and thoroughly enjoyed I expected to find similar satisfaction in this latest offering from Lisa von Biela. It's not a bad book but the subject matter ( the illegal harvesting/use of human parts) has been done much better in the past. Two good examples being the somewhat dated Coma by Robin Cook and the more recent Harvest by Tess Gerritsen. The storyline in The Janus Legacy is different from these two predecessors but the central issue of transplant and the associated ethics remains. The story revolves around Jeremy Magnusson, crohn's disease sufferer, and the vast wealth he inherits from his father Ivan on his unexpected death. However as part of his inheritance Jeremy must endeavor to continue with his father's experiments into this dreaded disease even though he may dispute the methods used, and perhaps by continuing his fathers work he may find a cure. Although Jeremy has my sympathy most of the supporting characters were bland and tedious in the extreme: his ex partner Amanda decides to leave the pompous Rick and return to Jeremy, Tim ( very dim!) and Glen ( self absorbed egotist) two supporting surgeons at the SomaGene institute and the rather pathetic figure of "The Subject" who drifted somewhere between a human existence and the great beyond....This book would probably have worked much better as a novella as I found myself wishing for the end to happen and Jeremy's fate, whatever that may be to please happen soon....before I drifted off to sleep zzzzzz....