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An Audience for Einstein
By: Mark Wakely
Publisher: Mundania Press
Trade paberback ISBN: 978-1-59426-096-6
E-book ISBN: 978-1-59426-037-0
“He was not ready, not ready, not ready.”
Neurosurgeon Carl Dorning gave up his lucrative practice and devoted his life to one thing, one dream. His experiment, his work was everything. Now a panicked phone call from Professor Percival Marlowe’s housekeeper, Natalie, threatens to destroy it all. He’s just not ready, until… an accident gives Dorning the perfect subject, Miguel Sanchez. His mother is in a drug rehab. His father is an abusive drunk who will just think his son is hiding from him again. Carl will be doing the boy a favor. After all, he is offering him one of the most brilliant minds in history, and all that goes with it.
Despite the vast amounts of money he has invested in Dr. Carl Dorning’s experiments, Nobel prize winning Professor Percival Marlowe doesn’t really believe Dorning can pull off his promise of a new extended life. Still, there is that one small chance, the offer of hope. Doesn’t he owe it to the world to continue his work, to continue to share what his brilliance can develop and bring to it. Besides, young Miguel is a pleasant and entertaining relief from the pain and knowledge of his rapidly approaching end.
But it does work.
But at what cost?
Mark Wakely’s talents and imagination combine nicely with his background and “interest in all things scientific” in “An Audience for Einstein.” The story is well crafted and fast paced. Wakely’s characters are rich with human desires, fears, problems, foibles, and reality, and he teases and tempts them and the reader with possibilities, then taunts with doubts and questions. I was tugged into the in-depth self-examination and insight, and moral and ethical issues that haunt scientific endeavors—or should— while Wakely’s story crafting skills kept me engrossed in the tale.
Well written, well told, and well worth the read. “An Audience for Einstein.” is a bookshelf keeper.
Review © Charlene Austin
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