The Footprints of God

Greg Iles

Published: Dec 26, 2007

Description:

From Publishers Weekly

The shoot-'em-up potential of spiritual subject matter has recently been profitably exploited by a number of writers (most notably James BeauSeigneur in his Christ Clone trilogy). In this compelling, science-based entry, Iles (Sleep No More; 24 Hours; The Quiet Game) gives his own particular spin on biblical mayhem. "My name is David Tennant, M.D. I'm professor of ethics at the University of Virginia Medical School, and if you're watching this tape, I'm dead." Tennant works for Project Trinity, a secret government organization attempting to build a quantum-level supercomputer. Using advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques, Tennant and five other top scientists have supplied Trinity, the experimental computer, with molecular copies of themselves as models for a neurological operating system. As Trinity comes to life, the men who control the experiment begin to split into competing factions, each determined to use the computer for his own ends. When Tennant tries to shut the project down because of ethical considerations, he is marked for death by the beautiful but physically and psychologically scarred Geli Bauer, head of security. Iles writes himself onto a high wire that stretches over a dangerous fictional chasm as Tennant begins to have narcoleptic seizures and see life through the eyes of Jesus Christ. That this talented author makes it to the other side without falling is testament to his ingenuity and intelligence. Armageddon looms as nuclear missiles streak toward the United States, and the fate of mankind rests on Tennant's ability to reason with the omnipotent Trinity. Readers interested in the exploration of religious themes without the usual New Age blather or window-dressed dogma will snap up this novel of cutting-edge science.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From

Iles, author of eight best-sellers, takes the standard paranoid thriller starring an endangered man and the woman who believes he's delusional until a series of shocks forces her to accept the too-strange-to-believe truth--and makes it run like Mussolini's trains. Everything arrives on time, as expected: boy is involved in scientific experiment; boy loses parts of mind; boy meets girl; boy runs away with girl after coworkers sniff out his suspicions and decide to snuff out his life. In this case, physician and ethicist Dr. David Tennant has spent the last few years of his life working on government-funded, hush-hush Project Trinity, which strives to build a supercomputer by liberating human intelligence from the human body. As the project progresses, Tennant's ethical concerns increase, especially when Trinity team members begin to develop neurological disorders. Once Tennant has sought psychiatric help, his psychiatrist (naturally, a beautiful woman) is drawn into the guessing game of whether Tennant is paranoid or insightful. With the murder of Tennant's closest colleague, and Tennant's inability to cover his disillusionment with the project, the game is afoot, as the government bears down on our hero and his psychiatrist friend. Cardboard characters and a mostly predictable plot, but Iles, a consummate storyteller, keeps suspense and blood pressure high. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved