M.D. Benoit, on Virtual Tour
M.D. Benoit's third published novel, Synergy, is coming out this week, prompting this virtual book tour. I had the opportunity to interview Dominique over the course of the last several weeks, and tried to focus on areas not likely already covered elsewhere in her tour. So let me just briefly introduce her book:
Synergy is a near future (perhaps alternate history) novel set in Ottawa. The plot concerns a genetic researcher in a future where genetic research is so tightly controlled as to be effectively banned. The illegal research attracts the attention of a local drug lord, government regulators, and the statistician hired to help analyze the data (unaware that the research is unauthorized). Some interesting speculation on genetics, the role of dreams in innovation, and the ethics of research form subthemes within the larger narrative, but mostly this is an actioner -- especially in the second half of the book where it becomes quite a page-turner.
In another interview, Benoit mentions that she would cast John Cusack as protagonist Torver Lockwood, and Natalie Portman as statistician, Demetria Greyson. I would have said Kevin Spacy for Lockwood, but I get Cusack: the point is he's not your typical scientist hero. Indeed, none of the characters in Synergy are exactly sympathetic; instead of simple black and white dichotomies, Benoit gives you complex people with their own agendas, some of whom end up more on the side of the angles than others, but all of whom have their dark sides.
For more on the book, check out
The Synergy book launch page
The Synergy video
Win a free copy of Synergy
And so, on to the interview:
No comments:
Post a Comment