4. Slatewiper

Slatewiper - Lewis Perdue

Biological warfare with a twist. This time it is not governments controlling the bio-weapons, it is a corporation in Japan with a serious nationalist streak. This company is a global super-company. It is well respected (and feared) throughout the world. Nobody seems to catch on that they don't like anyone who is not Japanese. They hate everyone else.

So, the biological weapon they design can be "programmed" to attack specific genetic makeups. Yes, this is a weapon that is harmless to anyone except the race they decide to kill. There is a bit of dialogue between characters about the superiority of the Japanese race and how Koreans are just dogs, etc etc.

There is a lot of time spent writing about Japanese World War II atrocities and comparing Ishii to Mengele as far as medical experimentation. I had heard that the Japanese were pretty vicious once they landed on the mainland, but I had not heard the stories mentioned in this book, not had I heard of Dr. Ishii or Unit 731. I have ordered some books about the subject and will see how much is fact.

It felt like the author spent a lot of time researching and writing about Japanese history and culture and threw in a heavy dose of biotechnology.

As far as the book, I think it fell short of a rather good potential. Too many times things just fell into place. Either the people involved just happen to have millions laying around when needed, or perhaps they were just the right people in some powerful position to get exactly the thing needed to save the world. It got ridiculous after a while.

I think the biggest letdown was the lack of a climax. The story droned on and on and on. I kept waiting for the big finale...and then noticed I was reading the epilogue. Damn!

No need to go find this book unless you have read others of the genre and have nowhere left to go. It was OK, but no big thrill. I can't quite say it was a waste of time. It was just OK.