"An Intense Medical Thriller!"

As a fan of co-author Randall Ingermanson and John B. Olson's Oxygen and The Fifth Man, I was not sure what to expect seeing Olson out solo. What I discovered was not so shocking, as much as expected. Olson's Adrenaline is an intense medical thriller, comparable to any Robin Cook novel, when Cook was writing in his prime, and even more so.

James Parker is the main character who suffers from a crippling disease that leaves him limited and restricted to life in a wheelchair. As a brilliant scientist he hopes to find a cure to the rare disease. He is not as interested in curing himself, as he is his sister. She is not as fortunate as he. Where he can get around in the wheelchair and work on lab experiments, she is often sick and bedridden in a hospital.

At a time when all hope looks lost, his sister looks like she might not live out the year, and he is ready to quit wasting his time in order to spend the remaining days by his sister's bed, his years of research looks like it might off. A strain of his concoction has turned lab mice into mighty mouse creatures.

His breakthrough could cure others inflicted with the illness...

His adopted lab partners, Darcy and Jason get caught up in the excitement of the discovery. Though he has a thing for Darcy—he knows it can never work out. After all, he's in a wheelchair. To make matters tenser, she is Jason's ex- girlfriend. When Parker takes an injection of the invention the unexpected and unexplainable happens. But one thing becomes crisply clear ...

His breakthrough could be worth billions ...

Parker immediately realizes that nothing is as it seems. Everyone around him has secrets. He has trouble trusting his lab partners, the police and the faculty. His lab has been broken into. His lab and Darcy's have been destroyed, notebooks burned. In a race to stay alive, Parker, Darcy and Jason must figure out who is after them, who they can trust and how is it they will survive a nightmare where everyone is seemingly against you ...

ADRENALINE is an amazing, and powerful tale. John B. Olson is a talented and creative writer. He keeps his chapters short and tightly paced with action that never slows and tension that constantly builds. Like his other books, I recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a well-crafted thriller.

© Phillip Tomasso III

Reviewed by Phillip Tomasso
Posted December 22, 2003

Summary

Set in the not-so-distant future, Adrenaline introduces James Parker, a biochemistry grad student who discovers a cure for muscular dystrophy, the disease confining him to a wheelchair. However, the cure that began as his salvation appears to have bizarre side effects that open the door to an existence he never imagined. Darcy Williams, an attractive, intelligent, and delightfully quirky fellow grad student joins forces with James, but it is clear she is haunted by a dark secret. When they publish James's findings, their campus community is turned upside down by something they had never anticipated. Will discovery of the truth be too devastating to face? From the award-winning author of Oxygen.