Natural Selection

By: Dave Freedman

Narrated by: Brian Emerson

Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

A team of marine scientists is on the verge of making the most stunning discovery in the history of man: a previously unknown predatory species, alive now, evolving just like the dinosaurs, and being forced out of its world and into man's for a violent first encounter.

In their quest for answers, they engage a host of fascinating characters, experts in neurology and deep sea geology, flight-simulation wizards, and evolution historians, and set off together to exotic locales, experiencing love, friendship, loyalty, and betrayal along the way. When people start dying, the real hunt begins.

Weaving science and thriller in a way not seen since Jurassic Park, Natural Selection is that rare blend of intricately layered research, rich characters, and tornado pacing.

©2006 Dave Freedman (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Jaws meets Charles Darwin." (USA Today)
"[An] entertaining debut; possesses all the predatory features to provide maximum chills....An awesome beach read." (Publishers Weekly)

I'm not sure

I have listened to many books, but this was one of the hardest to get through. The premis of the book was wonderful, but I'm still not sure if it was the reading or the writing of this book that made it so difficult to listen to. I hope that other's can enjoy this book and not have the same issues as myself.

Junk science

Although the story is mildly entertaining, I couldn't get past the fact that this is the worst researched book I have ever read. The technical errors are just too glaring to be overlooked. To mention a few:
- As already mentioned, there are no penquins in the arctic, and penguins and polar bears do not coexist anywhere in the world.
- One does not suddenly find oneself out of air at 180 feet deep and just pop up to the surface. Decompression from 180 feet would usually require several spare air tanks.
- True, most fish have a swim bladder, but no cartilaginous fish, and therefore no rays, have one.
These are just a few that stuck out in my mind. I can't help but wonder how this stuff gets published.

Natural Selection

A pretty good idea for a story but the writing is absolutely amateur. Major continuity errors and the author did not do enough research on his subject so that the story, although science fiction, lacked cfedulity. This book stinks.

Some editor greenlighted this?

The first half is okay, interesting although the science is a stretch. I could deal with that, I even enjoyed it. Once the critters leave the water though, the book goes off the rails.

First off, can you imagine two-ton rays floating around like butterflies? They do this without wings, just little magical rippling muscles. Boy, imagine if NASA gets a hold of this. Rockets can just float up into space from now on... suspension of disbelief is one thing, but I can't turn my brain off.

Plus the plot becomes ridiculously predictable, the narration is childish, and the dialogue is embarrassing. The author repeats the same phrases in the space of a couple of pages. I can only believe a publisher read the first half and thought it would be a good Crichton clone. He didn't bother reading the second half where the book becomes a slasher flick with writing that a ten-year old could improve on.

did a 10 year old write the 2nd half

I enjoyed the first half of the book. I agree with other reviewers that the scientific explanations sometimes had very little relevance to the storyline. But I love the Discover channel, so they were barable. But then when I started listening to the second part. AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!

From then on it pretty much drops into sillyness. And it was tough to even finish listening. Too bad, cause it really was interesting for the first half.

Juvenile

I thought the "scientific" conceit was somewhat interesting. The creature featured was thought provoking. The humans on the other hand were annoying characitures whose relationships were painfully ill-conceived, superficial, shallow [ironic!], and nauseatingly predictable. If this book were written about junior high kids it would play. These are supposed to be intelligent accomplished adults.

This would not be so bad, except that the humans and their goings on are focused on quite a bit in the book and play an integral part in moving the plot forward--so they can't be skipped over or ignored, sadly.

For me the end was worst of all...I don't want to be a spoiler...I was just left very cold by the attitude of the characters who do survive toward the ones who don't [ who, as presented, were slightly superior humans at that].

They seem to think "oh well those other folks died horrible gruesome deaths, but heck! we survived, so lets become smug and judgmental, get rich, get married, and have a big party!" Ouch. Who is the callous cold predator again...? I think I'd rather be eaten.