The Chimera Sequence

By: Elliott Garber

Narrated by: Neil Shah

Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Cole McBride makes a chilling discovery while investigating a mysterious disease causing the deaths of endangered mountain gorillas in war-torn central Africa.

When a humanitarian aid hospital nearby diagnoses a disturbingly similar human case, the former Special Forces veterinarian knows he must figure out how to stop this outbreak from spreading--before it blows up into a global pandemic.

Halfway across the continent, a massive cargo ship moves out of Sudan's largest port. Buried deep within its hold is one container of urgent significance for its buyer in the Persian Gulf.

And back in Washington, D.C., the owner of a Lebanese restaurant a stone's throw from the White House finds a cryptic message in the Drafts folder of his e-mail inbox.

It's one week before Independence Day, and an unpopular president is preparing to host America's biggest celebration in years. There's just one small problem: he's not the only one with plans for the holiday.

With the woman he loves sick and close to death, Cole puts his own life on the line in a race against time to discover the truth behind the outbreak's origin--a truth that will link it to one of humanity's most ancient plagues and threaten the very heart of America.

This is how it happened.

©2015 Elliott Garber (P)2015 Elliott Garber

Critic reviews

"Elliott Garber's debut thriller The Chimera Sequence has everything I love in a novel: great characters, a thrill ride of an adventure, and a looming global menace. But best of all, the story hooked me from the first intriguing page to the last illuminating line. I can't wait to see what this guy writes next!" (James Rollins, New York Times bestseller of the The Sixth Extinction)

"Elliott Garber has delivered a high-stakes thriller that will earn your attention with clean, clear prose and a solid grasp of global geopolitics. The Chimera Sequence is terrifyingly realistic, chock-full of research that rings as true as today's headlines." (Bob Mayer, former Green Beret and New York Times bestselling author)

"I couldn't put down Garber's engaging, rapid-paced, action-packed thriller. His riveting first novel benefits greatly from his experience as an Army veterinarian who has worked with a variety of unlikely animals around the world. The book even features important appearances from a military dog, a Secret Service dog, and a tracker bloodhound. What's not to love?" (Maria Goodavage, New York Times bestselling author of Top Dog and Soldier Dogs)

A Rich Bio Thriller

The Chimera Sequence was a well thought out modern bio thriller. I was initially thinking I'd compare it to classics like The Hot Zone, but in reality I think the scope of this book and genre was much wider. The story covers a (I felt) pretty realistic and ingenious multi pronged terrorist plot using an engineered virus, with one target being a very important blood mineral in Africa, and the other being of course the American homeland. I don't want to give too much away, but I thought the ideas were more than sound, but a pretty ingenious tale. The book covers quite a number of major and minor character, and venues around the world, viewpoints, and in audio that did take a bit to get used to who was who, but the character changes were pretty clear.

I really hope Elliot Garber releases more books in audio format. Although I did get this as a free review copy, I would now be happy to purchase any more books he publishes if this book is any indication of his abilities.

Neil Shah did a fantastic job narrating. Given my above description of the stage of the book, there were a lot of accents and voices, and he did a tremendous job making them all unique and more imporantly identifiable. I have just checked his Audible listing, and see he has quite a few books, and I can't believe I don;t have any more in my own library.

Highly recommended. A brilliant audio debut for the author!

Well Written and Exciting

Where does The Chimera Sequence rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best from a new author.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Chimera Sequence?

From the very begining to the fastpaced ending there were many memorable moments.

What about Neil Shah’s performance did you like?

The narrator not only brought the characters to life but had me sitting on the edge of my seat.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I'm not saying I wanted to but I did end-up driving around the block a few times to finish it!

Any additional comments?

I hope this author continues these characters for a couple more books. I feel I just got to know them and would like to see what comes next.

Good book

Would you listen to The Chimera Sequence again? Why?

Once was good, the story was well written

If you’ve listened to books by Elliott Garber before, how does this one compare?

first one

Have you listened to any of Neil Shah’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but he did a good job

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listen driving to and from work, so no.

Any additional comments?

Likable characters, good plot. The book bothered me at first, the writing style is like 2 steps forward and one back. The author would forward the story line. and I would be following along, but then introduce something new, then would narrate a paragraph or comment on the new thing, then go back to the story, and then introduce something new etc.

The Chimera Sequence

Any additional comments?

If you need a techno thriller fix,this is the book! Neil Shah narrates this 'Chrichtonesque' novel brilliantly!There are Monkey Pox,terrorists,a natural disaster and a all to familiar Presidential figure.A fun read all around.
"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast or MalarHouse dot com"

Man's inhumanity to man

Cole McBride makes a chilling discovery while investigating a mysterious disease causing the deaths of endangered mountain gorillas in war-torn central Africa. When a humanitarian aid hospital nearby diagnoses a disturbingly similar human case, the former Special Forces veterinarian knows he must figure out how to stop this outbreak from spreading--before it blows up into a global pandemic. Halfway across the continent, a massive cargo ship moves out of Sudan's largest port. Buried deep within its hold is one container of urgent significance for its buyer in the Persian Gulf. And back in Washington, D.C., the owner of a Lebanese restaurant a stone's throw from the White House finds a cryptic message in the Drafts folder of his e-mail inbox. It's one week before Independence Day, and an unpopular president is preparing to host America's biggest celebration in years. There's just one small problem: he's not the only one with plans for the holiday. With the woman he loves sick and close to death, Cole puts his own life on the line in a race against time to discover the truth behind the outbreak's origin--a truth that will link it to one of humanity's most ancient plagues and threaten the very heart of America. This is how it happened.

This is an extremely intelligent, complicated thriller, which uses, as its main premise the construction and deployment of a lethal chimera virus. In order to make such a complicated premise work as the moving force behind a thriller, the author has to prepare his ground very carefully, indeed. It is essential that the reader understand some complex and (to this lay person, at least) almost arcane medical and biological concepts. I know of very few authors who could pull this off successfully, but this author did, and with style. Not only did his reasoning read as feasible and logical (which, since I do not have the scientific or medical knowledge to evaluate his theories, I must use as a gauge), but his explanations are understandable, succinct, and never detract from the story being told.

This is not, at least at first a fast moving book, and, I don’t think it should be. It builds tension, prepares the reader by making the full extent of the threat entirely comprehensible, and sets the stage so well that, by the time the action *really* begins, the author never has to break his stride for explanations. The reader *knows* what is happening, why, and what will happen if the teams involved aren’t successful. While there is lots of action throughout the book, the last 2 hours or so are full bore, and very nearly left this reader forgetting to breathe.

The writing is straightforward, and the no frills style enhances the story, which really doesn’t *need* any frills. The writing stands on its own strongly, though, and the character development is fairly amazing, especially considering the large cast of important characters. Each of them is unique, and, though this cast is International, the characters don’t seem to all come from the same background, with only different accents to differentiate them. While the author doesn’t spend an inordinate time discussing motivations, those motivations are clear from the bits he does tell us, but even more from the words and actions of the characters, themselves. The author has learned, and learned well, the “show don’t tell” lesson that sets adequate writing apart from truly good writing. The author shows us what is going on whenever possible, even by his meticulous (if disturbing) depictions of the progress of the chimera induced disease.

The narration was of the same extremely high standard as the book being narrated. The narrator understood and was entirely comfortable with his material, more than competent in the skills needed to make narration enjoyable, and was able to easily handle accented (from multiple countries) English and foreign words so naturally that the reader almost isn’t aware of their unfamiliarity.

In short, this is an awesome book and an awesome audio production, and I have no reservations in giving both book and narrator 5 stars, and would give more, if I could.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for this unbiased review via the courtesy of AudioBookBlast dot com.

Michael Crichton fans look no further!

Any additional comments?

The Chimera Sequence by Elliott Garber is an exciting bioterrorism thriller that is reminiscent of many books written by Michael Crichton and James Rollins. The story begins with the discovery of a mysterious disease that causes the deaths of mountain gorillas in Africa. The disease soon starts to spread to humans living in the area and at first looks like a type of monkey pox which usually has a two week incubation period; but, this new disease leads to death in only a few days.

In light of the Ebola scare only a year ago, the story is eerily realistic. Thankfully the details and explanations are well written and in such a way that no technical or scientific education is needed.

Although there are many well developed characters in this book, my favorite is Cole McBride who is a former Special Forces military veterinarian. I truly hope he is the main character in future novels written by Elliott Garber.

I listened to the Audible version of this book narrated by Neil Shah, who did an admirable job. There is definitely a problem with the speed of the recording; it's as if someone purposefully slowed it down. I started off listening to the book at 1.5x speed, but later sped it up to 2x. Once the recording is sped up, you can differentiate voices and discern different tones and tempo in the performance, which was very good.

Author & Narrator all around 5 stars!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Chimera Sequence to be better than the print version?

I'm an audiobook listener as I often am unable to take time to read written books. I listen while I cook, clean, drive, go grocery shopping, etc. I have not read the print copy of this book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Chimera Sequence?

I don't want to spoil any moments for other readers, so I won't go into extreme detail. I love seeing all the McBride kids working together to thwart the enemies' devious plots in the capitol.

What does Neil Shah bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Shah really brought the characters alive for me. He did an excellent job with phonetics and intonnation, properly demonstrating emotions as well as differentiating amongst the characters.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

An expertly researched medical thriller melded perfectly with a political mystery, creating its own new, and very successful category with this standout script!

Any additional comments?

I only regret the the McBride's aren't going to keep appearing in a series of Elliott Garber audiobooks.

***I am proud to inform you I was chosen to receive a free copy of this audiobook through audiobookblast dotcom for agreeing to post an unbiased review of The Chimera Sequence. My review is truly how I felt and I listened to this book in less the two days! It was just too gripping to turn it off.

Stellar (says American working in the region)

As a trauma counselor working in DRC and Uganda with war-affected children (namely rescued child soldiers of the LRA and other armed groups) — I must say, this book was outstanding! Garba's descriptions of the region (geographically and sociologically) are spot on and captivating. If looking for a suspenseful thriller, inspired by relevant issues affecting lives today (*though still fictional story) — pick this up immediately!

Excellent reader as well!

James Rollin's has some competition!

I loved this gripping story that resonated with my personal experience as a veterinarian. Elliot Garber navigated the science with a deft skill that I put along side Michael Crichton and Robin Cook. Actually, this tale is better than Congo or Eve 6 in the scientific believability. There are many characters in this story and each were relevant. This is the reality of the multidisciplinary world today. The true function and success humankind is based upon those human and animal relationships that are the underpinnings of our motivations and actions. Garber explores these in each character and each perspective from field ops to the lab scientist running the PCR. Each had a functional role to play and a set of personal drivers and skills and perspectives that moved to possible outcome from a win for the terrorist to a win for the anti-terrorists. And, by the way, Garber made setting up a lab assay thrilling.

Neal Shah's narration was superb.

It is exciting to see a veterinarian doing something other than pet medicine. Working in the field is brave, but working in a high level Biosafety 3 or 4 containment is just as brave.

Finally, I can feel through his writing that Elliot Garber has lived the mantra, "expect success, but prepare for the worst." Genuine experience shows throughout the chimera sequence and it goes beyond the science but into the politics of getting a learned opinion to be heard and acted upon.

I'm looking forward to the next book...

Awesome Science Filled Thriller w/ Heart!

This was an amazing book. It was intensely interesting, thrilling, and moving. There were some really touching scenes between gorillas and the people looking out for them. There were some heartfelt scenes between people who were really close to each other in tremendous circumstances. Even with all the smart well written science and action this book had heart. There were some more quiet scenes where doctors and scientists worked on figuring out just what was going on with these sick gorillas. There were also some great action scenes with awesome firefights.

I read this book by listening to the audiobook and I'm really glad I did. The narrator Neil Shah was amazing. His narration of the story alone was great but on top of that he flawlessly pulls of dozens of accents from all over the world. It made the story feel that much more large and exciting and cultured. I don't know how he's mastered so many accents but he uses his immense talent well narrating all the different characters in this book.

If you want to dig into some well written science, with awesome action, and cool well rounded characters you'll love to root for and against then do yourself a favor and pick this one up. I think you'll be as pleased as I was that you did.