among736
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Posts: 276
(3/25/03 4:00:10 pm)
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 The Organ Donor by Matthew Warner (Very
Minor Spoilers)
Last week I purchased Matthew Warner's
The Organ Donor in e-book format. I'm in the
middle of a huge project at work and needed something to do while my
programs were running. Unfortunately, I now have a problem. I have
weeks of work left to do, but I already finished the book! I don't
recall the last time I tore through a story this fast. I finished
all 320 pages in a few hours (which is saying something.......I'm a
very slow, methodical reader).
Anyone who's been around
horror has seen the premise of this book before. Someone receives a
transplant only to find out that it's haunted by the previous owner
(usually a serial killer, cultist, satanist, etc.). It's an angle
that could be interesting, but is usually slapped together with no
detail or plot.
The Organ
Donor finally does justice to this
sub-genre.
It's amazing how much Matthew has managed to pack
into this novel considering its relative brevity. This book is
tight! I'd be hard-pressed to find spots that could have used more
editing or should have been cut out altogether. Every word has
meaning and is used for the most impact possible.
The story
starts in modern day China and takes the reader to one of the
country's dark sides -- the harvesting of organs from prisoners. A
morally tormented physician is going through his prep work before a
set of executions is scheduled to take place. As he checks each
inmate he comes into contact with an imprisoned Falun Gong activist
(named Shen) that freaks him out. The doctor's fear becomes more
palpable when Shen is executed and still shows signs of being alive
-- pupils that react to light, bubbles of blood at the corners of
his mouth, etc.
This all takes place in the first chapter and
really sets the tone for what's to come.
The rest of the
story is almost exclusively told from the POV of Paul Taylor, who
happens to receive some of Shen's organs. As the story unfolds, Shen
is doing everything in his power to get his organs back while Paul
is fighting to survive an ancient evil. The two have some great
scenes together that are extremely well-written.
The
attention to detail in this story is incredible. The first thing
that struck me was the amount of information we get about China --
background on organ harvesting, the Falun Gong, the cities that
serve as the backdrop, etc. I have to believe that Matthew did a
large amount of research just to write the opening chapters. At
another point there is a long story regarding the Chinese mythology
as it relates to Shen. Great stuff.
I can't think of anything
that took away from the book. There was a spot towards the end that
was building to a crescendo, then stopped to expand on some
mythology before moving to the climax. I was trying to decide if the
mythology should have been placed elsewhere, but I think I like it
just the way it is. It does slow the pace down, but had me reading
even faster to find out what happened in the climax.
Overall,
this was a great read and worth the price of admission ($4.99 on
Fictionwise). I'd recommend it to anyone.
Andy
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