While investigating the real-life 1980s Aral Sea environmental disaster in Uzbekistan, doctoral student Sarah and her cousin Michael, a science journalist, discover that while it may be possible to map the human genome, some of the locations are still full of surprises. Under inexplicable conditions, a rare shared genetic trait imposes their trait-sharing ancestors' memories upon them.
The first cousins and best friends are bound by more than genetics. Though glib and impulsive, Michael's brilliant ghostwriting masks Sarah's learning disabilities, while alluring and perceptive Sarah helps Michael through his perpetually awkward phase with women. The two pursue individual success, both with and in spite of each other.
For Sarah and Michael, their ancestors' memories offer a cryptic roadmap that leads them on a worldwide odyssey revealing tantalizing truths about the earth's ancient history and life's earliest evolution. Sarah embarks on a quest to unlock these secrets, convinced that it will provide her with scientific proof that humankind is destroying itself and the planet with reckless genetic engineering.
The cousins' sibling-like banter and steadfast loyalty provide the counterpoint to their divergent agendas. Michael seeks to vindicate his faltering career as an investigative journalist, but he soon learns that his obsession to understand how these memories came to be stored in a massive data center in "the cloud" is far more dangerous.
As they awkwardly globetrot from Antarctica, to ancient healing caves of the Inuit people above the Arctic Circle, and then through war-torn Sudan to the toxic sulfur springs of Portugal, Sarah and Michael discover the role that evolution plays in their genetic link to the past. In a stark portrayal of mankind's hubris, to preserve that link they and perhaps much of medical science may have to pay the ultimate price.
If you believe that biological and nuclear weapons are the last frontier for global annihilation and that medical science has improved the quality of life,
The Prophesy Gene's scientifically valid premise about evolution will have you questioning your entire belief system.
Stuart D. Schooler began his career as an environmental engineer on the Texas Gulf Coast. He wrote newsprint social satire part-time for the Denver Post and the Washington Business Journal, during an extended stint in Denver. Stuart began writing fiction when his newborn triplets started his day at 4 am and the facts were too unbearable. He and his wife have a total of five children and two dogs. (The triplets are now 25 and the others are 19 and 28.) He also holds an MS in Energy Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School. Stuart Schooler runs a real estate development company that specializes in cleaning up and redeveloping residential and commercial properties contaminated by mankind's shortsightedness.
