Agent Logan Ramsey works for one of the most powerful law enforcement agencies in the U.S., the GPA— Gene Protection Agency, which enforces the laws against gene editing of any kind. In the not to distant future, gene editing technology has advanced beyond CRISPR CAS-9, made so easy that a group of college kids and a basic lab can hack genes to make athletes’ muscles bigger and stronger, or select for any number of traits. When Logan’s mother, Miriam Ramsey, genius scientist, who developed this new technology, attempted to modify the rice genome and instead created a worldwide famine that killed millions of people, GPA was born. Logan, as a graduate student, assisted her in the project, and served time in prison as a result. Miriam died in a highway accident in California, driving off a cliff. Or did she?

When Logan walks into a setup, a bomb goes off that is impregnated with a virus, a reliable means of carrying a gene editing package into his cells, he finds after his recovery that his strength and stamina is increasing. He could rarely beat his teenage daughter, Ava at chess anymore, but is steadily finding himself easily beating her. He finds he is reading and absorbing information at an incredible rate, and multi-tasking like never before. Clearly that bomb and the subsequent virus carried a genome hack into his system that is making him a new sort of homo sapiens, with strength and cognitive powers beyond his dreams. Who would do this to him? The only person he knows with the genius to develop this hack is dead— but perhaps his mother faked her death.

Global warming has raised the sea levels, so southern Florida and lower Manhattan are both underwater, and droughts, fires, and other catastrophes are harming agriculture and killing off many animal species. Could his mother have created a new human species as an attempt to save humanity, and used her son as a guinea pig? This is the setup for Crouch’s new novel. He is becoming a master at examining science trends, then creating a novel to play out a scenario to ask moral and practical questions. His stories show his good understanding for human behavior and motivations, both empathetic and egotistical, selfless and selfish. If our lifestyles and economic consumption continue at the current pace, will we despoil our planet until it is too late, and we finally experience our own demise as a species? What needs to change in our nature to motivate our entire species to make needed changes to save our world? Crouch asks big questions in this novel.

This story works as science fiction, suspenseful adventure, and morality tale. Enjoy it on all levels. Recommended.