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    The Curiosity: A Novel
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    The Curiosity: A Novel
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    The Curiosity: A Novel
    Ebook536 pages9 hours

    The Curiosity: A Novel

    By Stephen P. Kiernan

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The Curiosity is a gripping, poignant, and thoroughly original thriller that raises disturbing questions about the very nature of life and humanity—man as a scientific subject, as a tabloid plaything, as a living being, as a curiosity.…
     
    Dr. Kate Philo and her scientific exploration team make a breathtaking discovery in the Arctic: the body of a man buried deep in the ice. Remarkably, the frozen man is brought back to the lab and successfully reanimated. As the man begins to regain his memories, the team learns that he was—is—a judge, Jeremiah Rice, and the last thing he remembers is falling overboard into the Arctic Ocean in 1906.
     
    Thrown together by circumstances beyond their control, Kate and Jeremiah grow closer. But the clock is ticking and Jeremiah’s new life is slipping away...and all too soon, Kate must decide how far she is willing to go to protect the man she has come to love.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJul 9, 2013
    ISBN9780062221087
    Author

    Stephen P. Kiernan

    Stephen P. Kiernan is the author of the novels The Curiosity, The Hummingbird, The Baker's Secret, Universe of Two, and The Glass Chateau. A graduate of Middlebury College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, he spent more than twenty years as a journalist, winning many award before turning to fiction writing. He has also worked nationwide on improving end of life medical care through greater use of hospice. Kiernan lives in Vermont.

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    Reviews for The Curiosity

    4/5

    122 ratings26 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Found it tough to get into at first and then it picked up only to disappoint a bit at the end. My biggest question *spoiler* how come it took so long for the science team to think of tracking down Jeremiah's descedents and then do nothing about it? Lot's of unfinished storylines. Concept and science parts were interesting.
    • 3/5
      With reviews that skew to the love it or hate it ends of the spectrum, I stake my opinion closer to the hate it end. It wasn’t truly awful, but it pulled punches, got boring and didn’t really deliver real answers. The first things I skimmed were Carthage’s sections simply because he was so repugnant. Then Dixon’s sections got to be pointless and misogynist so those got skimmed, too. Eventually everyone’s narratives got boring and I just wanted to get to the maudlin end game already.Spoilers -You’d think with a name like Carthage, Kiernan would be setting us up for a big take down and if ever an asshole deserved one it was Carthage. But no. He goes out on his own terms and with a decided whimper. So very disappointing. Then there’s Jeremiah and Kate, I just didn’t buy their bond or their characters; they don’t work unless you decide the whole thing was fake. If he’d really been reanimated, both of them would have exhibited the book’s title with gusto, relish and enthusiasm. But no, neither of them so much as poke their noses into the hows, whys and wherefores of Jeremiah’s past or present life. And the amount of doing nothing time only makes sense if it’s fake. Once you pick up on it, any tension the book manages to scrape together is lost.Then there are the unbelievable devices that the author has to use to inject any drama, like when Dixon keeps all his valuable evidence of fraud inside the very building that he eventually gets locked out of. No one with sense would do that. Also that Kate doesn’t know what the countdown is or that all the previously reanimated creatures have life spans that end at a time that can be measured and extrapolated for Jeremiah. I just didn’t buy that she didn’t know. It’s needless and senseless and once you pick up on that, the whole thing becomes an obvious fake. Last there’s what happens to Jeremiah. Kiernan does his best to create the same accelerated frenzy in the story as is happening with Jeremiah himself, but then it just ends without a real conclusion. He rows himself out in the harbor in a tiny boat, never to be seen again? What? It’s unrewarding, but at least we don’t have some teary Romeo and Juliet type dual suicide or something equally cliched and eye-rolling.
    • 5/5
      The Curiosity by Stephen Kiernan is not the type of book I would think to pick up or that I would enjoy, but I am very glad I did because I enjoyed it immensely. Kiernan is a brilliant writer and it is quite possible this literary thriller will be one of the most talked about books of the summer. Kiernan takes the reader through a full range of emotions as an Artic expedition team makes a find that could change scientific thinking and challenges each members of the team on varying levels both scientifically and morally. The curiosity is told through various voices allowing the reader a much deeper look into the “find” and to challenge the reader as well as keep the reader on their toes. I highly recommend The Curiosity by Stephen Kiernan, especially to book discussion groups, this choice will definitely keep the debates lively and running long.
    • 5/5
      "The Curiousity" begins with an expedition to the frigid north of the Arctic Circle. A group of scientists and doctors are aboard ship searching the large icebergs for a particular form of "hard ice." Within this ice, they look for small sea life which has been frozen very quiclkly. Their interest is to bring these tiny species back to life. It has been done......although the resurrections are very short lived....a matter of seconds. This time they dicover something a good deal larger. Frozen solid within a huge berg they reveal a male human being. Unable to resist the challange, the leader of the group decides to extend his work by bringing this man back to life.The novel is told from several view points, that of Erastus Carthage, the lead scientist, Dr Kate Philo, a journalist attached to the group, Daniel Dixon and the discovered man, a former judge name Jeremiah Rice who died at sea a hundred years ago . How long can he survice? Calculations suggest maybe 90 days. How will Jeremiah cope having to die again? What of he obvious public and media attention all this brings....most of it unwelcome? What of the religious fundamentalists who name him as blasphemy?Stephen Kiernan has found the balance between the excitement and the morality of this experiment. He captured the bewilderment of man awoken so many years after his death. Jeremiah had a loving wife and treasured daughter and still pines for them. For him, they are still alive, waiting for him to return home. He has to come to terms with this fact and with how the world has changed so dramatically over a century later. I loved the novel and the choice of title is a great one. Jeremiah is "The Curiosity," but it is also the curiousity of Carthage that governs everything he is trying to achieve. A thoughtful and inspiring read, surely a movie must follow?
    • 4/5
      Though reading this book description does immediately bring to mind that SNL skit Frozen Caveman Lawyer, the book is thankfully deeper and more thought-provoking. Questions of morality, ethics and science combine with a love story to make for an interesting read. Despite the unrealistic nature of the main plot point, I was delighted with Jeremiah as a character facing the drastically changed world. I actually could have done without the love story as I think the scientific elements were enough to carry the book. All in all, an enjoyable weekend read.
    • 4/5
      While searching for frozen specimens in the Artic, Dr. Kate Philo and her team discover the body of a man. Using the techniques used on smaller specimens, the project leader Erastus Carthage attempts the unthinkable; bring this man back to life. The man in question is one Jeremiah Rice; a judge who fell overboard in 1906. Is it real or is it a hoax? There are the skeptics and then there are the protesters who say we shouldn’t play God. Carthage sees this project a way to raise more money, but Kate sees Jeremiah more than a specimen, she sees a man who needs rescuing. An interesting concept that has been used before but this story is told through many eyes, as each chapter is in the point of view of one of the many characters that make up this exciting tale of cryogenics. Sounds like it would be confusing, but it flows evenly and I found it to be a remarkable story. I enjoyed how the judge tried to integrate into our culture, but was a bit dispirited by the ending.
    • 4/5
      My rating: 3.5 of 5 starsA copy of The Curiosity was provided to me by William Morrow for review purposes.'And what is life but a little row in a small boat, every moment leaving what we know, every stroke unable to see where we are headed?'The Curiosity tells the tale of a scientific voyage to the Arctic with the intent to find various sea creatures that died encased in ice. Possessing the ability to bring plankton "back to life" the scientists intend to continue studying this process in hopes to actually keep them alive for extended periods of time. Everything changes when they find a man frozen deep in the ice instead.This story is told from various different points of view, which doesn't always work for me but was extremely well done in this case. Each individual has a very distinctive voice and character. Daniel Dixon is a very stereotypical, sleazy-type reporter in charge of covering the latest news of the experiment. Erastus Carthage is the boss behind the research and is an incredibly snobby and arrogant man. Kate Philo is one of the head scientists and one of the only people to form a bond with Jeremiah. Jeremiah was born in 1868 and while on an Arctic voyage was pitched overboard and was presumed dead until he was found frozen in ice over a century later.This was an immensely well-written tale, that was an absolute pleasure to read. The words had a beautiful flow to them and his descriptions were quite impeccable. What I found especially talented was how the author managed to include much of the necessary back story on his characters without it being a massive info-dump. He managed to weave their past into the story without evidence of the stitches.'When I pause in my exertions to understand the here and now, and contemplate the severing of that kindness, that mercy, the ache is so acute I half expect to see some place on myself that is bleeding.'In addition to the beauty of the words and his writing style in general, the story itself was brilliant and original. A man was found encased in ice, had been there for over a century and scientists possessed the ability to bring him back to life. Not only did they restart his heart but he inevitably woke up and began his life anew. The politics surrounding his return to the life of the living was extensive and did become taxing after a while but still managed to ring true for how a situation such as this would be handled in the world today. Although everything was explained well in a scientific sense, I can't help but feel it wasn't given a proper ending. It's such an ambitious and thrilling plot I felt it was leading up to something that never quite transpired. The final chapter does serve as a sufficient ending, but when questions that arose are only given single sentence answers I found myself hoping for more. Despite this, I am immensely glad to have had the opportunity to read this. The Curiosity is an incredibly unique mix of science, romance, and the paths that simple curiosity takes us in life.
    • 5/5
      The Curiosity spins a fantastical tale of the reanimation of a man, Jeremiah Rice, frozen in a glacier at the turn of the century, and the deep relationship he develops with a brilliant scientist involved in his discovery, Kate Philo. I was able to suspend my disbelief and ignore the scientific implausibilities of the plot and enjoy this novel for the wonderful page-turning fiction that it is. The story unfolds in narration alternating between the four main characters, and is reminiscent of the pacing and science bending skill of a Michael Crighton novel; the tender relationships in the Time Traveler's Wife; and the wonder of seeing the world through new eyes in Flowers for Algernon. The Curiosity held me spellbound for two days, left me deeply moved in several places, and I was sad to see this story end.This book is very well written, the story sweeps along at a rapid pace, the characters are interesting, complex, and endearing. What more could I ask from a summer read?
    • 4/5
      Not exactly science fiction, but not quite realistic fiction either. Somewhere in there though. It was quite enjoyable. Characters to dislike, some are boring, and an ending I wasn't quite expecting.
    • 4/5
      A powerful debut novel about a man frozen in ice for more than a century, who reawakens in the present day When Dr. Kate Philo and her exploration team discover what appears to be a seal frozen in an Arctic iceberg, they believe they have made a momentous breakthrough in their research. The seal is actually a man and the team learns that he was--is--Jeremiah Rice, a man born in 1868, whose last memory is of falling overboard into the Arctic Ocean in 1906. Kate befriends Jeremiah while the media hound him, religious conservatives accuse the Lazarus Project of blasphemy, and the world at large suspects the entire enterprise is a massive fraud. Summary HPLA multiple POV story that, while noting the grave moral and ethical concerns of re-animating a human life, retains a delightful 19th century charm.I finished it in two days and am looking forward to more from Stephen Kiernan!7 out of 10. Recommended to readers who enjoy (fictional) science, history, baseball and suspense.
    • 4/5
      THE CURIOSITY by Stephen P. KiernanEvery now and then I get a little excited when I discover a new and raging talent who not only has the ability to tell a well written story but rescue the reader from the influx of cookie cutter novels filling not only the internet but bookstores as well.Thanks to the kindness of the Senior Marketing Director at William Morrow, Tavia Kowalchuk I was honored to receive an advanced readers copy of what I believe to be the most talked about thriller since last summer’s GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn. Due in July of this year……THE CURIOSITY by Stephen Kiernan has all the makings of not only a great ‘beach read’ but even better will have tongues wagging at every ‘book club’ that catches wind of this fine novel.Told in various voices by all the major players of this timely and moral situation, THE CURIOSITY begins it’s challenge of gracefully upending both ends of the spectrum when it comes to just how far should science play God.On a scientific expedition in the Arctic funded by an organization called the Lazarus. Project it is fueled by an egotistical businessman Erastus Carthage, Dr; Kate Philo and her team discover a man buried deep in the ice. Against better judgment they bring the man dressed in clothes from a different era back to their lab. Using all the scientific knowledge at their disposal they attempt to bring’ the curiosity’ back to life. At various times throughout the story the reader is introduced to the man in ice and he is given a voice while still frozen. His name is Jeremiah Rice and how he came to be frozen in the ice and his life before 1906 makes for ingenious storytelling. I can hear the book clubs now discussing all of the questions raised by not only the characters but also what the reader feels when man tramples into God’s territory.Part thriller, part love story, this literary gem has all the makings of updating Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN. Both testing the boundaries of science, both relying on the talents of the author’s to guide the reader to seek their own ‘what if’ or ‘what would you do’ conclusion.
    • 4/5
      This is a thought provoking tale about being among the living. I see it as an interesting twist on the right to life issue. It is a thrilling tale of ethics in the scientific quest for immortality. Kiernan creates some very interesting characters in this book. It moves quickly with plenty of twists and turns.

    • 2/5
      I had high hopes for this novel, and the premise wasn't bad; frozen man is reanimated, a love story ensues. Yet I found myself struggling to get through it. The story unfolds through the voices of four character; Dr. Philo (the heroine), Dr. Carthage (the architect behind the reanimation/consummate narcissist), Dixon (the brutish reporter), and lastly, the reanimated Jeremiah. Each character had a distinct voice (albeit heavy-handedly so, and gave their own view of events. Sadly, they were more archetypes than characters of substance, a prevailing feature and probably what made this novel so slow. The glaring exception to the rule was Dr. Gerber, the Dead-Head mathematician. He had soul which jumped off the page.Jeremiah's inevitable decline (in the latter half of the book) smacked of _Flowers for Algernon_ in that he became less than he was. Reading his loss, you could easily empathize; the worry about loved ones coping with your absence, the feeling that each thing you do is being done for the last time, the lack of true knowledge (or in this case, memory) of what, if anything, comes after. Philosophically interesting, I found myself more engaged in the later sections of the book. Overall, I found _The Curiosity: A Novel_ "okay" but not awe-inspiring, and probably not something I would enthusiastically recommend.
    • 4/5
      Scientists have long known that placing a living body in the freezing cold, if done correctly, does not really kill the body but merely holds it in stasis. There is the possibility that the body could be brought back to life. That is the reason why people with terminal diseases and lots of money opt for cryopreservation. They hope that some time in the future they can be reanimated and their disease treated. As yet, as far as I know, no-one has been returned to life from cryopreservation but it could happen any time. And whoever manages to do it successfully could be unimaginably wealthy as well as lauded with the highest honours.The thought of that is what caused Dr. Erastus Carthage to send a research ship into the high Arctic Ocean looking for icebergs that had preserved life in a deep freeze such as only exists in the hard ice that forms at the poles. When they found not just small bioforms like plankton and krill but also a man perfectly preserved in his early 20th century clothing Carthage thought he had found his fame and fortune. The man was reanimated successfully and, unlike the small species studied previously, survived beyond the limits the scientists thought prevailed for this technique. Dr. Kate Philo, the brilliant cell biologist who was in charge of the polar mission that found the man, soon becomes aware that this man is not just another specimen but a thinking, feeling human. Her feelings for him cause her to deny everything she worked for but she never regrets it.This is a love story for scientists. Non-scientists will probably like it too but it really resonated with me. It's a first novel but really didn't seem like one probably because Kiernan is an accomplished journalist and non-fiction writer. Hope to see more of his work.
    • 5/5
      I received a free advanced reader's edition copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

      This is a very well written book, with realistic characters, and a very interesting fictional story.

      The story is seen through the different perspectives of four main characters. This makes the reading more interesting because the reader will encounter the story through different eyes. The story benefits from this type of writing because the story wouldn't have been as good if only one character's perspective was being read. This way, the reader is able to see how different the characters were in dealing with Jeremiah.

      The book contain forty-three (43) chapters, and the book is divided into five sections. The story contains about eight (8) main characters.

      I like that the story focuses on the way that society is now-a-days. The book makes the reader think about how we live today (usually we are too busy to notice our actual world). It was interesting to see how the character of Jeremiah was learning about the present day, seeing how things have changed, and how people are and live now.

      This book has been described as a mix of Michael Crichton and "The Time Traveler's Wife", and I think that it does describe the book quite well. The science aspect of this book does seem similar to the science aspects found in novels by Michael Crichton. I have not read "The Time Traveler's Wife", but I can conclude that there is a strong romantic storyline in the book, and "The Curiosity: A Novel" also has a strong romantic aspect.

      The story is a bit tragic, but I still recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      I’m going to write this review backwards: the ending killed this book and dragged the rating down to three and a half stars. Until that final chapter, this was a great story. Reanimation has been covered in lots of other books, but usually there are supernatural overtones or there is some very unbelievable science going on. The science presented here does push the boundaries of belief, but you are given enough background to accept it as part of the story.Make no mistake, though, this is not a science fiction story; this is a tale of morals, a contemporary love story that spans one hundred years, a story of corporate greed, slanted journalism and personal egos overcoming good judgment. In terms of questioning the morality of the act, it probably ranks alongside the granddaddy of all reanimation stories, Mary Shelly’s classic, Frankenstein.What kills it, without introducing spoilers, is the ending. Kiernan introduced characters that I just had too much empathy for to like the ending he has in store for them. The blurb says that movie rights are in the works for this story. Hollywood has a chance to do the rare thing of making a movie better than the book. It would be easy to imagine an ending more fitting and pleasing for the characters you can’t help but fall in love with.The ending reduced this to three and a half stars for me. Up until the end, this was looking a full star better, so have a go at it. It is still very enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      The Curiosity is a story very strong on the science of its subject but even more so on the humanity of it as well. Or better said on the price that is paid for the lack of humanity.Dr. Kate Philo and her team are searching icebergs deep in the Artic for krill, shrimp and plankton imbedded in the hard ice so that they may regenerate the life forms back into existence. They believe they have come upon the theory to bring life back but the subjects must be frozen in hard ice to achieve this. "...Now, as a result of that night in the Artic, we also know that temporary reanimation of a "dead" mammal is possible. Above all, we know that this achievement redefines human existence as radically as harnessing the power of the atom did in the 1940s..."Kate Philo discovers a mammal buried in the ice. She discovers a man; Judge Jeremiah Rice.The opportunity before the scientists is beyond their wildest dreams. The chance to experiment upon something more than shrimp and plankton. The opportunity to bring life to a dead human body."...The staff physician struts past, a short bearded guy by the name of Borden. I haven't had a sit-down with him yet, so I toss a softball as he passes. "Hey, doc, what are you expecting today?" He halts like a soldier, turns slowly to me. "I expect us to replace God." Not what I was prepared for, is what it was. "Excuse me?" "What we do today will render the creation myth obsolete. We are as gods ourselves now." Off he struts like a rooster ruling the barnyard..."For you see The Curiosity is more than a science fiction novel. It is a novel about the humanity in all of us. Our moral compass of what is right and wrong and how far should the human mind stretch in its desire to be more than what it is. For each of these scientists and the crews around them must decide for themselves if what they are doing is right and noble. Or just another exercise in bad judgment and vanity.What is lost quickly here is that the body taken from the ice is a man. A human being. Not just as they consistently refer to him as Subject number One. Judge Rice is a man taken from his time and forced into a future he has no notion of to satisfy the ambitions of modern science. Also intricate to the story is the actions of the media as they cover the discovery and laud it as the future of man's immortality and at the same time deride it as a hoax. The press and politicians fight over the body of Judge Rice as the Religious zealots demand that it be left dead.The Curiosity is advertised as a Michael Crichton like novel. It is very far from that but it is a strong page turner with prose and storytelling all it own. It many ways it is a reverse character Frankenstein story with the scientists as the creatures and the body of Dr Rice the one nobility. The fact that Mary Shelley's great horror novel ended in the Artic and The Curiosity begins in the frozen wasteland cannot be sheer coincidence.A very good novel and strong read.
    • 4/5
      An interesting look at how society would react to a modern day miracle made by science. A warning though that each chapter is seen through the eyes of a different character so a reader needs to pay attention to the subheading under the chapter title. It really explores the human dynamics and the interplay between politics and religion and how each would react if it were possible to bring back a human being from the dead. The character themselves all have flaws which make them more believable and even the science that is explored is described at a level that even a reader who does not have a scientific back round can get the general idea of what has been accomplished. Overall I finished the book wanting to keep reading to find out more about each character.
    • 4/5
      Nothing holds my attention and nurtures my enjoyment of a book like likable characters. If I can't find someone nice, I don't want to read the story at all. The Curiosity: A Novel, has plenty of likable folks, and perhaps none more enjoyable that the man about whom the story is told. Jeremiah is a man of character and solid integrity. A man who loves his family, never mind that it has been a very long time since last he saw them. He is a shining light of sorts, in a world that has become to fast, too dark and too compartmentalized.I like having a hero, and better yet if the hero is a woman. Kate is both. A strong, determined and educated woman who becomes a hero through a leap of faith and a connection to a gentle man. She and Jeremiah are alike in some very important ways. The connection that they feel, the bond that becomes stronger day by is is the foundation on which this story is told. I wouldn't want it any other way.This is not a traditional romance, although there is love. This is not science fiction, although it sounds like it might be, what with a frozen man and lots of scientific terms floating around. This is a good, solid, and well told tale. The ending is a good one. That matters.
    • 4/5
      This was an enjoyable and thought provoking book. What I found most interesting was the commentary on society and human nature.

    • 4/5
      An enjoyable read and well-imagined story, also brings up some thought provoking topics. Clever mix of science fiction, suspense, romance, and humor. Such very different characters, and I found all of them interesting and believable. Should make a great movie, looking forward to seeing it some day.
    • 3/5
      I'm afraid my dislike of romances influenced my reaction to The Curiosity. I was excited by the premise and enjoyed the author's approach with four different narrator's - although at times I felt those voices lacked something or were too stereotypical. But most off all, I was stuck by the character's lack of curiosity. Jeremiah lacks curiosity about his families fate; Kate lacks scientific curiosity and simply accepts her role as night sitter; Carthage lacks any curiosity on the workings of his reanimation process altogether.I found myself most drawn to the characters of Gerber and Billings - who are only seen through eyes of others - both still quietly seeking the solutions.Kiernan does a nice job of presenting the various ethical issues. But, the story did seem a bit long and dragged in places where he seemed to get lost in the details.
    • 4/5
      This is a thought provoking tale about being among the living. I see it as an interesting twist on the right to life issue. It is a thrilling tale of ethics in the scientific quest for immortality. Kiernan creates some very interesting characters in this book. It moves quickly with plenty of twists and turns.

    • 4/5
      When love's timeline is limited, does it make that love any less meaningful? Reading the premise of The Curiosity sent a thrill reverberating through my body. From the Frankenstein-meets-The-Time-Traveler's-Wife storyline, to the ultimate romantic tragedy of finding a soulmate from another time and place—another plane—this was the kind of sci-fi novel I knew I had been waiting for for a long time. The good news is, in so many ways, this book blew my mind with its originality and argumentative depth. The bad news is, in so many more ways, it also disappointed me. My feelings, clearly, are mixed.The Curiosity is narrated in the alternating voices of four arguably essential figures behind the Lazarus Project: Kate (the jaded scientist), Carthage (her controlling, mad-genius supervisor), Jeremiah (the judge and human subject), and Daniel (a seedy, seemingly useless reporter with an inflated sense of self-importance). Each point of view gives interesting perspectives on the discovery of the "unfrozen" man, Jeremiah, and the muddiness and uncertainty between these three characters are what contribute to most of the novel's tension—this was very well done.Kiernan has the tendency to go into specific, sometimes rambly detail about, well, everything. I love how his style is both straightforward and analytical—like the scientific method—yet still profound. However, sometimes I felt like it was a bit too much; frequently, there is elaboration on what doesn't need to be elaborated, and it was frustrating and quite laborious to have to skim through all that to get to the good parts. And trust me—when The Curiosity got good, it got really good. The most exciting scenes of the novel—namely, Jeremiah's reanimation—are absolutely electrifying; they will make your heart pound wildly against your ribcage and your fingers tremble. These are the scenes that motivated me to continue reading the book, and that surpassed my expectations. But considering these brilliant pieces were so few and far between—nestled within long chunks of backstory and redundant ruminations—and clocking in at 464 pages, The Curiosity wasn't exactly an easy, or overall enjoyable, read.In terms of actual writing style, Stephen Kiernan is no doubt, extremely talented. His voice flows vibrantly and cinematically, but gets stiff during Kate's narrations; she just doesn't seem relatable or likable to me. It bothered me that Daniel had to comment about how "hot" she is every few pages, in order for her attractiveness to be conveyed, but more importantly, she personally doesn't feel genuine. I'm unsure of whether this is because her female perspective was written by a man, or if her personality was just built like that—rigid and impersonal—but I hardly found myself rooting for her as the protagonist.Since romance is among my favorite genres, I am typically a huge sucker for these types of "falling in love at the most inopportune moment" stories, but I felt the romance was misplaced in this situation. Kiernan begins with a sensational plot, but adding the romance in kind of cheapened it. Given the circumstances of high-profile scientific research and Kate's professional career, I was turned off by how her first encounter with Jeremiah immediately turned into a romance—it felt inappropriate, and largely, unbelievable. It was very well written and I did find myself being swept away by the angst that came with Kate's budding affection for the off-limits Jeremiah, but overall, I think The Curiosity could have been successful not being a love story. While romance is not the biggest accomplishment of this novel, the intensity of thought-provoking questions raised, certainly is. Obviously, an ethical debate will come naturally with a storyline about a man who becomes a lab specimen, and the fact that Jeremiah is humanized by becoming the object of Kate's attachment further heightens the issue of morals and ethics. Both the scientific rationalizations and the convoluted line of events present readers with heart-stopping revelations and the frenzy that follows, and this was what made The Curiosity so provocative and so stimulating. To me, this novel isn't simply about a man who is revived, and a woman who loves him, but it's about two lost people who experience everything for the first time in their lives again; people who, through each other, are brought back to life.Pros: Creative, captivating plot // Multi-dimensional and deep-delving storytelling, rather than just spelling out what happens // Perspectives of different characters are very distinct (and switch from first to second to third person, something I've never encountered before) // Thought-provoking and controversial in topicCons: Long-winded writing style // Bland, rather unmemorable characters, even when given emotions and a backstory // I had trouble sympathizing with Kate, which in turn, defeated the purpose of the "tragic romance" for meVerdict: The Curiosity is a fascinating study on human vulnerability, the virtues of love, the astonishing power of science, but it's also a rather bulky novel. Due to its drawn-out chapters and massive page count, I didn't have that much fun reading it, but do I recommend it to others? Yes, yes yes! It's an impressive debut, a force to be reckoned with. Stephen Kiernan begins with an original plotline and cleverly interconnected multiple perspectives to produce a thought-provoking, challenging, and incredibly dynamic debut that I can see doing well on the big screen (luckily, 20th Century Fox has already bought film rights!!!). I suggest you only pick this up if you have a lot of patience and some time on your hands—as much of a page-turner as this book is, it is NOT something you can read within a few sittings.Rating: 7 out of 10 hearts (4 stars): Not perfect, but overall enjoyable; borrow, don't buy!Source: Complimentary copy provided by tour publicist via publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, TLC Book Tours and Harper Collins!).
    • 4/5
      Overall I really enjoyed this book. I was a little unsure at the start as there was a lot of description of to the science in the book, which can sometimes be off-putting, but it flowed well and wasn't overpowering. All the characters were well developed, if not a little stereotypical at times, but I enjoyed following them and I liked the alternating viewpoints.

      I liked Jeremiah's character, particularly how he was so curious and fearless about the world, but I thought the romantic aspect of the story was a bit unnecessary. Another minor point about the book was how Jeremiah was referred to as Frankenstein, which irritated me a little.

    • 4/5


      The book is brilliantly written. Part sci-fi, part historical fiction, part literary fiction, all pieces put together make a delightful and entrancing read. Told from four different perspectives; the journalist covering the story, the scientist who discovered the body in the ice, the egotistical genius at the head of the project and the reanimated man himself, Jeremiah Rice, this novel explores the very human side of science and those involved in its study. At first I thought this would be a Science Thriller a la Michael Crichton, but it morphs into a heartbreaking literary novel that explores ethics and love, not to mention the meaning of life.

      The voice of Jeremiah Rice is written with such a fine hand, giving the character the formality and substance that make him so believable as a man that has come from the early 20th century. His insight into modern day life is powerful without being preachy. Although the ending is foreshadowed at the beginning of the novel, the path that takes you to that end is one that is filled with beautiful, thought-provoking style that keeps you turning the pages to the inevitable ending. (Naturally, my favorite character is Jeremiah. His character is consistent throughout the novel. He's the kind of man you'd want to meet. Maybe even keep. And that's all I'll say on that matter.)

      Kate Philo works for a crazed egocentric (Erastus Carthage) convinced he has discovered the secret of re-animation. Turns out he has, but keeping those he's re-animated alive is another problem. Erastus Carthage's point of view is simply hilarious. You know him. He's the Donald Trump of science. He makes money with money. He's short on social graces but very powerful. He fires on a whim. 'Nuff said.
      Then what? Protesters abound, Carthage's greed drives his decisions, and the politics of science are laid bare. As Kate helps Judge Rice re-enter life a century after his death, she falls a little in love, of course, but this is really about perceptions as well--how he sees us, we see ourselves, and mainly how we view this miracle. As provocative and compelling as Flowers for Algernon, this novel is made for audio, with 4 great narrators inhabiting their roles and raising the questions Kiernan chooses not to answer.

      The only thing keeping this novel from being a 5-star-stunner is the ending, or lack there-of. But Still.....!! 'Sigh.....!'