ALDO

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Pub Date 24 Mar 2018 | Archive Date 30 Mar 2018

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Description

Aldo is a mystery / thriller / love story in which a brilliant and dangerous ideologue attempts to eliminate a university's genetics institute by holding the university's president hostage.

On the same day that Isabel Canto, associate director of Pembrook Atlantic University's Institute for Genome Modification, discovers she is pregnant with IGM post-doc Frank Marks's baby, Pembrook Atlantic University's president Mary Ellen Mackin receives a letter from "Aldo" threatening harm if she does not dissolve the institute and fire its director. Isabel recommends that Mackin refuse, and not allow a terrorist to dictate what her faculty and students can research and discover -- setting off a chain of events that will change many lives forever, including her own.

Aldo is a mystery / thriller / love story in which a brilliant and dangerous ideologue attempts to eliminate a university's genetics institute by holding the university's president hostage.

On the...


A Note From the Publisher

ABOUT BETTY JEAN CRAIGE: Dr. Betty Jean Craige is Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia. She has published books in the fields of literature, history of ideas, politics, ecology, and art. Her most recent non-academic books are Conversations with Cosmo: At Home with an African Grey Parrot (2010), published by Sherman Asher Publishing, and three Witherston Murder Mysteries, Downstream (2014), Fairfield's Auction (2016), and Dam Witherston (2017), published by Black Opal Books. Her latest work -- ALDO, a very different kind of novel, a suspense thriller -- is set for release in March 2018 with Black Opal Books.

ABOUT BETTY JEAN CRAIGE: Dr. Betty Jean Craige is Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia. She has published books in the fields of literature, history of ideas...


Advance Praise

"Craige tells a fascinating story in ALDO -- an intriguing and complex mystery, marvellous characters, some futuristic science, and a good deal of suspense make this a page turner you won't want to put down."

-- Taylor Jones, The Review Team of Taylor Jones & Regan Murphy


"ALDO by Betty Jean Craige is the story of a domestic terrorist who believes that violence and threats are the best way to settle ideological differences [...] ALDO is both unique and refreshing in its voice, and in the way Craige has structured the story in the form of a novel in a novel, so to speak. Blending mystery and intrigue with superb character development, action, suspense, and a hint of romance, ALDO will keep you on your toes all the way through. I couldn't put it down."

-- Regan Murphy, The Review Team of Taylor Jones & Regan Murphy

"Craige tells a fascinating story in ALDO -- an intriguing and complex mystery, marvellous characters, some futuristic science, and a good deal of suspense make this a page turner you won't want to...


Marketing Plan

* National consumer print, online and broadcast media campaign *

* Publishing trade ARC/galley outreach *

* Q&A author interviews and excerpts available upon request *

* March 2017 blog tour *

* Influencer outreach to Amazon top reviewers & Goodreads librarians, Bookstagrammers, BookTubers, podcasters, and more *

* National consumer print, online and broadcast media campaign *

* Publishing trade ARC/galley outreach *

* Q&A author interviews and excerpts available upon request *

* March 2017 blog tour *

*...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781626947795
PRICE US$12.99 (USD)

Average rating from 7 members


Featured Reviews

I wasn't sure what to expect with this story, and it took me a little to to catch on. The anonymous-type group is pretty interesting, but surprisingly inept in several ways.

The subtext to the whole story was the most engaging to me- the existential argument about the hubris of human intervention in genetics and manipulating genes of future generations for good or for ????? or the helpless acceptance of the horror defective genes can produce.

The parallel issue of academic freedom and the heavy handedness of funders is also critical. The abuse of funds to advance the narrow and often self serving goals of rich guys is one that rankles me and is addressed well here.
The comment that the big rich guy who pulled his financial commitment so he could go suppress intelligent thought and research was a highlight for me.

The chase part, the escape and eventual ending were ok and vaguely satisfying.

Check it out, food for thought.

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An apropo topic of whether scientists have the right to study or perform gene modification and what it may mean for the future, Aldo kidnapped the president of the institute that had a lab that performed gene modification, run by Linus and his assistant Isabel. .He sent threatening letters to Linus and Isabel stating that he had the president of the Institution and that she would die if they didn't resign and stop the research. They refused, Linus stating that free thinking and teaching must continue for the good of society. One of the major donors threatened to withdraw their financial support if they did not stop. The conflict escalated, Aldo could not have predicted the consequences that resulted resulting from the kidnapping. Interesting to read the pros and cons of gene modification as the mystery of who 'Aldo" is and how he disguises his actions. Very well written, although I thought the communication addresses were rather long and unnecessary. I recommend reading the book.

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Since the discovery of the human genome, advances have already been made in gene therapy in treating certainly hereditary diseases.
Now suppose that it might be possible not just to correct faulty genes that lead to hereditary malaise such as Huntington's Chorea, or Cystic Fibrosis, both of which are incurable and fatal, but to eradicate them altogether from future generations?

Surely these are things that can only be dreamed of. Surely the children of future generations deserve not to have to succumb to these scourges in the future. The scientists at universities and hospitals AL around the world are ready to steam on ahead with this developing medical technology, christened in this novel as Germline. And wait. Dwarfism will also, soon be assigned to the history books as well.

Therein lies the problem. Those who remember the history books will remember that the philosophy of eugenics is what lay behind the ethos of the Nazis. One scientist in this novel was interested in eradicating dwarfism. Now, a master race of perfect humans could be a reality.

ALDO is the pseudonym of an activist who seeks to put stop to this research via an underground Facebook group dedicated to the task. After his demands that this research project should be abandoned are ignored, he kidnaps an important figure from the universty. Things however then spin out of control in ways he could ever have imagined.

One moral of the story is that any revolutionary movement can develop in ways to original thinkers had never conceived. Revolutiions themseves may grow into a Frankenstein's monster. Another is that it is never possible to know what other consequences may arise from tampering with nature. Then there are questions on whether there should ever control of scientific inquiry and research can ever be justified.

This is a dialectical novel in which the opinions of each camp are debated by the characters used here, though no definite conclusion is reached about which side has the soundest arguments. The plot of the novel actually centres around one of the scientists., pregnant Isabel Cantor and her tribulations with her distant partner.

As a dialectical novel I must say that it does tend to remain rather stuck at academic argument and discussion and that sometimes characters and events remain secondary to this. ALDO was an enjoyable read insofar that the debate it covers is topical enough, but sometimes this did make friends a rather dry story and a ess-well thought out actual story.
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