Jigsaw

Joel Dodd
Mundania Press (2006)
ISBN 1594260990
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (10/06)

A jigsaw puzzle is made up of many pieces.  One must fit them together just right to solve the problem.  In Dodd’s “Jigsaw,” if the puzzle isn’t solved, the earth will be destroyed.

The crew of the first manned mission to Mars has accidentally carried a virus back to Earth.  “Extremely resilient, the protein was transferred by direct plant-to-plant contact, by any creature or object that came into contact with an infected plant, through the air on pollen, through irrigation water. Once in a field or catchment, the protein could not be eliminated. The range of infection would only spread and never shrink. It was but a matter of time before the Earth faced total famine.”

An isolation nurse lies in a hospital bed, naked, cauterized, hooked to a monitor system.  In her natural coma state she cannot smell the odor of hydrogen sulfide.  Her face shows signs of ulceration.  When she dies, the autopsy shows evidence of a virus that “scavenged the thiamine and liberated the sulfur within the molecule.  After the virus metabolized the thiamine, the sulfur was oxidized and dissolved in the blood as sulfurous acid.” 

Ian Findley, a software engineer, has developed a virus.  “Ian's virus was unlike any other. His existed solely in the memory of the Linus Institute's mainframe computer. Designed by Ian down to the last molecule of its DNA, the virus would, if it existed, mimic the cellulose wall of the protein's target cells, and actively seek the molecular keys of the protein's split ends. Locking onto the protein, the virus would consume the protein and use itself as a host cell for new viruses. For the first time ever, an organism had been designed from nothing but an idea, instead of modifying existing organisms. And with the advances that had been made in nanotechnology, Ian was certain that a real virus could be constructed according to his plan. It would take only one virus, and a protein broth. And Ian Finlay would save the world.”

“Working quickly and methodically, Ian ran the software that he had used to design his virus. Although he had performed this routine many times already, he again put his creation through an exhaustive series of tests, probing and examining his creature for any weaknesses, any part of its molecular design that would keep it forever in cyberspace and never in the real world. There were no flaws. Should it be real, his virus would live, thrive, perhaps, in the right environment. There could be no doubt at all. Ian Finlay had created the first artificial life form blueprint. He had come closer to being God than any other person before him.”

Only the crew of astronauts from the first manned mission to Mars can solve the puzzle.  But their very lives are endangered as they are hunted across the United States.  Their blood may hold the only antibodies that will fight off the usually fatal virus. 

While this book is fiction it is a very timely topic.  Genetic engineering, corrupt corporations, survivalists and bankrupt government are themes that can easily be snatched from the headlines.  The plot is interesting and flows smoothly.  The cover is tastefully done and is intriguing, hinting at what’s inside.  I recommend “Jigsaw” to fans of science fiction and medical mysteries.

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