Dean Crawford's Immortal [2012]

Dean Crawford's Immortal
Immortality has been the theme of many a tales and has taken many different forms. The classics like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein personify it through the supernatural and science. However, as far as science goes, none have done to a plausibly realistic way – until now.

Dean Crawford’ Immortal starts off with action and goes the full metal jacket. The action starts in the Santa Fe Trail where Patrol Office Lieutenant Enrico Zamora heads up the Glorietta Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico after reports of a shooting.

The aftermath of that incident leaves a body with bullet lodged in his thigh bone which carbon dating puts at 200 years old, back to the American Civil War. However, before county coroner Lillian Cruz can report it to the authorities, she disappears.

“That’s a musket ball”, Alexis said in surprise. “It must have dropped out of him and rolled down the drainage chute.”
- Immortal, page 15

The coroner’s disappearance gets the attention of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) who engages Ethan Warner and his partner, Nicole Lopez, to find the missing coroner.

The novel, first published by Simon and Schuster in 2012 contains a captivating 548 pages of non-stop action, and introduces the audience (or rather me) to Ethan Warner; a new hero of more Crawford novels. However, it’s the science behind immortality that makes this read highly plausible.

In the novel, there are a group of men and woman who have become seemingly immortal. However, they soon discover that they are starting to wither and die – or rather rot and die, and in their quest to save themselves come into the scopes of a multi-million dollar company whose agenda is more than just immortality.

This is the second book in the Ethan Warner series with his introduction being in the Covenant.

Immortal stands as one of the most entertaining science fictions books I’ve read in a while that could actually make sense in the real world.

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