An electrifying thriller about species re-engineering run amok, Scales is a great, fast-paced read perfect for fans of Jurassic Park. Eddie Boka’s first combat mission is a success... until he’s overwhelmed by a raging compulsion and eats an enemy soldier! His cannibalism threatens to derail the plans of Blayvine Industries, whose secret project has genetically enhanced Eddie and three other prototypes with reptilian DNA. The corporation needs Eddie’s urges brought under control before it can introduce its dino-humans to the world and begin selling armies of them. Facing a deadline for the big media unveiling, the corporation hires unorthodox therapist Adelaide “Addi” LaTour to treat Eddie’s cannibalism. Disparagingly known as the Electrobitch, Addi uses shock collars and severe behavioral conditioning to overcome compulsions. Eddie is revolted by her methods and the two of them clash... violently. But she overcomes his resistance and he learns self-control, leading to the dino-humans’ successful public unveiling. Things soon fall apart, however. A retrovert – a vicious saurian predator – escapes its enclosure and goes on a lethal rampage. Worse chaos erupts when Eddie and Addi, in violation of the rules, start an affair, triggering a devastating chain of events that threatens to bring down the entire project...
Author
Christopher Hinz is an author of science fiction thrillers – novels, comic books, screenplays and more. Born in 1951 in Reading, PA, USA, his early passion for all things SF led to the writing of his first “book” in elementary school. A four-page epic, it featured a giant monster brought back from Mars who escapes and climbs the tallest building in Chicago, only to be blasted from that perch with a nuclear cannon. The inevitable fallout, along with other youthful digressions, steered Hinz away from science fiction writing – and Chicago – for many years. His first mature work,LIEGE-KILLER, was originally published in 1987 by St. Martin’s Press. ANACHRONISMS, ASH OCK and THE PARATWA soon followed. The latter two novels, together with LIEGE-KILLER, form “The Paratwa Saga.” A subsequent foray into comic books led to a number of publications, including creator-owned GEMINI BLOOD (with artist Tommy Lee Edwards) and DEAD CORPS (with artist Steve Pugh) for DC Comics, and BLADE for Marvel Comics, also with Pugh. An evolution into screenwriting resulted in the sale of BINARY, a script based on LIEGE-KILLER. In addition to other SF projects, he has worked a variety of Earth-based jobs, including picture framer, turret-lathe operator, TV technical director and newspaper staff writer. He has played in rock bands, modeled dioramas and designed and marketed an auto racing board game. He currently creates new stories from the semi-seclusion of a wooded realm in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
