Observer - by Robert Lanza & Nancy Kress (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Observer, by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress is a slick, modern, hard science fiction standalone medical thriller, combining classic Robin Cook with the hard edge of Black Mirror and Altered Carbon.

After neurosurgeon Caro Soames-Watkins's career has gone down in flames, she receives a strange job offer from Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sam Watkins, a great uncle she barely knows, and desperation overcomes any suspicions.

Watkins's mysterious medical facility conducts research into the nature of consciousness, reality, and life after death. Two obstacles stand in his way: an intel leak and his failing body may not last long enough for the tech to be ready.

As danger mounts, Caro finds more than she bargained for: murder, love, and a deep disturbing look into the nature of reality.

Review Quotes

Praise for Observer:

"Robert Lanza is one of the most exciting thinkers of our time, and his novel, Observer, is a thrilling exploration of his most daring theories, a thought-provoking page-turner that asks the most profound question of our existence--what is our role in the true nature of reality?"--Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author, and Executive Producer of the Apple TV series Dark Matter

"The viewpoint character is a brilliant neurosurgeon unwillingly drawn into a secret scientific project designed to prove that the generally accepted view of reality is completely wrong ... a compelling story filled with believable characters."―The Guardian

"The cutting-edge of science tipping into something new and marvelous ... a startling, fascinating novel."―Kim Stanley Robinson, New York Times bestselling author

"Mind-bending ... A novel full of life-affirming ideas."--Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"Real science and limitless imagination combine in a thrilling story you won't soon forget."―Robin Cook, New York Times bestselling author of Coma

"Brilliant ... A riveting and moving story."―Rhonda Byrne, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret

"Nancy Kress is a master storyteller, and her trademark empathy is on every page. Even as we venture into the heady territory of quantum physics and the nature of reality that Robert Lanza is known for, we never lose track of Caro, the brilliant surgeon who'll do anything to save the people she loves. Observer is the best of science and fiction--an intellectual adventure with real heart."--Daryl Gregory, award-winning author of Spoonbenders

"Fantastical ... Do we each create our own reality? Debates about the fundamental nature of reality go back centuries. More recently, special relativity and quantum mechanics have provided solid grounding for the idea that the act of observation has an effect on external phenomena ... Observer includes plot twists that are ripped from the headlines, including social-media shaming, drone technology and dark-web villainy."--GeekWire/Alan Boyle, former NBC News & MSNBC Science Editor

About the Author

ROBERT LANZA, M.D.: Named one of TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People," Lanza is a renowned scientist and author whose groundbreaking research spans many fields, from biology to theoretical physics. He is the father of Biocentrism, the basis for Observer, his first novel. Fascination with the nature of life infused his entire career, leading him to the very frontiers of biology and science.

NANCY KRESS: Hailed by bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson as "one of the greatest science fiction writers working today," Nancy Kress has won six Nebula and two Hugo Awards. She often writes about developments in science, particularly genetic engineering, as in her bestselling novel, Beggars in Spain. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages, including Klingon. She teaches writing and was "Fiction" columnist for Writer's Digest magazine for sixteen years. Nancy lives in Seattle with her husband, author Jack Skillingstead.