Scales - by Christopher Hinz (Paperback)

About the Book

"A secret corporate-military project enhances four men with dinosaur traits to sell the public on a next-gen army of super-soldiers. But weeks before the big media unveiling, Eddie Boka, leader of the dino-prototypes, falls victim to a dark compulsion. His desperate overseers call in Dr. Adelaide LaTour, a therapist rejected by mainstream psychiatry for her wildly unorthodox methods. Sparks fly from the moment the ill-matched pair meet. But Eddie and Adelaide's mutual antagonism soon takes a back seat to threats from deadly mercenaries and from something far worse, the monstrous byproducts of genetic engineering gone horribly wrong"--

Book Synopsis

An electrifying thriller about species re-engineering run amok, Scales is a great, fast-paced read perfect for fans of Jurassic Park.

FINALIST FOR THE PHILIP K. DICK AWARD 2026

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...

About the Author

Christopher Hinz is the author of nine science fiction novels. Liege-Killer won the Compton Crook award for best first novel and was nominated for the John W. Campbell award for best new writer. The book launched the Paratwa Saga (Ash Ock, The Paratwa, Binary Storm). Other novels include Refraction, Starship Alchemon and Spartan X. He has scripted comics for DC and Marvel and co-authored with Etan Ilfeld a novelette, Duchamp Versus Einstein. A former newspaper staff writer and technical director of a community TV station, he lives in Lower Alsace Township near Reading, Pennsylvania.