Wrath - by Sharon Moalem & Daniel Kraus (Paperback)

About the Book

Wrath is the story of a genetically enhanced lab rat whose supersized intelligence helps him to engineer his escape into the world outside the lab: a world vastly ill-equipped to deal with the menace he represents. Modified through advances that have aggravated his aggressiveness, and endowed with a rat's natural proclivity to procreate regularly, Sammy has the potential to sire a rodent army capable of viciously overwhelming the human race.
The key to Sammy's capture and humanity's salvation may be ten-year-old Dallas Underhill, whom Sammy temporarily adopts. Sammy himself is scientifically enhanced--with a cutting-edge cochlear implant--by which he discovers Sammy possesses superior skills that allow him to communicate with and direct other rats who have not been modified. But while Dallas and Sammy bond, time is running out for humankind: once Sammy sires his progeny, the exponential proliferation of his kind could spell the end of the world.

Book Synopsis

In a near future where scientific experimentation is exploited for commercial profit, unwisely undersupervised, cutting-edge technology creates a menace that threatens the very fabric of human existence.

Wrath is the story of a genetically enhanced lab rat whose supersized intelligence helps him to engineer his escape into the world outside the lab: a world vastly ill-equipped to deal with the menace he represents. Modified through advances that have aggravated his aggressiveness, and endowed with a rat's natural proclivity to procreate regularly, Sammy has the potential to sire a rodent army capable of viciously overwhelming the human race.
The key to Sammy's capture and humanity's salvation may be ten-year-old Dallas Underhill, whom Sammy temporarily adopts. Sammy himself is scientifically enhanced--with a cutting-edge cochlear implant--by which he discovers Sammy possesses superior skills that allow him to communicate with and direct other rats who have not been modified. But while Dallas and Sammy bond, time is running out for humankind: once Sammy sires his progeny, the exponential proliferation of his kind could spell the end of the world.

Review Quotes

"The first book to really take up Michael Crichton's mantle. . . . Ratatouille meets World War Z in a Big Blockbuster Book that reads like Crichton, only with more eyeball-eating."--Grady Hendrix, New York Times-bestselling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

"Animals communicating or acting strangely is creepy; rats, in particular, give the book an extra level of sinister vibes. Add in that the rats can talk to humans, and you have an unsettling narrative that will leave you unable to look at rodents the same way again."--Booklist

"Moalem and Kraus have put the science back in science fiction. Wrath is grounded in very real technologies, making this grisly thriller about genetic engineering gone wrong all the more terrifying."--Bill Sullivan, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, and author of Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, Germs, and the Curious Forces that Make Us Who We Are

"Reading like a cross between a blockbuster movie, a hard sci-fi thriller, and a rumination on the very ethics of animal experimentation. Wrath is a thrill ride from start to finish. It'll make you laugh, cry, and quiver in fear all in the same chapter. It's the kind of book that digs into your brain and stays with you long after you've read it."--Geek Vibes Nation

"Möalem and Kraus highlight some clever scientific concepts as the narrative details the variety of health problems that plague the Sammy Rats--and the sometimes barbaric methods employed to solve these issues."--Publishers Weekly

"Wrath manages to meld a story with elements of horror, philosophy, human psychology, and the realities of animal use in scientific research. . . . A gripping story."--Lisa Moses, Faculty, Center for Bioethics, Harvard Medical School

"Wrath does a good job of painting a picture of scientific advancement getting out of hand." --GeekDad

About the Author

Shäron Moalem MD, PhD, is an award-winning scientist, physician, and New York Times bestselling author of The Better Half: On the Genetic Superiority of Women, Survival of the Sickest, How Sex Works, and Inheritance. Moalem has served as an associate editor for the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, cofounded two biotechnology companies, and his clinical genetics research has led to the discovery of two new rare genetic conditions. He has also been awarded more than 35 patents worldwide for his inventions in human health and biotechnology. He lives in New York City.

Daniel Kraus is a New York Times bestseller. With Guillermo del Toro, he wrote The Shape of Water (based on the same idea Kraus and del Toro created for the Oscar-winning film) and Trollhunters (adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series). Kraus followed his science thriller Wrath, co-authored with Sharön Moalem, with the widely acclaimed USA Today bestseller Whalefall. His novel The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch was named one of Entertainment Weekly's Top Ten Books of the Year. He lives in Chicago.