Review: Chimera by Rob Thurman

Title: Chimera
Author: Rob Thurman
Series: Chimera #1
Genre: Sci Fi
Release Date: June 1, 2010
Publisher: Roc
Edition: Paperback
Blurb:

Ten years ago, Stefan Korsak's younger brother was kidnapped. Not a day has passed that Stefan hasn't thought about him. As a rising figure in the Russian mafia, he has finally found him. But when he rescues Lukas, he must confront a terrible truth-his brother is no longer his brother. He is a trained, genetically-altered killer. Now, those who created him will do anything to reclaim him. And the closer Stefan grows to his brother, the more he realizes that saving Lukas may be easier than surviving him...

This was the second book I've read by Rob Thurman. The first, Nightlife, is also about two brothers and I can definitely see the similarities between both books. The main difference is that in this one both brothers have been separated for 10 years and the younger brother doesn't remember anything about his past or family.

Stefan, the older brother, is a very interesting character. He has been feeling guilty for his brother kidnapping for a long time and he hasn't been able to care for anyone that wasn't Lukas. He kept his feelings bottled up and made some bad choices in his life, especially when he decided to work for the mob, but all of that changes when he finds Lukas.

Lukas or Michael, which is how they named him in the Institution, is a very complicated character. They trained him to follow orders and to not have feelings, so when Stefan breaks him out of there it takes him some time to adjust. It was interesting seeing his reactions to the normal day stuff he never experienced and I loved how he comes to care for Stefan little by little.

This is a very character driven novel and all through the book we learn about Stefan's past, his role as a bodyguard in the mob, the connections he has with other people and how they affect him, but most of all, we see the relationship between Stefan and Misha develop from complete strangers to brothers.

One of the things I liked the most was that the bad guy was a "science guy". He's a smart person with no morals that will stop at nothing to get what he wants. It was really interesting learning about him and his experiments while trying to figure out what he did to Lukas/Misha.

This was a very entertaining book with plenty of action, a character driven plot and a surprising twist at the end. It was one of my favourite books of the year.


Memorable Lines:

“I know the mechanics of course.” He was relentless, horrifyingly relentless. “That was in the biology books. But I was curious about the specifics. So, if you have had sex….”
“Yes,” I spit out somewhat defensively before rolling over and covering my head with the pillow. With muffled voice, I went on, “I’ve had girlfriends, and I’ve had sex.” And please God, I begged internally conveniently forgetting my semi-agnostic ways, let that be the end of it. Naturally, it wasn’t.
“Really?”
At the fascinated tone in his voice, I flinched. Then with resignation I lifted the pillow just enough to gaze at him with one reluctant eye. “Yeah. When I was twenty-one, just like the law says.”

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