EVE-o by Danielle Gomes
Dr. Gabrielle Gale is an emergency room physician at a busy city hospital that’s become even busier these days. In the eight years since the COVID-19 pandemic, a series of other deadly threats have killed many more millions. On CNN, a map of the United States showing outbreaks of different diseases looks like a colorful mosaic.
EVE-0 by Danielle Gomes is a book that, not too long ago, might have been labeled science fiction. Recent real-world events, however, have created a new genre: “pandemic fiction.” Such fiction offers little respite from our day-to-day reality, but Gomes’ plot moves quickly to thrill-packed what-ifs.
When a patient at Gabby’s hospital dies from unexplained causes, his flesh turning to jelly, she learns that the patient had been a test subject of her fiancé, Dr. Trent Martins. She’s even more surprised to discover that Trent is part of a secret research project tasked with saving the human race from extinction.
THE EVOLUTION GENE
Trent hurries Gabby into a meeting with the project’s leaders, including the nation’s top military man, the U.S. surgeon general and the scientist who’d discovered that humans no longer carry a protective gene called EVE-0. Dubbed “the evolution gene,” it’s been deactivated by a combination of factors including antibiotics, vaccines and environmental exposure.
“And that’s why we have faced so many unprecedented pandemics recently?” asks Gabby.
“At this rate,” she is told, “the human race will be extinct in three to possibly five years.”
Gabby learns that Trent will lead a team into the Amazon jungle to find an indigenous person who has never been in contact with the outside world, and who may still have the EVE-0 gene. And Trent has arranged for her to be the team’s doctor.
To prevent worldwide panic, the real mission of the expedition will be kept secret. Instead, it is announced that the team will be searching for soil microbes with new antibiotic potential.
ENTER THE AMAZON
In the Amazon, Gabby begins to suspect that Trent may be hiding even more. The big pharmaceutical company funding the expedition aims to create superhumans through gene editing and eugenics, a similar concept to the one adopted by the Nazis in their efforts to create a master race. Everyone is not created equal; at least, according to the corporation’s billionaire founder.
The team soon discovers there’s a spy in its midst: an infiltrator aligned with a religious organization concerned with the corporation’s threat to basic human rights. Could the spy be Chris? He’s a special forces lieutenant assigned to teach the team how to use guns, and to protect them from drug traffickers, illegal loggers and warring tribes. Or is his attraction to Gabby the only secret he’s keeping? With its high stakes, socio-political perspectives and portrayal of Amazon natives and culture, EVE-0 is a gripping tale, with just enough science to satisfy your inner geek, a touch of romance and non-stop action.
It’s the debut fiction novel of Gomes, a freelance journalist based in Atlantic City. She’s also co-author of Hit Me!: Fighting the Las Vegas Mob by the Numbers (Globe Pequot Press), a true-crime version of how the Las Vegas Gaming Control Board fought corruption in casinos with accountants and auditors.
