Killer T by Robert Muchamore

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 377

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 6th of September 2018 

Our world is about to change in ways we can barely imagine. KILLER T is a novel about growing up in that world. 

Harry and Charlie are teenagers whose lives are shaped by a society that's shifting around them. He is a lonely Brit in his first term at a Las Vegas high school. She is an unlikely friend, who gets accused of mixing a batch of explosives that blew up a football player.

The two of them are drawn together at a time when gene editing technology is starting to explode. With a lab in the garage anyone can beat cancer, enhance their brain to pass exams, or tweak a few genes for that year-round tan and perfect beach body. But in the wrong hands, cheap gene editing is the most deadly weapon in history. Killer T is a synthetic virus with a ninety per-cent mortality rate, and the terrorists who created it want a billion dollars before they'll release a vaccine.

What I Have to Say 

It took me so, so long to get into this. For a start, it started years before the actual plot came together and had, I think, about four or five time skips? I lost count by the end of the book. It makes sense when you look at it as a whole and realise that it's showing the rise of gene editing, but most of the time while I was reading it, I was bored. It would have been better if it had at least been started after Charlie got out of prison, I think. 

I liked Charlie quite a bit, but I honestly completely hated Harry. He was fairly okay at the start, but as time went on he just became more and more of a prick. I hate how he treated Charlie so much when he didn't even tell her that he liked her. Charlie deserved so much better than him. 

The world was really interesting, especially after the epidemic, seeing the world slowly rebuilding itself and putting together more protections for the next epidemic. I have to say, I did like a lot how it ended and how Charlie ended up. 

I think it was worth reading, but I really, really wish it had been shorter. I think a lot of stuff could have been cut out while still showing a nice overall picture of the rise of gene editing and Charlie and Harry's life. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with this copy for review.