Subject Seven by James A. Moore

Subject Seven by James A. Moore tells the story of five teens, seemingly normal but brought together by Subject Seven, a deadly sleeper assassins hiding in the body of a teenager. After Subject Seven escapes from the lab where he is kept prisoner, he decides to seek out others like him and take revenge of those who have harmed him. But as two individuals battle for the same body, will they be able to destroy the organization who made them who they are- without destroying themselves in the process?

I was actually really excited by the premise of Subject Seven, I think the idea of genetic modification in a creepy and thrilling way has the potential to be even more horrifying than many dystopias because of how close society has come at times. That said, while I still think it's an idea that has a potential to be a great book, Subject Seven is not. I feel as if this book was written for hormone-driven boys who prefer the graphic to the intellectual. There's lots of fighting and violence, hot girls getting their clothing torn off and an evil villain. The plot also feels similar to a comic book. Still, even recognizing that I may not have been the intended audience, I expected more out of the novel.

Forget the Massive Cliffhanger Ending that annoys me so much, Subject Seven doesn't really have an ending at all. It feels like the first couple chapters of the book Moore was intending to write, incomplete and without any resolution. Despite all the action, not much actually happens or changes, and the only thing that might be potentially considered a twist is incredibly obvious from the beginning. There's a sequel, Run: A Subject Seven Novel, set for release in 2012 but I don't expect it to offer any firm conclusions either. It feels like the kind of story that will be drawn out as long as possible, and although this book was short, it definitely didn't intrigue me enough to picked up the second one in the series. Maybe the obvious audience of teenage boys would have enjoyed Subject Seven more than I did, but in the meantime I'll continue to keep my eye out for that great novel featuring genetic modification that I know is out there somewhere.

Release Date: January 20th, 2011
Pages: 327
Source: ARC From Publisher
Buy the Book