The Cure by Eve Smith
LIVING FOREVER CAN BE LETHAL…
Ruth is a law-abiding elder, working out her national service, but she has secrets. Her tireless research into the disease that killed her young daughter had an unexpected outcome: the discovery of a vaccine against
old age. Just one jab a year reverses your biological clock, guaranteeing a long, healthy life. But Ruth’s cure was hijacked by her colleague, Erik Grundleger, who hungers for immortality, and the SuperJuve – a premium upgrade – was created, driving human lifespan to a new high. The wealthy elite who take it are dubbed Supers, and the population begins to skyrocket.
Then, a perilous side-effect of the SuperJuve emerges, with catastrophic consequences, and as the planet is threatened, the population rebels, and laws are passed to restore order: life ends at 120. Supers are tracked
down by Omnicide investigators like Mara … and executed… Mara has her own reasons for hunting Supers, and she forms an unlikely alliance with Ruth to find Grundleger. But Grundleger has been working on something even more radical and is one step ahead, with a deadly surprise.
About the author
Eve Smith writes speculative fiction, mainly about the things that scare her. She attributes her love of all things dark and dystopian to a childhood watching Tales of the Unexpected and black-and-white Edgar Allen Poe double bills. In this world of questionable facts, stats and news, she believes storytelling is more important than ever to engage people in real life issues.
Longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize and described by Waterstones as "an exciting new voice in crime fiction", Eve’s debut novel The Waiting Rooms, set in the aftermath of an antibiotic resistance crisis, was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize First Novel Award and was selected as a Book of the Month by Eric Brown in The Guardian who compared her writing to Michael Crichton’s.
Eve’s previous job as COO of an environmental charity took her to research projects across Asia, Africa and the Americas, and she has an ongoing passion for wild creatures, wild science and far-flung places. When she’s not writing she’s racing across fields after her dog, trying to organise herself and her family, or off exploring somewhere new.
Follow Eve on Twitter @evecsmith & www.evesmithauthor.com
Review
‘The Cure’ by Eve Smith is an utterly compelling read, a blistering thriller but it is also an essay on the future of medical advances and the repercussions they may have on the world. It is no secret that I love Eve’s books so I was thoroughly looking forward to receiving this one and it didn't disappoint! Her work has the rare quality of being thought-provoking but also being highly entertaining at the same time.
The world is overpopulated and overwhelmed. In what could be a near future dystopian tale ‘The Cure’ explores the idea of immortality and its effects on society and nature. It follows the stories of two women - Ruth and Mara. Ruth is basically a reclusive, lives in a shared housing complex and works in a local health clinic. Mara is a lot younger than Ruth and works for the ‘Omnicide’ department, as an investigator.
Nearly a century earlier scientists found a cure for ageing and the majority of the population receive a ‘rejuve’ injection on the stipulation that they ‘transcend’ at the age of 120. However, there is also a ‘superjuve’ which was a luxury only the super rich could afford. With one injection it basically makes a person immortal. It is these people that Mara investigate and hunt down in order to serve justice for their crimes against society.
Ruth and Mara whilst being each flawed in their own way were characters I ended up rooting for! They ended up finding out that they had more in common than they both initially thought. They are strong women who have faced adversity in their lives and the more you learn about their pasts the more empathy you have for them.
This was a brilliant read from Eve Smith and her ability to weave a complex tale is outstanding. It was a cautionary tale as its themes and topics don't seem unfeasible. In fact they seem actually quite achievable as science progrosses by leaps and bounds. I can't wait to see what she does next!
