Wes Craven is known for all of those horror/slasher movies. He's Freddie's mentor and likes to Scream a lot. Now Wes has tried out something new. He has written a novel. And not just any run-of-the-mill book. This novel has intrigue, romance and horrific science rolled together. The book is called Fountain Society. It was published by Simon & Schuster and copyrighted in 1999.

Peter Jance is seventy-six years old and a scientist. He is also very ill, dying as a matter of fact. He is part of a secret military project that is building a cannon. This weapon can devastate the enemy in one blast. But it's not working right. And Peter is running out of time. Both his life and funding are being depleted.

Beatrice Jance is Peter's wife. She is also a scientist and is working on another project called Fountain. It is so secret that she can't let Peter know what it's really about. That is until the project goes into a final staging process.

Fountain is all about cloning and regeneration. The head of the project, Dr. Frederick Wolfe, once ran a fertility clinic. This gave him an opportunity to do some crazy experiments with donor sperm and eggs. Now, with the help of a "gluing" technique that Beatrice developed, Fountain is about to make a breakthrough. All that needs to be done is get subjects for the experiment.

Hans Brinkman is a global financier and rather good-looking. He has a mistress named Elizabeth Parker. They make a great couple but he is still married. They begin to make some serious plans when Peter is in a car wreck and is burned up. But is he really dead? Elizabeth isn't really sure. She investigates his supposed death.

Elizabeth is sent an invitation to an island near Puerto Rico. Did it come from Hans? Or was somebody trying to throw her off the scent? She proceeds cautiously and finds out that nobody seems to know who sent her the invitation. Is somebody trying to lure her into a trap?

The lives of Hans, Elizabeth, Peter and Beatrice are intertwined in a way that if I explained it would ruin the book for you. Lets just say that there's more to cloning than meets he eye.

Fountain Society is a good read on several fronts. It is a romance, but it is also a scientific thriller and mystery.

If you were expecting a gore fest, then Fountain Society won't fit the bill. But if you want an entertaining science thriller in the vein of Robin Cook, then Fountain Society is just the right prescription.

Copyright © 2000 Bruce E. Von Stiers