The Ultimates' last stand

Hands down, one of the best post-apocalyptic thrillers I've read in... well, ever. The world is already seeing how GMO crops have impacted not only the way we live, but the way we will feed ourselves going into the future. GMO crops cross pollinate and impact non-GMO harvests in their proximity. Once contaminated, the damage cannot be undone. The natural crops begin to take on properties of the GMO variants and the future of farming has already changed. There is no going back.

But what if a supercrop of GMOs could feed everyone on the planet? It would change everything. Hunger would end. With that, the economics of the world would be upset in fascinating ways—perhaps placing the GMO supplier in the ultimate position of power. What could go wrong there?

And what could go wrong with the supercrops? The majority of Hunger explores this question. And damn, things go WRONG. Very, very wrong. And perhaps the most troubling concepts of this book—when you get past the mayhem, terror, thrills, and fun—is just how plausible the concept truly is. Modern science is already nearly there. The world stands at a tipping point where everything described in this book becomes concerningly plausible.

Curing world hunger sounds great, right?

That is why I did it. I wanted to be the guy that solved World Hunger.

And I did. I used genetic modification to unlock so-called “junk” DNA in plants, and with this I was able to allow them to grow anywhere that had a permeable surface. Desert? Not a problem. Marsh? Not a problem. Mountains? Not a problem. As long as it didn't involve steel, concrete, rock, or the like, my plants would grow.

Unfortunately I never really tested my breakthrough before it got out of control, and my boss never looked at my work either.

So I wound up causing the apocalypse by solving world hunger.

Oops.

Now it is several years after my breakthrough caused the end of humanity, and my boss is on the run. She still has hope that what little remains of humanity outside of our San Francisco complex can be saved. Me, I'm not so sure - but her bosses sure seem to be intent on stopping her for some reason.

How did we do it? How did we cause the end of humanity? Will she be able to reverse what I did?

Well, you're just going to have to read Jeremiah Knight's debut book to find out...

Note: Hate to spoil the illusion here, but just to be clear: I am a real person who is a long time fan of the author (as in, we met via MySpace) whose name the author used for a character in this book. The above is solely my own review, my way of trying to thank the author, who is easily one of my favorites.