I learned about this book when the author mentioned it in a social media
post. I was curious and looked it up to see what it was about. The next thing
that attracted my attention was the opening of the book's description,
"Duncan is your typical high school science teacher." So, with that,
I knew I had to read this one, but I wasn't expecting the story I got.
The term "rollercoaster ride" is one I seen and used to describe
books before, and it applies to this tale. It starts out slowly, like the cars
of a coaster climbing to the top of the first big drop in the ride and
transitions into a never-ending series of twists, turns, and surprises barely
giving the reader time to breathe with scene after scene of breathtaking
discovery.
The characters are named mostly by their roles in the crew and how they
behave, with the Scientist (aka Phillip Duncan) leading the group. The
adventures in this story are quite violent for the most part. Some are
absolutely heinous. I would advise the reader to pay attention to the warnings
included below.
One thing missing, at least for me, was the reason for the character's
abhorrent behaviors. The book ends with a cliffhanger that leads to the second
book in the series, which I intend to read at some point in the future.
Scientist gives the who, what, where, and how, but I guess that the why will
become clear in the next installment. Or, at least I hope so.
I am finding this book difficult to discuss without spoiling too much. So, I
will leave the blurb for this one here...
"Duncan is your typical high school science teacher. His classes are large. His school is underfunded. His students are unacademic. And his war crimes are horrific."
"When his hiding place on Earth is discovered, Duncan reemerges as ‘the
Scientist’ and teams up with the galaxy’s most wanted to right his past
mistakes."
"Pushing through his panic attacks, he leads an interstellar expedition to
prove that he isn’t the worst tyrant in the galaxy … even if he is."
Added to that, the author includes a few trigger warnings...
"Contains: Child Death, Death, Graphic Violence, PTSD, Misogyny,
Murder, Torture, War."
Philip Duncan is an individual hiding from justice and posing as a high
school science teacher. The story opens with him teaching a class about
sublimation using dry ice. His class is filled with disrespectful,
out-of-control students. My thought right off the bat is that Philip must have
skipped the classroom management parts of his teacher training.
When a student gets ahold of some of the dry ice and makes a bomb with it
and a plastic bottle, Duncan steps in and prevents the student from becoming
injured, as any teacher would do. However, he is accused of abusing the student
and summarily fired by his neurotic principal.
He goes home and there are a series of bizarre incidents leading to his
leaving Earth and resuming his role as the Scientist. A mass murdering gang
leader who commits, or causes others to commit, one deplorable act after
another.
But Duncan and most of his henchpersons don't seem to be as intrinsically as
evil as they appear. They have feelings, even some regret at times.
They are a very confusing lot.
One strength in Scientist is the character development the author presents.
I understand the characters, but only up to a point.
My favorite point of the plot, outside the opening scenes depicting Duncan
as a ne're-do-well teacher, is the dialog between him and his collection of
criminals. The banter between characters helps to lighten the otherwise dark
mood this book could have been presented in. Without the humor, I don't think I
could have gotten through the story, at least not as quickly as I did.
As far as humor is concerned, I really enjoyed the observations of the
character called Philosopher. 'nuff said.
I would recommend this book to readers who will heed the warnings from the
author about the content and are prepared to read the second book in the
series.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Well, there it is...
Qapla!
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