Review by Frank Plowright
Zeke Jenkins has decided to reconcile with his father after seven years, so returns with his own family to the farm run by Jedidiah Jenkins in Freetown, which has become a flourishing business since he had a vision. That vision supplied a formula allowing revolutionary plant-based stem cell treatments to grow replacement body parts. Assured by his father in Reap What Was Sown that all unethical experiments have ceased, Zeke has discovered that’s far from the case.
He’s not the only person in the community with concerns. Jed’s lifelong friendship with Reverend John Moore ended over his decision to continue the business, and chief researcher Monica Thorne also quit, although her ethical credentials are questionable despite her now being the Mayor. Also compromised is Zeke’s sister who returned to Freetown after extensive injuries serving in the army, and is now investigating her father’s business for the FBI. If they weren’t enough problems, Freetown is being flooded with people who’ve begun to experience side effects from what were thought to be successful transplants. Probably not the ideal time for an EPA inspection, then.
Rob Guillory’s comedic horror drama with a tinge of SF madness continues in fine fashion here, opening with a chapter during which Zeke and Jed finally manage to sit down to clear the air. For all the funny moments and all the horrific ones Guillory reflects the real world, where breakthrough scientific advances aren’t always trusted, and those who’ve financed them possibly aren’t being entirely honest with the evidence they present. Want a hint of the weirdness? Well a primary player is large caterpillar with chameleon capabilities that acts like a dog.
If you thought Guillory had a lot going on before, Thorne in the Flesh introduces more characters and more situations, although some previous secrets are now out in the open. Despite a large cast mixed up in different things, he moves Farmhand along at a rocket pace, and by the end here it seems as if the person behind much that’s going on has been revealed. The truth will be found in Roots of All Evil.
