The Tenant: A Novel of Medical Science Fiction - Hardcover

West, Charles G.

4.22

9 ratings by Goodreads

9781885173126: The Tenant: A Novel of Medical Science Fiction

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1885173121 ISBN 13: 9781885173126

Publisher: Write Way Pub, 1996

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Jesse Campbell is a sociopath, horribly disfigured, monstrous in size and wanted for murder. He is spotted on a construction site next to a research hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Resisting capture, Campbell attacks police, killing one and wounding another. He is mortally wounded with a bullet through the brain.
Dr. Chris Warren, a transplant specialist, researching the transplantation of the human brain, happens upon the scene and attempts to save the wounded monster's life. In the process, Campbell stabs Dr. Warren through the heart with a screwdriver.
Warren's assistant, Dr. John Sumner, is forced to make a desperate decision, and attempts to save Warren's brain by transplanting it into Campbell's body. The operation is a success, but Sumner decides it best to keep it a secret until his patient shows no sign of rejection. Unfortunately, Sumner is killed in a traffic accident, leaving Chris Warren to try to convince his wife, police and hospital staff that he is no longer the sociopathic Jesse Campbell. Wanted by the police for murder, Warren is forced to escape, knowing that no one will believe his wild story.

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From Publishers Weekly:

Despite competent writing and characterization, West's first novel strains the reader's suspension of disbelief with a plot dependent on preposterous concepts and unjustified coincidences. Not only is the brain of an experimental neurologist transplanted into the body of a thuglike serial killer, but the operation is kept secret from everyone on duty at the time, including the hospital administration and police guards. The operating doctor is accidentally killed almost immediately, and the nurse flees, leaving the neurologist without recourse to his old life--until he meets the nurse by chance while on the run. West invests his story with drama and conflict; his prose is taut, and his characters are real enough to care about. But--especially unfortunate in a book of "medical science fiction"--the major events are never made credible enough for any but the most uncritical readers.

From Library Journal:

After Dr. Chris Warren and his partner secretly perfect a brain transplant, Warren is murdered by Jesse Campbell, a hulking sociopathic killer. His partner transplants Warren's brain into Campbell's body, then conveniently dies in a hit-and-run accident. Warren must prove his identity to the police, his wife, and best friend. This first novel has the makings of a suspenseful thriller, but the cardboard characters, weak dialog, thin plotting, and happy ending damage.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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