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The Experiment
by Richard Setlowe
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1980
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Book Review
Surpassing even "Coma" for sheer excitement, "The Experiment" is a high-powered medical thriller that deftly explores human reactions to an extraordinary event. Harry Styles, a 36-year old aerospace engineer, is terminally ill. Though doctors have removed one lung, they fear he will last only a few more weeks. Rather than accept his death verdict, Harry takes a desperate gamble, agreeing to undergo a bizarre gill-implant operation. His wife is horrified, but Harry insists that he is willing to remain underwater for life. Much to everyone's amazement, the experiment is a success. But for Harry's wife and children, his new lease on life requires an adjustment none of them is quite able to make. Happy that he is alive, yet frightened and angered by the bewildering sight of the man they love submerged in a watery limbo, they hover at the edge of Harry's fabulous new world. Ultimately it is Harry himself who must confront his own fate, and come to grips with an existence that no man has ever experienced…
