Dave Kalstein

In "Prodigy", ultra-elite Stansbury students are poised for spectacular success, but when several alumni are murdered, investigation reveals conspiracy high up on the school’s food chain. Unfortunately, while the prologue is intriguing, the remainder of the book reads like a bad screenplay, perhaps not surprising given the author’s film background. Huge, clumsy chunks of exposition appear regularly, the viewpoint sometimes changes abruptly, and there are a few too many lascivious descriptions of the well-developed female students in their little schoolgirl uniforms.

The book's worst offense, however, is its logical inconsistency, resulting in a case of “lazy science fiction.” The school’s success literally and entirely depends on the daily “meds” they give to all students, but the school administrators conveniently don’t check to make sure the students actually take the meds. Students shoot up their ultra-nutritional meals with laser syringes (=advanced technology), yet the school conveniently uses simple urinalysis (=non-advanced technology) for drug testing without checking DNA or even just watching the students to make sure the urine they submit is their own. The students already study at a graduate school level or beyond, but somehow their main motivation in life is to become freshmen at Harvard, Yale, or Princeton.… (mer)