Subject: REVIEW: "Implant", F. Paul Wilson

From: "Rob Slade, doting grandpa of Ryan and Trevor" <[email-masked]>
Date: 04 Feb 2000 18:14:09 -0500

"Implant" by F. Paul Wilson
	Review Copyright 2000 Robert M. Slade

Wilson is an oddly underappreciated writer, in my opinion.  His story
lines are both interesting and entertaining.  His characters are
sympathetic.  Villains are a specialty: he can make some people very
dangerous without making them unattractive.  Wilson can very definitely
handle suspense, piling surprise on surprise without exhausting the
reader.

The technology of this novel is related to the titular implant.  It is a
colloidal capsule that can be inserted under the skin, and then dissolved,
either after a period of time, or at a specific time by the application of
ultrasound.

The details of the implant itself are handled quite nicely.  The
triggering technology, though, is a bit problematic.  First off, the
ultrasound required in the sotry is not the low power that is used in
diagnostics, but the higher level used in physiotherapy.  (That itself
presents a bit of a problem at one point in the text.  The watt is a
measure of power, but megahertz, while it may be used to calculate power,
is not a measure of power as such.)  The triggering unit that is used in
the book has been cobbled together by a hobbyist in order to fit into a
pocket.  Fair enough: its a bit beyond the pale to have a full power
supply and transmitter in the palm of one's hand, but a lot of the control
circuitry isn't necessary so we'll allow it.  However, the unit is meant
to be used at a distance.

Ultrasound, like any sound, will transmit through the air.  However, sound
does not transmit very effectively from the air into a body.  This is why
ultrasound transducers are pressed directly onto the body, usually with a
gel layer to enhance the transmission.  From the open air, most of the
sound energy will simply reflect off the skin surface.  Given that the
objective, in the book, is to get the sound power to dissolve the implant
inside the body, this effort is pretty much doomed to failure.

There is also a rather nice computer mention in the book.  I really have
to hand it to Wilson: not many people know about the order switch on the
DOS directory list command.  Unfortunately, the command given isn't quite
sufficient: you'd also have to include the subdirectory switch in order to
get it to go through the whole hard disk.  Also, three letter designations
are usually the filename extensions, used to indicate to which program
they belong.  If someone knows as little about the program cited as is
stated in the book, it isn't likely that this same computer novice would
be able to view a stored search.

%A   F. Paul Wilson
%C   175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY  10010
%D   1995
%G   0-812-54470-6
%I   Forge Books/Tom Doherty Assoc.
%O   [email-masked] www.tor.com
%P   437 p.
%T   "Implant"

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