Extreme Makeover

By: Dan Wells

Narrated by: Brian Troxell

Dan Wells' Extreme Makeover is a satirical new suspense novel about a health and beauty company that accidentally develops a hand lotion that can overwrite your DNA.

Lyle Fontanelle is the chief scientist for NewYew, a health and beauty company experimenting with a new antiaging hand lotion. As more and more anomalies crop up in testing, Lyle realizes that the lotion's formula has somehow gone horribly wrong. It is actively overwriting the DNA of anyone who uses it, turning them into physical clones of someone else. Lyle wants to destroy the formula, but NewYew thinks it might be the greatest beauty product ever designed - and the world's governments think it's the greatest weapon.

New York Times best-selling author Dan Wells brings us a gripping corporate satire about a health and beauty company that could destroy the world in Extreme Makeover.

©2016 Dan Wells (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Original and engrossing

I was hooked from the first chapter. Great plot, very good pacing. There were a few leaps the author made that didn't fully make sense, but they didn't ruin the story for me.

Original

Makes you really want to hold on to your DNA and keep track of your genealogy

Good storyline - weak main character

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this story as the storyline is pretty interesting. However, the main character is not my favourite. He isn't the type to go getter and fix the problem and face things. He tends to run and hide and try only as hard as he needs to.

Any additional comments?

The principle of the story is great. It's worth a read.

horrifyingly beautiful and unique!

Like listening to a mesmerizing train wreck, only instead of coming to a screeching halt, it keeps gaining momentum and causing more and more damage as it goes, and as terrifying as it is, you just can't look away, even at it convinces you it's heading straight for you!

Apocalypse Edition indeed

I have enjoyed every Dan Wells book I've read to varying degrees of success, and his first adult protagonist with adult concerns and ethics gripped me almost immediately. Between scientific forays into the cosmetics industry and the greed behind everything that drives the narrative, you feel almost as helpless as the characters, although I felt the urge on multiple occasions to slap a few of them upside the head. The feel of the novel echoes Stephen King in places; sinister evil lurking within the characters themselves, that they will either overcome or they will let it seal their doom.

Terrifying And Fantastic

I won’t spoil it, but the ending was right up my alley. Extreme makeover is a love letter to Michael Crichton, and a great one. Loved the performance and the book.

fascinating book

asks questions about society, self, and ways that we may destroy ourselves.

Once you get past the meeting at the beginning, it moves fast.

The ending knocked it down a star

This is a very interesting, speculative, cynical story about medical and cosmetic (cos-medical) ethics. The beginning makes you think you made a mistake and downloaded a documentary rather than a novel, but it gets past that pretty soon. The strongest statement it makes is that the medical community is not interested in cures but rather treatments, which create lifelong customers. The second strongest statement is really a question: does anyone have the right to make life-changing decisions for an unknowing other person? If so, who, when, and under what circumstances? Beyond that it talks about health, beauty, government, taking a stand, doing good versus being good. You could also argue it deals with evolution and civilization. The actual ending is mentioned in the beginning and laughed at by those involved, so it's not clear what statement the author is making there. I don't think any other ending could be believed, but I still didn't like it.

The narration is very good with distinct voices, good accents and differentiation.

It's the little thing that will kill.

I loved the cynical look at the way the world reacts to beauty products. Awesome!

I found this really hard to get through

Looking at the reviews, I know I am in the minority here... but I really didn't like this book. I felt that it dragged on and had a very poor ended.... so much more could have been done with this story... it was just about how weak the main character was and who he was infatuated with at the moment. The story line bouncing around to different people in the world... I mean one chapter was completely random about Ireland! Where did that even go in then end? to lead up to the last chapter? I think it was a bad ending. I have listened to other Dan Wells books and thought they were fantastic, this one was at the bottom of my list. Sorry.