Monday, November 10, 2014

Solomon's Freedom by Dennis Meredith

This is the first time I have tried one of Dennis Meredith's novels and I have to say he has a new fan. I was enthralled with this novel right from the beginning. The main premise of the novel is simple. Do chimpanzees have the same legal rights as humans do considering that 99.9% of human and chimpanzee DNA is the same? 
Dennis Meredith explores this thought provoking question in the form of Solomon, a very bright chimpanzee who has learned from a very young age to communicate by the use of computer images that symbolize language. The question arises when Solomon's owner mistakenly allows him to be sold to a millionaire who wants to harvest Solomon's heart for his own use. What follows is a fast paced and well thought out story that examines the ethical issue of whether our closest living relative deserves the same respect and dignity that humans have. 
I found the novel brought to life this very important issue and I became so involved in the story that I had tears in my eyes after staying up to read it to the finish. Highly recommended. I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.