The Professor of Immortality

Pollack (Breaking and Entering) adds a hearty dose of maternal fretting to her solid fictionalization of the Unabomber case. Maxine Sayers wrangles the diverse scholars who study the cultural impacts of theoretical extended life spans at her moribund Institute for Future Studies at the University of Michigan in 2012. She still struggles to cope with the death of her husband, a humanitarian who was killed eight years prior. When newspapers give in to the demands of an antitechnological mail bomb terrorist and print his manifesto, Maxine recognizes the unusual phrases of her former student, Tadeusz “Thaddy” Rapaczynski. Concerned that Thaddy has lured Maxine’s idealistic 24-year-old son, Zach, who recently quit his Silicon Valley job and disappeared, into his crusade, Maxine rushes to search for them at her cabin in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Instead, she finds a situation that’s something else entirely. The narrative flags as it turns from mystery into manhunt, and the drawn-out conclusion relies heavily on Maxine’s overwrought emotional turmoil. Pollack blends crime thriller and family drama into a provocative, if not wholly satisfying, novel. [em]Agent: Jenni Ferrari-Adler, Union Literary. (Oct.) [/em]