McClure, Ken

views updated

McClure, Ken

PERSONAL: Born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Education: Edinburgh University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Allison & Busby, 13 Charlotte Mews, London W1T 4EJ, England. E-mail—info@kenmcclure.com.

CAREER: City Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland, junior lab technician; writer, 2000–. Researcher and consultant, Medical Research Council of Great Britain.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Pestilence, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 1991.

Requiem, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 1992.

Crisis, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 1993.

Trauma, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 1995.

Chameleon, Pocket Books (London, England), 1995.

The Scorpion's Advance, Pocket Books (London, England), 1998.

Pandora's Helix, Pocket Books (London, England), 1998.

Donor, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 1998.

Resurrection, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 1999.

Tangled Web, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2000.

Deception, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2001.

Wildcard, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2002.

The Gulf Conspiracy, Allison & Busby (London, England), 2004.

Eye of the Raven, Allison & Busby (London, England), 2005.

Past Lives, Allison & Busby (London, England), 2006.

McClure's work has been translated into twenty languages.

SIDELIGHTS: Ken McClure is an author of scientific thrillers that are popular in the United Kingdom. A native of Scotland, McClure earned a degree in molecular genetics after beginning his career modestly as a junior laboratory technician in an Edinburgh hospital. Extensive travel as part of his position with the Medical Research Council of Great Britain afforded him time to conceive plots and take notes, and beginning in 2000 he became a full-time author.

In the United Kingdom, McClure has been compared to Michael Crichton because both novelists use matters of scientific ethics to propel their plots. In Mc-Clure's case, these include an outbreak of smallpox in Resurrection, human cloning in Tangled Web, and the perils of genetically engineered plants in Deception. Ellie Barta-Moran, writing for Booklist, noted of Resurrection, "The smallpox virus may now be extinct, but good stories about it still thrive." In addition, Barta-Moran commented of Tangled Web, "McClure weaves his plot line skillfully."

Two of McClure's additional thrillers feature an unlikely investigator named Dr. Steven Dunbar, a trained scientific-medical specialist who sometimes finds his own life in danger as he seeks answers to crimes by applying medical forensics.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2000, Ellie Barta-Moran, review of Resurrection, p. 1083; June 1, 2000, Ellie Barta-Moran, review of Tangled Web, p. 1860.

Library Journal, July 1, 2005, Ann Kim, review of Eye of the Raven, p. 58.

Student BMJ, October, 2002, Helen Barratt, review of Deception, p. 394.