The Vines

Cora lives on North Brother Island, off the coast of Manhattan Island, New York. She has lived there for a long time and has been a part of many medical experiments. When Finn Gettler comes to the island to explore the ruins, he meets Cora under disturbing circumstances. He doesn’t know why she lives there or why she doesn’t leave.

This book was unusual to say the least. There are science fiction aspects, but it probably could happen. Science experiments happen all the time. Who is to say that somewhere a scientist right now isn’t working on diseases to find a way for humankind to build immunities? There could be patients like Cora that we will never know about.

This book was fast paced, the characters were well developed, and it was written in the third person point of view. The author did a wonderful job with the history of the island along with the diseases contained there. After I finished reading the book, I did research on the island and the facility. I had no idea it was there or the type of diseases it held. If you like historical fiction with a mysterious medical twist, you will enjoy this one.