Dan was one of few people left alive in the world after a strange event which was later found to be caused by alien beings called the Daimones. Now Dan and his family have moved to a group farm in Italy, where the Mediterranean climate makes living easy. The plan of the Daimones is to genetically alter the breeding stock of humans they have selected. Dan will have longer life and has already been given stronger senses. Other survivors do not intend to be used, and have started to retaliate. When the farm is attacked, Dan puts himself and others in danger as they repel the assault. The rebels are people too, and nobody wants more dead people - there are few enough left.

The Daimone overseers are surprisingly uninvolved, and instead of telling Dan how to resolve the problem, they invite him into a mind-controlled spaceship and take him for a quick spin to Jupiter, just so he'll keep perspective. They refer to Earth as Eridu and tell Dan that his race has been through several destructive cycles in the past. He's not sure if the genetic alteration will stop such occurrences, or cause them. For who knows what the aliens really want, and why they killed off almost all the planet's inhabitants?

Philosophy, production of neurochemicals and frequent discussion of dead bodies make this a work for adult readers, rather than young adults; the story builds up to a major battle amid cloaking devices, tracers and guerrilla warfare. Those readers who enjoy horror and SF warfare stories will be more suited to this second book than its predecessor. Anyone who doesn't enjoy horror may find some scenes distasteful. ONCE HUMANS is followed by The Rise of The Phoenix to complete Massimo Marino's trilogy.

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