The Humans

The Humans (2013) by Matt Haig. Fascinating novel about an extraterrestrial who comes to Earth in human form with a mission to destroy a piece of knowledge that a human has come into possession of. The alien takes the form of Professor Andrew Martin, a math professor who has solved the Riemann Hypothesis, one of the Great Problems of math. But by solving this equation, he has made possible great leaps forward in human technology -- leaps which, the alien race is convinced, will be catastrophic for the Universe. The alien who has taken human form is assigned to kill everyone who might have been exposed to the knowledge that the Riemann Hypothesis has been solved, but he finds himself becoming more and more sympathetic to humans. It's a compelling book, even though it kind of runs out of gas towards the end. I read it eagerly and couldn't put it down. Grade: B+