Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this provocative if underwhelming near-future thriller from Fitzsimmons (Constance), attitudes toward cloning have divided the U.S. One religious group, the Children of Adam, harasses clones because they believe the clones have no souls. Meanwhile, Chance Harker, a 21-year-old clone who lives in Los Angeles, takes advantage of the new biotechnology in an unusual way. Five years earlier, he and his older brother, Marley, were abducted. Though their father handed over the data drive demanded as ransom, the kidnappers killed both siblings. But that wasn't the end for Chance, whose memories were uploaded into a new body. (Marley was also cloned, but couldn't handle his new situation and died by suicide two months later.) In the book's present, Chance uses his quasi-immortality to become a social media celebrity by performing fatal stunts, such as jumping from an airplane from 15,000 feet, knowing that his mind will essentially survive in a physically identical body. He abandons those diversions when he gets the opportunity to learn the truth about the kidnapping and winds up in a position where his freedom is jeopardized. The worldbuilding is underdeveloped, and Fitzsimmons is stronger on ideas than making his characters feel real. Hopefully, he'll do better next time. Agent: David Hale Smith, InkWell Management. (Feb.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
As FitzSimmons already demonstrated in Constance (2021), it's hard out there for a clone. Five years ago, Palingenesis marketing chief Brett Harker's two sons were kidnapped by bandits who demanded he turn over the company's proprietary technology for human cloning--including information about how to implant the old body's consciousness in the new clone. The negotiations left Marley Harker and his kid brother, Chance, dead to anyone who didn't have the cloning resources made available to a high-level executive of Palingenesis like his father. Now Chance is a fifth-generation clone who's amused himself and amassed a string of social media followers ever since his return to life by engaging in a series of death-defying stunts that have repeatedly left him ripe for recloning. When an interview with prizewinning journalist Imani Zari Highsmith seriously damages his brand, Chance thinks the bottom has dropped out of his endless life cycle. But worse is still to come. He emerges from his latest memory revival to find LAPD Det. Val Wolinski about to arrest him for the murder of Lee Conway, an unemployed man he didn't even know, and Palingenesis about to pull the plug on his unlimited access to clones, making his latest life his last. Although high-powered lawyer Sy Berger gets the murder charge dropped on a clone-specific technicality, Chance is still in hot water, and this time a troubling gap in his recent memory leaves him uncertain how much he can trust his girlfriend, former movie actress Maggie Soto, and even his now-divorced parents. FitzSimmons hooks readers with the clone angle and then expertly mixes SF and mystery tropes till he's implicated every party in sight in some sort of crime or coverup. A seriously playful novel of ideas. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
