When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder–or the craziest stalker–in this propulsive thriller.
With a vivid imagining of the future, Gattaca meets Black Mirror in Kira Peikoff’s Baby X.
In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person’s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site devoted to stealing DNA. Sick of paying ransom money for his own cell matter, he hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety.
Ember will do anything she can to protect her clients. She knows all the Vault’s tricks–discarded tissues, used straws, lipstick tubes–and has prevented countless DNA thefts. Working for Thorne, her focus becomes split when she begins to fall for him, but she knows she hasn’t let anything slip–love or not, his DNA is safe. But then she and Thorne are confronted by a pregnant woman, Quinn, who claims that Thorne is the father of her baby, and all bets are off.
Brilliantly plotted and terrifyingly prescient, Baby X is an unpredictable and relentless speculative thriller perfect for fans of Blake Crouch and John Marrs.
Book Info: Page length: 324 pages. Publisher: Crooked Lane Books. Publication Date: 5 March 2024
My thoughts:
The year is 2052 and the world has changed significantly. Technology has advanced beyond our imagination and Baby X is a story that fans of speculative thrillers will adore.
Imagine a world where your DNA can be used to create either an egg or sperm, where you can conceive your idols child without ever meeting them. All you need to do is buy their stolen DNA from a black market site.
Imagine a world where you can select your child’s personality, gender, strengths, academic success, happiness, creativity, empathy, patience, you can eliminate genetic illness and negative traits.
Imagine a world where anyone can have a baby, there’s no age limit and human’s are now living longer due to being “selected” healthier and without avoidable inherited diseases.
Baby X is that world and the story is narrated by 3 women.
Quinn is a surrogate. She carries “selected” babies for people who can’t have their own for a fee.
Ember is a DNA security guard. She works for celebrities to ensure their DNA is not stolen and used on the black market.
Lily is a journalist, currently working at Vanguard as a post-graduate fellowship, desperate to prove herself and land herself her dream job.
Each women narrates her story with alternating chapters and the reader follows their lives trying to connect the dots to see how these women are linked.
I absolutely ADORED this book. The style of writing, the fast paced chapters, the voices of the 3 women, the storyline, the tension, the twists all kept me glued to the pages.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book to any fans of the thriller genres. Even if you’ve never read “speculative fiction” before, I think this book is definitely worth reading as it’s thought-provoking and twisted, clever and well plotted.
