Synopsis
Josh worships his older brother, Max. They look alike, they talk alike, and they both have the same interests, including their favorite massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Genesis Alpha. But Josh and Max have an even deeper connection. Because Josh was born for a reason. It was Josh's stem cells, harvested when Josh was newly born, that saved his dying older brother's life. Now that same beloved older brother is arrested, accused of the brutal murder of a teenage girl. Josh is bewildered. Is Max really a monster, or is all of this a terrible mistake? And if the worst is true and Max is guilty, does that mean Josh is guilty too? After all, Max wouldn't exist without him. But this is only the beginning. Before long, Josh will come to a number of searing revelations -- revelations that have dire implications not only for Max's future, but for Josh's as well. Rune Michaels explodes onto the teen literature scene with this gripping, chilling debut -- a compelling picture of the intersection where science, family, and morality collide.
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Reviews
Josh is bewildered when his older brother, Max, is arrested for the murder of a beautiful young woman. This is the Max who fixed his bike and plays online games like Genesis Alpha with him. This is also the older brother whose life he saved from cancer after they harvested Josh's stem cells immediately after his birth. Surely Max did not kill Karen Crosse. If he did, though, Josh wonders if he is to blame. If he had not been born, wouldn't Karen still be alive? The many scenes of teens playing Genesis Alpha will suggest this for gaming bibliographies, but the game is only a vehicle to frame the larger debates. Cybersafety is a theme; it's gradually revealed that the murderer developed a relationship with Karen through Genesis Alpha, carefully aggregating snippets of information about the pretty teen until he knew exactly who and where she was. Yet the deeper, more philosophical questions of free will, good and evil, and the ethics of reproductive science are at the core of this fascinating, troubling thriller. Frances Bradburn
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