The Experiment

Strange happenings in New York, including the discovery of a corpse with its fingerprints burned off, combine with the unexplained disappearances of people from a Southeastern island to give hints of a deadly secret scientific experiment. By the author of Neanderthal. Reprint.

The phrase separated at birth takes on a terrifying new meaning in this riveting medical thriller from the author of Neanderthal. When tabloid journalist Jude Harley and a distraught young man known only as Skyler meet on the streets of New York City, they could be identical twins--except that Skyler is a few years younger and fitter than the 30-year-old Jude. And when Skyler sees that Jude's girlfriend, Dr. Elizabeth "Tizzie" Tierney, is a dead ringer for Julia, his own lost love, he--and we--know that something very spooky is going on. It turns out to be a case of "send in the clones": they were all part of a bizarre experiment when they were kids, and now they're up to their doppelgangers in a deadly confrontation with scientists and politicians who want to keep the whole thing quiet.

John Darnton knows how to make science accessible--he masterfully describes the intricate details of DNA and fertilized egg-splitting. He also knows how to keep the action moving at warp speed--racing from the tiny island off the Georgia coast where Skyler and his fellow clones were raised to the streets of New York and Washington, D.C., where seeing double can be terminal. --Dick Adler