BABY X

5 stars out of 5

What a treat to read! If they're done well - and this one certainly is - nothing is more entertaining to me than a tale set in the future with the requisite bells-and-whistles (and only dreamed about in my life) technology. Add in a plot stolen from the headlines - IVF facilities and the uses/misuses thereof - and I'm hooked. Suffice it to say I stayed that way from page one to the end.

An act passed by the government in the late 2030s green-lighted the right to reproductive autonomy; now, a would-be parent or parents could choose a child by desired genetic characteristics, and in vitro storage and implant labs are in high demand. They also bring the potential for crime, such as stealing DNA from selected individuals. That's a big concern for superstar singer Trace Thorne, who seems to be the target of one of the black market mills called the Vault. In fact, he's had to ante up ransom money to get his removed, and he's had it; to prevent it from happening again, he hires Ember Ryan, a self-styled bio-security guard. She seems to be doing a great job - that is, until a very pregnant woman and surrogate mother named Quinn Corrigan shows up to claim he's the father. Oops!

The story shifts from the perspectives of Quinn, Ember and a young journalist named Lily; the latter is a bit different from her peers in that she's not one of the in-vogue "selected" babies; her parents had her the old-fashioned way. Now, she's trying to make a byline for herself by writing a story detailing some of the evils of the IVF process by using her own parents as examples. Problem is, they aren't cooperating, leaving Lily to wonder why - and her career hanging in the balance.

It's hard to say much more without spilling too many beans, but needless to say, the action - and twists - just keep coming until a real surprise at the end. Definitely a winner in my book, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to get in on the action by way of a pre-release copy. Outstanding! 

Baby X by Kira Peikoff (Crooked Lane Books, March 2024); 324 pp.