Review of CAST OF SHADOWS by Kevin Guilfoile (see his website)

Alfred A. Knopf, March 2005

How far would you go to catch a violent killer? What if he'd killed your teenage daughter? Dr. Davis Moore, a well-known geneticist, faces a frightening moral dilemma when he gets the opportunity to secretly clone his daughter's killer and implant the resulting embryo in the womb of an unsuspecting woman. His plan is to watch the child grow up and, eventually, look into the face of the killer and possibly identify him.

That fateful decision affects the lives of dozens of people--that of his fragile wife; the pediatrician who ends up sharing his secret; a private investigator-turned-reporter, and ultimately, the child himself, Justin Finn, who turns out to be smarter--and scarier--than Dr. Moore ever anticipated.

Set in the near future and frighteningly believable, Guilfoile tracks this complex story over twenty years, through the minds of all the major players and several on the fringes, and through a video-game universe that has become a world-wide obsession. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong--right up until the very last page. The villains (and no one in this book is truly innocent) are so well-motivated that I found myself understanding and almost sympathizing with every character at one time or another. An incredible debut novel from a writer to watch.

Four Stars

Reviewed 5/09/05

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