Double Helix by Nancy Werlin

***Spoiler Alert***
I try very hard to not to give critical plot points away in reviews, but in this case, the big stumbling block of the book ~is~ the major plot point. Before I give it all away, however, let’s talk about the book in general. The copy I received had several award stickers on it. In addition to the “Edgar Award”, given to mystery books, this one also made the TAB top ten list. These tell me that the book is considered to be well-written, as well as well-liked. I can’t disagree. Nancy Werlin’s writing style is engaging and her characters feel like people you know. My struggle was that this book was made into a mystery. Nearly two thirds of it is actually a “coming of age” novel. Had that been it, I would have been fine. Eli Samuels is a super-smart high school grad with an intelligent and understanding girlfriend, but he is drifting in life. Didn’t apply to college, can’t deal with his mother’s losing battle with Huntington’s Disease, and fighting constantly with a critical, distant father. Such stuff is the gristmill for teen lit, and, when it is written this well, makes for a good read. Sadly, the author didn’t stop there. Ms. Werlin adds in a storyline about “big scary science”. Eli is just too smart, too good at everything he does. At a genetics lab, he discovers a secret…was he “made”???!!!! If the plot sounds familiar, it should. Genetic alterations have made for some great Sci-fi of late, but sadly, this book isn’t one of them. The grand climax fell deeply flat, mostly because the advances in genetics in the few years since the book was published make Eli’s secret sad, but not Frankenstein-like. Today, I think we know that the age of manipulating genes isn’t “on the horizon”. It’s here. Instead of (gasp), discovering that genetic alterations are happening, authors need to explore what the moral role should be as we learn to alter the nature of humanity. As for books, the best example of this, IMHO, is Nancy Farmer’s “House of the Scorpion”, which brings the moral, ethical and human issues to a deeply disturbing and provocative point. In “Double Helix”, my general reaction was “so what?” It’s the ~answer~ to “so what?” that is far more interesting to me than the realization that our technology might be advancing faster than our common sense. Been there, done that. It’s the 21st Century. Time to look past the possibilities and focus on impact. And yes, I’m also a Sci-fi TV buff. For almost identical storylines to this book (done better) check out “The Pretender”, “Dark Angel” and “Kyle XY”.