Book Review: Perfect People by Peter James

John and Naomi Klaesson are grieving the death of their four year old son from a rare genetic disorder. It is only after the boy’s death that they discover they are both bearers of a rogue gene, therefore the odds of their next child contracting the same disease are high. Desperate for another child, they consult a geneticist at his floating clinic, and that is where the nightmare begins.

They are given a list of options: do they want their son to be a blue eyed, 6 ft tall, amiable, character, with supreme sporting abilities? If so, they tick the boxes and the geneticist does the rest. In other words, create a designer baby.

But things go very wrong.

Reporters get hold of the story and the couple are pursued by press and fanatics known as Disciples of the Third Millennium. The boy they crave turns out to be twins, one of each sex, with inbuilt problems, and the tension rises, making the book hard to put down. 

Some say this is a book about things to come... and I can well believe it with all the delving into genes and things.

The end of this riveting story was unexpected yet emotional in a weird way. It left me feeling I wanted to read the story a second time which, for me, is an unexpected reaction. 

I was glad that Peter James wrote this with shorter chapters... it gave me a chance to draw breath from the story’s high tension. I am very strict with my reading time but was often tempted to stick with it until the book was finished.

A line beneath the book title reads Be careful what you ask for ... a worrying thought for our future.

Praise for Perfect People

Front Row, Radio 4, said ‘The emotional credibility of the characters is as good as it gets. There is a movie in this book.’

The Guardian: As ever James writes beautifully, maintaining the pace with short punchy chapters. But it’s his firm grasp of the moral issues surrounding designer babies that makes Perfect People so satisfying – and so unsettling.

The Times: Peter James’s clever page-turner Perfect People focuses not on the past but risks for the future.

Mirror: Now, his first stand alone novel since the extraordinary, though completely deserved, success of the Roy Grace series features all James’ strengths, including his ability to capture a sense of real horror in a very real world ... This is very much a novel about the preciousness of life, the randomness of survival and, ultimately, humanity as we’ve always known it.

Shots Mag describes the book as a surreal journey of ethics, science and religion....

oOo

There are plenty more comments but I think you will get the gist that Peter James’ writing is as gripping as ever and his research ability knows no bounds.