Cast of Shadows
Kevin Guilfoile
Knopf, $24.95, 324 pages, ISBN: 1400043085
reviewed by Jim Brock

I read Harlan Coben's latest bestseller, THE INNOCENT, just prior to reading CAST OF SHADOWS. Coben writes novels with great hooks and tons of suspense and THE INNOCENT is another excellent read. Having said that, Kevin Guilfoile's first novel - CAST OF SHADOWS - is better.

The hook in SHADOWS is dazzling. Dr. Davis Moore is a fertility doctor who specializes in reproductive cloning. After his daughter's rape and murder, Moore accidentally gets has hands on DNA from her assailant. He uses that DNA to clone a baby for a couple seeking help at his clinic and they, unawares, raise a child who is a clone of a murderer. Now that is a hook.

The questions and the complications that can and do ensue from such a situation are staggering and Guilfoile cleverly negotiates the emotions, the deceit, and the enormous damage to many lives – all up to the amazing revelations of the last page.

CAST OF SHADOWS is truly imaginative – much more than a clone-suspense-thriller. This is a novel of substance, a true page-turner of great enlightenment as well as entertainment value. It can make a terrific movie and it should establish Kevin Guilfoile as a major talent to watch, and read.