Constance by Matthew Fitzsimmons
Synopsis:
In the near future, advances in medicine and quantum computing make human cloning a reality. For the wealthy, cheating death is the ultimate luxury. To anticloning militants, it’s an abomination against nature. For young Constance “Con” D’Arcy, who was gifted her own clone by her late aunt, it’s terrifying.
After a routine monthly upload of her consciousness—stored for that inevitable transition—something goes wrong. When Con wakes up in the clinic, it’s eighteen months later. Her recent memories are missing. Her original, she’s told, is dead. If that’s true, what does that make her?
The secrets of Con’s disorienting new life are buried deep. So are those of how and why she died. To uncover the truth, Con is retracing the last days she can recall, crossing paths with a detective who’s just as curious. On the run, she needs someone she can trust. Because only one thing has become clear: Con is being marked for murder—all over again.
Review:
Con accepted her clone from her rich aunt as a rebellion from the rest of her family. But when she wakes up as a clone, and realizes over a year of her life is missing, she realizes she’s a different person than her original. She makes it a mission to find out what happened to her original and what happened in those missing months that led to her death. But at least 2 groups are trying to get to her because of something her aunt might have left in her head. Meanwhile, she has to stay away from a violent, clone-hating group that seems to be everywhere as well.
This is an incredibly suspenseful story, with plenty of mystery and intrigue. One aspect was a bit predictable, but didn’t make it any less intense. And there is plenty of content to make you think about the morality of cloning and implications. It’s fascinating and thrilling. This was a novel that was very hard to put down and kept me captivated until the very end.