Featuring clones of historical figures working together to stop a world-ending event, Clark’s witty and sharp debut entertains with its intricate plot and endearing characters. Twenty-one years ago, crotchety American James Bricker and optimistic Liberian Emmanuel Kebe were geneticists on a defunct United Nations Security Council cloning project called the Phoenix Elite Initiative, until Bricker shot Kebe and stole DNA samples. Kebe survived to continue the project in secret, raising and training seven young people scattered around the world. Today, the seven are brought together for the first time to learn their true identities: anxiety ridden Adam Eberhardt is Albert Einstein, unkempt American tech nerd Brandon Freeman is Benjamin Franklin, arrogant South African scion Nigel Dillon is Nelson Mandela, and so on. Other cloned personages include Che Guevara, Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, and the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut.Clark's audacious, compelling story ratchets up the tension when the clones learn that Bricker has founded the terrorist group Allied Rebel Koalition (ARK) to destroy mankind with a nuclear holocaust and replace it with genetically engineered super humans. With jibes, humor, and hard-earned trust, the clones begin physical training, learning to work together and acquiring cool equipment like bulletproof under armor, iGlass contact lenses, and a plasma bazooka. But when ARK infiltrates the facility in a show of deadly force, the clones are on their own, facing a desperate mission to Rome. Adam hopes that he will cross paths with his unrequited love, the nuclear genius Margot Czarnecki, who was among the nuclear energy scientists Bricker has been kidnapping.
Briskly told, with crisp action, ever-escalating stakes, and memorable dialogue (“Hey, Einstein, you know how to drive stick, right?”) from a diverse and surprising cast, the globe-hopping adventure, espionage, science, and twists keep readers’ attention as this diverse group of some of the greatest minds in history join the fight for humanity’s future.
Takeaway: Clones of history’s greatest thinkers race to save the world from nuclear devastation.
Comparable Titles: Steven L. Kent’s Rogue Clone, Michael Marshall Smith’s Spares.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
