[REVIEW] Perfect People

Title: Perfect People
Author: Peter James
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN-10: 1466845414
ISBN-13: 9781466845411
ASIN: B00DK43OC4
Number of Pages: 496
Release Date: September 1, 2013

Blurb: When a young couple learn they are both carriers of a gene likely to give their children a rare genetic disease, they visit a secret clinic for a 'designer baby.' But it does not all work out as planned...

Review: Since I myself am a person with genetic "anomalies", I find books on mutants/designer babies very interesting.

Around 70 pages in I was still not sure what I thought about this one. While the subject is one I have very strong feelings about, the "choppy" writing - with very short chapters, some no longer than a few pages - annoyed me in places. I got the feeling too many things were left out.

One of the main characters, Naomi, is very likable. I want to say I liked John, too, but he was just too...flat for my liking. He didn't really pop out of the page that much. And why was there no real mention of him speaking Swedish with fellow Swedes? I really doubt he spoke English with them. I'm a Swedish anglophile myself, but I never speak English to Swedes when we're alone.

But on the subject of John being Swedish, there was something I found very funny: his and Naomi's last name is Klaesson. John is from Örebro, Sweden. My wife's from Örebro and her family's named Klaesson.... :-)

For the most part, I liked the plot. The way the pregnancy turns out...well, I'm not going to spoil it for you, but I found it very exciting and interesting. It definitely gave me food for thought!

The ending was one I had not really anticipated. It was a lot better than I had imagined it would be.

All in all, a good book.


Rating: 4 bookshelves out of 5.

Disclaimer: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by St. Martin's Press for the purpose of a review.