BABY X by Kira Peikoff

5 stars

Just LOVED this look at a highly believable high-tech future set in the 2050’s that kept me quickly turning pages with awe.

In this imagined future IVF allows for picking parent’s choice among analyzed 5-day old embryos, with “natural” born children at a distinct disadvantage. Parents can choose between the relative strengths of the embryos. Screening for disease vulnerabilities in fertilized eggs has eradicated most inherited diseases. Test tube babies are the norm, and procreative sex a thing of the past. New technology enables any human cell to be transformed into a sperm or egg. An elusive secret cell hacker group, calling themselves the Vault, steals celebrity DNA to either blackmail the celebrity or sell the DNA to the highest bidder who wants to have a celebrity’s child. Smart contact lens have replaced cell phones, which have become viewed as quaint and antiquated.

Thorne, a guitar playing teen-throb celebrity, has been threatened in the prior year by the Vault who claimed to have his DNA until he paid them a ransom for it back. He hires Ember, who has self-fashioned herself as a bio-security guard, to follow him on his world-wide concert tour to protect him from more stolen DNA. Quinn, a surrogate for hire, believes she is carrying Thorne’s DNA for a widowed gay man who’s a fan and is about to confront Thorne with this fact. Lily, a recent college grad working for one of the few remaining print magazines needs to find a high-tech story impressive enough for their Editor in Chief, and finds potential in her parent’s decision to have another baby in their 80’s, so called “golden age parenting.”

The plot keeps things moving quickly and absorbingly along, but the real star here is the glimpse into a future that seems all too probable.

Thanks to The Quick Brown Fox & CO, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.