It's some time in the future. Marriage is a thing of the past and "Conjugal Contracts" are made and carry a five-year term.
Hmm, sounds like a future development that may do more good for mankind than that whizzy glass screen Tom Cruise got to play with in Minority report. The Gene Thieves is described as "an exciting near-future thriller" and revolves around the concept of women choosing not to bear their own children, but to have others do it for them. Not quite a "pop down to the surrogate mother lot on Parramatta Road on a Sunday afternoon" kind of gig, but you get the picture.
A big selling point of this book is that the large-scale, regulated surrogacy concept is credible. Maria Quinn gives the concept some debate through the different views of her characters, and it's an interesting enough idea to sit with you on the train. As are the book's other main issues of gene manipulation and life enhancement through medical finessing. There's also a murder, a suicide, a birth, some love interests and a couple of intriguing main characters to keep you company as you try to figure out just who has taken what and who is still hiding things. Quinn is a debut writer who lets the ideas speak for themselves and doesn't feel compelled to push her presence in front of the reader. The Gene Thieves is engaging and thought provoking.
Reviewed by Wendy Beecroft
