Bilal Qazi English III 5 5/2/11 Word Count: 816 Double Helix by Nancy Werlin Double Helix by Nancy

y Werlin is a dramatic, suspenseful, fiction novel that is set in an unspecified present day urban city. The main character Eli receives a job at Wyatt Transgenics by Dr. Quincy Wyatt, a Nobel Peace Prize winning genetic scientist, himself. Elis father is furious because of his history with Wyatt that involves Elis mother, whose health is rapidly worsening with Huntingtons disease which she may have passed on to Eli, yet refuses to divulge the past. Eli continues his work at Wyatt Transgenics regardless of his fathers wishes. The story follows Eli as he begins to uncover what his father was been hiding for years. Eli struggles to find himself as he is lost trying to juggle his life at home and his girlfriend. Vivian Fadiman is Eli Samuels girlfriend and valedictorian of the graduating class. She is never truly physically described by Nancy leaving the readers to imagine Vivian as they please but does imply that Vivian is unathletic and that there are prettier girls than [her] thinner girls (Werlin 32). She is madly in love with Eli and wants to be completely open with him in their relationship although Eli prefers to keep his life at home secret. When Eli unveils part of his life to Vivian, she forces his father to discuss Elis past and mend their broken relationship. By the end of the story, Vivian respects Elis privacy more and does not snoop around his private matters and gives Eli more trust.

Eli confronts Dr. Quincy Wyatt about the similarities between his mother and Kayla Matheson, one of Dr. Wyatts old friends daughter. Dr Wyatt explains to Eli that Elis mother had donated many of her eggs so that through a complex genetic process she could be guaranteed a child born without Huntingtons disease. As a gift for doing such an illegal procedure, Dr. Wyatt kept the left over eggs. Eli learns that Kayla looks just like his mother because she is one of the children that Dr. Wyatt created in his lab. Unable to cope with the shocking information, Eli bolts out of Dr. Wyatts office, finally realizing his fathers hatred for Dr. Wyatt. After explaining his discoveries to Vivian, she forces him to talk to his father about the eggs and learns that his father feels as if those eggs produced his children and that he failed as a father because he could not be there for them. At the end of the novel, Eli finds Dr. Wyatts secret lab and testing facility for the other children. Teaming with Kayla, they destroy the remaining eggs and copy all the data from the lab databases. As they try to sneak out, they are caught by Dr. Wyatt who is attacked by an infuriated Kayla. As Eli subdues Kayla, Dr. Wyatt escapes and is never seen or heard of again. Wyatt Transgenics is renamed General Transgenics and Eli enrolls in MIT promising to discover what the gene maps he stole for Dr. Wyatts lab mean as the novel ends. Nancy Werlin does a great job with writing a novel that incorporates many of a teenagers problems like the control of parents over teenagers, love, trust, and secrets that a teen may hide from his or her loved ones with a strong anti genetic engineering undertone. Personally the book made me realize how important it is to be open and honest with those around you and how essential it is to respect someones trust and not pry into their private life. After reading this book I found it to be quite disappointing. Nancy Werlin does a terrific job building up suspense with multiple storylines and constant twists in the plot yet does not tie

the end together well. The answers are thrust at the reader and lack depth. I strongly disliked the main character as he lacked emotion, treating those who loved him terribly, and was quite appalling. As his mother was in a mental institution he wishes for her to pass away so that he can get on with his life and does not even grieve at her funeral. At the same time he is appalled by the eggs donated to Dr. Wyatt by his mother making him a hypocrite. The book does go into numerous ethical and moral issues faces by genetic engineering along with the dangers it presents. It further reinforced my belief that genetic engineering or any alteration to an unborn child is morally and ethically wrong. I would recommend this book only to people with a strong interest in science or more specifically genetics. Although a fiction novel, the problems Nancy Werlin discusses are real issues faced by scientists today. I would not recommend this to the casual reader because the resolution feels rushed and leaves the reader feeling disappointed.