Wicker by Kevin Guilfoile

by Kevin Guilfoile

Davis Moore es un médico de Chicago experto en clonación reproductiva, una nueva práctica controvertida aunque legalizado en ese lugar. Su vida se trastorna de pronto cuando Anna Kat, su hija de diecisiete años, es violada y asesinada. El caso se investiga pero no se resuelve. Meses más tarde, Moore recoge las pertenencias de Anna Kat que aún están en poder de la policía y encuentra entre ellas un pequeño frasco que contiene el ADN del asesino. Atormentado por el dolor, pergeño un pensamiento la posibilidad de clonar, no a su hija, sino al hombre que la mató. Un médico especializado en fertilidad, un niño cuyo rostro será la réplica perfecta del sanguinario homicida que lleva en sus genes y un religioso fanático y violento -que pertenece a una agrupación clandestina denominada Las Manos de Dios­ entrelazarán sus vidas de un modo inextricable. Hasta dónde se puede llegar para conocer el rostro de un asesino? De dónde viene la maldad? Qué sucede con el alma cuando morimos? Qué se duplica cuando se clona una vida humana? El hijo de las sombras, la primera novela de Kevin Guilfoile, es un cautivante thriller filosófico. Su argumento, espectacularmente original y perturbador, se desarrolla como una delicada obra de relojería, y anticipa los dilemas morales, sociales y metafísicos que la ciencia gradualmente deberá confrontar.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Novels, Science Fiction, Mystery Thriller

Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Guilfoile was raised in Cooperstown, New York, where his father was an executive at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Guilfoile graduated from The University of Notre Dame in 1990, and worked briefly in media relations for the Houston Astros baseball club. He was a founding partner of the Chicago design firm Coudal Partners, and a creative director at that company for 11 years. Guilfoile's first novel Cast of Shadows was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2005. It was named one of the Best Books of 2005 by the Chicago Tribune and Kansas City Star, and has been translated into more than 15 languages.

Guilfoile is a contributor to The Morning News, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern and McSweeney's Internet Tendency. His essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, and Salon.com. His work has been anthologized in Mirth of a Nation, 101 Damnations, Chicago Noir, and Chicago Blues.

He is a frequent collaborator with John Warner.

Reviews

[Tom Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oof. In a word, "hammy."

Heavy on clunky internal monologue, full of extraneous detail, and just plain trying real hard.

3 stars out of 5. A time-passer, nothing more.

[Lou · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. I don't know if I hate it or like it. I felt that the story was very long and heavy, in parts it was boring and overburdened, and I hated the sex scenes because they were too repetitive. However, the story had a good suspense.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dit is een leugen ik heb dit boek niet uitgelezen maar het suckt en ik geef op

[Aires · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uznávaný lékař a odborník na klonování doktor Moore tragicky přijde o svoji dceru. Byla brutálně zavražděna a pachatele se nedaří nalézt. Když však doktor zjistí,že útočník po sobě zanechal DNA, dostane geniální nápad. Chce pohlédnout do očí vraha své dcery. A proto stvoří jeho klon. Nic netušící, milující pár tak přivede na svět chlapce, který si ve svých genech nese temné tajemství. Je dokonalou kopií své předlohy, šíleného vraha. V dospělosti bude vypadat jako on. Pomůže to odhalit skutečného viníka? A bude snad i on jednou vraždit?

Ach jo, tak nevyužitý potenciál. Tahle kniha mohla přinést tolik úžasných otázek a dojmů. Jak moc nás ovlivňují naše geny? Jsme k něčemu předurčeni nebo si vybíráme, kým jsme? Čekala jsem příběh z pohledu chlapce, který má být bestií. Úplně by se k tomu hodilo nějaké jeho vnitřní dilema a sebepoznávání. A k tomu pěkně okořenit detektivním pátráním z pohledu doktora. Místo toho to byla plytká splácanina snad třiceti postav, co měli malé role, velké role, ale emoce a dojmy skoro žádné. Zkrátka neurazí ale ani nenadchne. Taková škoda...

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vor vielen Jahren habe ich dieses Buch spontan auf einem Flohmarkt gekauft. Im Rahmen der Challenge-Aufgabe "ältestes Buch auf dem SuB" griff ich nun endlich danach. Und, what a ride! Anfangs fiel es mir stellenweise schwer zu folgen, wegen des Springens zwischen den Perspektiven, den Handlungssträngen und den Zeiten. Aber schnell ist man im Sog der Erzählung und dann fliegt man nur noch durch die Seiten. Die negativen Rezensionen auf Amazon kann ich überhaupt nicht nachvollziehen. Ich schließe mich eher denen auf Goodreads an, von mir gibt es gute 4 Sterne.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The setting is a Chicago very much like the current city but in a universe where human cloning is as common as in vitro is in our world. Cloning, however, is highly controversial and regulated. Dr. Davis Moore, the happily married father of a teenage daughter, is a fertility specialist expert in cloning who becomes the target of a religious fanatic. Although he survives the attack, his happy life is destroyed when his beloved daughter is killed at her after-school job. It seems as if Anna Kat was the victim of an unknown rapist. The police investigate without result. Dr. Moore's grief turns to obsession when he discovers a sperm sample recovered from his daughter's body among the personal effects returned to him by the police. If he can use this sperm to create a clone, he will be able to see what his daughter's killer looks like and get justice for his daughter.

This is a fascinating premise for a novel. It should allow the author to explore the nature of grief and obsession, the ethics of cloning, and the influence of genetics on human personality, and he does try. The problem here is the pacing. Years have to go by before the clone can reasonably be expected to look like an adult killer, and the author fails to fill those years with anything very interesting. Justin, the clone, has some issues that may be ominous; is this because he is a 'bad seed'? The Moores' marriage falls apart, but we have no reason to care because Dr. Moore doesn't. The religious fanatic continues to kill cloning specialists, but he never threatens any of the characters we know. About halfway through the novel, we are introduced to the investigation of a serial killer called the Wicker Man (Is he Anna Kat's killer?) and to Shadow World, the novel's version of Second Life. The author does manage to tie all these elements together, but he takes too long. Even worse, the resolution is extremely unsatisfying, although the author probably intended it to be ironic. He may also mean for us to ponder the futility of seeking vengeance or the unintended consequences of our own actions. Unfortunately, I was left with a sense of outrage at the injustice of both the resolution of the plot and at the author's decision to keep the consequences of his actions secret from Dr. Moore.

[Elien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiler warning!

This book should have started on the 200th page or so. My God, it was so slow in the beginning.

All in all Cast of Shadows has an interesting theme. Secretly using the DNA of your daughter's murderer to clone him and watch him grow up into an adult whose face you might be able to recognise... I don't think it's been done before.

It's the main character I didn't like. Dr. Moore, a pretty stuck-up jerk, if you ask me. He risks his precious career to find out who killed his child, and after a few years of Justin growing up, it seems like he doesn't even care anymore. He gives up! I would say he gave up on his marriage too, but there wasn't really anything to give up on in the first place. He'd been a terrible husband to his wife, and when she finally kills herself, he doesn't shed a tear. Au contraire... GOD, I hated that man! And he's a hypocrite too, to think Justin a murderer while the kid thought he was doing the only right thing to be done, and then go ahead and kill the kid himself! Gah!

Something else I didn't like about this book, were the random dialogues about the morality of cloning. I understand it's inevitable to have moral issues arise when you're writing about so touchy a subject, but please, make it sound convincing. Have the discussion have a purpose instead of throwing it in there to show you've done your research or whatever. It was all a bit too obvious and did nothing to move the story forward.

Just like the anti-cloning organisation. I don't understand why the author wastes so much space to tell us about their actions. They have nothing to do with the main characters other than Mickey unsuccessfully shooting Dr. Moore once. Oh, and the completely random twist at the end, of course, but that could've been anyone. I didn't buy it from the beginning that Justin's donor killed Anne. Nope.

And Sally Barwick! No sane woman would be *that* obsessed by a young man's picture that she saw once. I don't buy this either.

And what kind of a name is 'Mickey' for a warrior of God, anyway?!

My comments might seem harsh, given I've rated this book 'it was okay'. Some parts were okay, absolutely! It's just sad that the first half of the book was so slow-paced, Dr. Moore was an asshole and some parts seemed completely random. I finished it, that should mean it was good enough.

[Iris Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

我想借這本書很多次了，但是每次在圖書館翻開發現密密麻麻的字就打退堂鼓，某次終於借回家了，最後還是沒有看，趁著現在讀書欲很高昂，就抱回家了，讀起來真的很辛苦，看的速度是我讀一般書籍的兩倍。可能是細節真的寫很多，整本我嫌太長了，顯得進度很緩慢，很多劇情我覺得完全抽掉也可以，並不影響劇情走向，也會讓主題更簡潔明確一點。

書到最末最末才揭曉一切答案，很精彩！

（以下都有雷）
加入了虛擬遊戲的描寫，「真實原型玩家」的規則有點荒唐，從遊戲去追蹤兇手，我覺得是太牽強了點。但是說不定未來真的會有這樣非常擬真的電玩遊戲，我知道現在的遊戲已經可以追蹤玩家的眼睛視線，投映在遊戲裡，遊戲跟現實的眼睛視角是一樣的，誰知道再過幾年遊戲會發展到什麼樣，就像人手一機到人手一支智慧型手機並沒有花多少年。

安娜凱特是第一件兇案，當時山姆柯恩跟安娜凱特有性關係，甚至是性虐待，兩人都有特殊癖好，當念山姆才17歲，跟安娜凱特躲在服裝店的試衣間做愛，結束之後山姆離開了，米基一直都在服裝店躲著，後來出來(還發生一些事)把安娜凱特殺了，把凶殺案佈置成姦殺案，所以山姆的精液才會出現在證物裡，等山姆長大才開始一系列的謀殺案，所以第一件兇案跟其他兇案有所不同。警方在當年就有把山姆叫來詢問，山姆完全照實回答，當時警方也證實了他的不在場證明，把山姆排除了嫌犯名單，事實真的不是山姆殺了安娜啊！但是最奇怪的是警方明明知道安娜不是被強暴，卻沒有跟家屬(對醫生戴維斯)講明，讓家屬一直誤會，說女兒死前發生過性關係遠遠比女兒死前被強暴，殺傷力來得小很多吧~為什麼警方沒有說？？這導致了醫生一直把精液當成是兇手的，製造了賈斯汀，而賈斯汀長大後知道自己是殺人兇手的複製人，讓賈斯汀如何看待自己？這才是讓賈斯汀真正變成惡魔的原因吧，他一直認定自己是殺人魔，他說在殺人的時候看到了自己的原型，他感受到了快樂，知道自己一定會繼續殺人，最終導致了悲劇。

賈斯汀是什麼樣的心境並沒有說，主角是醫生戴維斯。我所理解的劇情是賈斯汀是山姆柯恩的複製人，山姆是連續殺人犯，但不包括安娜凱特以及狄德麗托爾森，殺害安娜凱特的是米基，殺害狄德麗的是賈斯汀，賈斯汀為了讓山姆受到懷疑，對莎莉不斷洗腦，讓莎莉認定山姆就是威克惡魔，殺狄德麗是為了讓警方有抓山姆的理由。可是山姆為什麼願意讓警方抽取DNA？如果山姆真的是兇手，他自己一定知道DNA跟死者身上的會相符，那為什麼還願意提供？而且山姆那句「它(DNA)就是在撒謊」到底是什麼意思？山姆否認殺了那些女孩，所以那些女孩到底是山姆殺的還是賈斯汀殺的，這我沒有看懂。

[Aryanah Rivera · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5? I think the main storyline about cloning your daughter’s murderer to find out what he looks like when he grows up is a pretty interesting idea.

I think these were some of the worst written women I’ve read in a while that weren’t supposed to be specifically “unlikeable, unhinged girlies” they’re just very obviously written by a man and cringey.

This book is too long and boring at times. Every time you think it’s starting to wrap things up, it’s like 3 new characters get introduced for way too long.

Why was Sally having sex dreams about a child?
Why was there an online Sims-esque community video game and why was it such a huge part of this book?
Why did we spend so much time with the radical anti-cloning groups?

Somewhere between all the nonsense, there is a cool little thriller in here…it’s just surrounded by A LOT of bullshit.

[oya]

Açıkçası beklediğimden biraz daha farklısı çıktı ve bu farklılıkla beraber kitaptan beklediğim kısımları da beğendim, başlarda çok kopuktum kitaptan fakat bir yerden sonra sizi çekmeyi başarıyor. Spoilerı bile tamamen yemediğim için fazlasıyla mutluyum çünkü yorumlarda okuduğum ve beklentimi fazla yükseltmediğim 'ters köşe' son beni fazlasıyla etkiledi.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zeer onwaarschijnlijke plot maar wat een spannend boek. Triest ook.

[Krystyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, I think I appreciate this book. I did not entirely enjoy reading it - I noticed that for the first third (almost half!) of the book I was constantly getting distracted by stuff around me. The book just wasn't grabbing me.

The majority of the book was set in Chicago, which made me a bit homesick, but I wished for a bit more descriptive prose. The geographical narrative felt like a checklist of street names and a combination of real and fictitious companies/clubs/offices. I never got the real sense of Chicago from the pages - and the author even lives there!

The very ending of the book felt most unbelievable to me. Looking back on the structure of the very very very long lead-up and character introductions, it was easy to see how the writing had specifically dodged this last piece of information in order to reveal it as the final zinger. I found myself disappointed in these self-involved intelligent people who turned out to be, well, just self-involved.

I just came off of reading In The Woods, by Tana French, so I guess you could imagine my dismay at reading another mystery/thriller where not much is actually happy or beautiful, and there's virtually no catharsis at the end. Stasis and sadness. I don't need a happy ending, but man.

It was likely my personal bias that had something to do with finally falling into the book, when it got a bit cyber-punky with the Shadow World element. As someone who works on games, I thought the idea of the game was interesting enough but unexplored. At any rate, the action seemed to pick up a bit, and the characters were suddenly real to me. I learned more about their physical attributes, the way they moved, the way they spoke -- once they were in the virtual environment. Not sure it was deliberate, but it was a relief. Sally and Justin were driven and interesting inside Shadow World. Finally!

A little more about the ending:

Having Joan come across the final twist so easily, in a note taped to the top of a box? Ugggggh. How pat. How disappointing that Davis missed it, all these years. All these smart people that care so much, and are actually just spinning their wheels in deference to the weaving of the plot. I spent sixteen years in chapter form getting to know all these people, building this world of intricacy and connected relationships, and the whole ethical question comes tumbling down because of a clerical error. I wanted to like this book more, because I think there are some interesting ideas, but the last few pages soured me.

[Jannelies (living between hope and fear) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Guilfoile doet wat veel auteurs proberen, maar wat niet allen gegeven is goed te doen: hij vermengt diverse genres tot een boek dat meer biedt dan 'het etiket' aanprijst. Des duivels is een 'thriller' met 'SF-trekjes' maar bevat ook filosofische gedachten en is daarnaast gewoon vreselijk goed geschreven.

Davis Moore, briljant onderzoeker maar vooral wanhopige vader, denkt een oplossing te hebben gevonden voor de vraag die elke vader van een vermoorde dochter zich zou stellen: wat gebeurt er als je als vader die moordenaar in de ogen kan kijken? Op illegale wijze aan DNA van de moordenaar gekomen, maakt hij een kloon en wacht vervolgens met spanning af wat er gaat gebeuren. Het is bijna onnodig te zeggen dat dit niet afloopt zoals Davis Moore zich had gewenst.

Kevin Guilfoile maakt het de lezer niet gemakkelijk; hij beschrijft het verhaal vanuit verschillende personages en niet altijd chronologisch. Verder besteedt hij wel heel veel aandacht aan de uitleg van het computerspel Shadowworld. Dat is tevens de reden dat het boek voor mij geen vijf, maar vier sterren waard is. Het samenlopen van de verhaallijnen in de echte wereld en Shadowworld is net een tikje te 'toevallig' en doet aan de andere kant ook nog denken aan - nu al 'antieke' - plots zoals die van bijvoorbeeld Disclosure. De ontknoping echter is briljant en laat de lezer naar adem happend achter.

[Esra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitabın konusu süper, olay akışı süper, karakterler orijinal. Böyle olunca haliyle bir solukta bitirdim. Gel gör ki kitaba beş vermeyi düşünürken sırf kitabın sonu beni sinir ettiği için değerlendirmemi üç yaptım. O nasıl bir sondur! Kitapla yazarın suratını tokatlama isteği oluşturdu bende resmen! Beni zirveye çıkarıp oradan aşağı attı. Duygularımla oynadı. Tamam ilginç. Tamam, tahmin edilmedik. Tamam, ters köşe yaptın da böyle b*ktan bir ters köşede olmaz ama! Hiç yakıştıramadım.
Sonunu söyleyip spoiler vermek istemiyorum ama kitaba başlamayı düşünüyorsanız sonuna kendinizi hazırlayın benim gibi krize girmeyin. Sonu böyle olmasa beş verirdim kesinlikle!

Klonlama uzmanı Doktor Davis Moore’un on yedi yaşındaki kızı tecavüze uğrayıp acımasızca öldürülür. Olay hakkında soruşturma açılır; ancak bir sonuca varılamaz. Aylar sonra Moore kızının eşyalarını polisten geri alır ve bunların arasında kazayla unutulmuş, içinde katilin DNA’sı bulunan küçük bir şişeye rastlar. İşte o an Moore’un beynine korkunç bir düşünce saplanır: Belki kızını değil ama onu öldüren adamı klonlama olanağına sahiptir. Peki kızının katilinin gözlerinin içine bakmaya ne kadar dayanabilecektir?

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the near future, cloning is legal. Dr. Davis Moore is a fertility doctor specialzing in reproductive cloning.

His daughter, AK is raped and murdered. The killer escapes. Later, when Moore picks up AK's belongings from the police there is a sample of the killer's DNA. With no other way to catch the killer, Moore uses that DNA to cone a child that will grow up to be the exact replica of the killer.

In a parallel story, Mickey the Gerund is a religious fanatic and considers himself a member of God's army. His mission is to destroy fertility clinics and the doctors who run them. He's dubbed Byron Bonavarti by the press.

The novel proceeds at a leisurly pace which allows the suspense to build. Many years go by and the child, Justin Finn, grows older.

The author provides information about the moral and ethical considerations of cloning. Our interest increases as Justin turns various ages and develops an interest in mass killers and Byron Bonavarti. We wonder if Moore has cloned another mass murderer.

There are some excellent twists and surprises in this story which pits goodnes against evil with the question being who will win.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with friends for our book group. It's a thriller set in the near future, when human cloning has become legal. A geneticist's daughter is killed, and rather than clone his own daughter, he clones the killer using DNA from the crime scene. He becomes obsessed with his daughter's murder and with the idea of being able to look into the killer's eyes. I don't usually read stories in this genre, but I found Cast of Shadows to be pretty engaging, although somewhat weak in the storytelling, especially later in the book as a not-entirely-believable computer game becomes a major playing field for the story. It's an enjoyable way to pass some time if it falls into your hands, but I wouldn't really recommend rushing out to pick up your own copy.

[Iulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was surprizingly good. I read it after seeing the author talk at one of the Humanities Council seminars on Ethics and Genetics.
I would definately not have picked this up on my own. It is a murder mistery that touches on philosophy and psychology all hidden in a futuristic setting. I'm not a sci-fi reader, but this was done tastefully enough that it was quite enjoyable and educational. It definately made me wonder about culture in general and how it will continue to be affected by technology to a degree we can't even begin to comprehend.

[Kim Benouski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this awhile back and forgot and picked it up to read again. Obviously, the topic interests me. It's the delivery that wasn't so great. The idea of cloning a daughter's killer in order to see what he looks like when the clone grows up is a good idea, and the twist later is interesting, but it felt too overdone with the avatars and gaming world, etc., like the author was trying to fit in every sci-fi tech topic he could. I just didn't like his style. If I could, I'd give it 2 1/2 stars.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure. I worked on this book. When I read the first 50 pages in manuscript form, I told my boss to reject it. (The opening has since changed...) He told me I was nuts, to keep pressing on. So I did -- on Yom Kippur night, too, and the next day I was just too tired to be hungry. From page 51 to the end I read without moving! It's the definition of unputdownable. One of the best and most brilliantly original thrillers I've ever read.

[Leah Macdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Officially one of my favourite books of all time. A real psychological thriller. And I can't believe I did not preempt the ending. Real time video games, cloning, deceit, a large variety of character, self-fulfilling prophecy and heart break that all ends in a suddenly silent revelation. What more could you possibly want? I have want to own a copy of this book for a long while but can’t seem to get my hands on a copy.

[Jess Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing! There was so much going on that the book was by no means predictable. Guilfoile has the reader guessing until the last minute. So many controversial issues. Con? SO many chars, it really needs to be read in a few sittings. Due to other things, I took awhile to read it, which made it difficult to keep all the characters straight. I highly suggest it!

[Nocturna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It seemed to combine things that I find very compelling, but are hard to find: a touch of sci-fi with mystery and contemporary technology.

I would love to know about other books that are in this same vein. Recommendations anyone?

[Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has crime, science fiction (that really isn't science fiction since human cloning is right around the corner), love, betrayal and mystery. Its one of those books that you want to see the movie, just as long as its exactly like the book.

[Cameron Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept, but hard to recommend. So many little story lines were presented and the story felt a little cluttered. The more interesting characters were not given enough time. I would recommend waiting for it to come out on DVD, or just not reading it.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book; it has EVERYTHING in it. I can't believe the many levels that this first time author used in this book. Every person I have recommended to read this book has loved it as well.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better thrillers I've read with loads of surprises sprinkled all through the book. Plus the author tosses in some good issues to make you think.

[juice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was OK, no more. Could have been a lot better, but little things niggle at you the whole way through it.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many twists and turns that you're left dizzy. It was a very good read that both disturbed and surprised with layer after layer.

[RC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted this to be better. It had a good premise but it never really got me going.

I had to plod through it.

[Carla Handley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great premise for a mystery novel but I don't think the character development measured up. By the end I felt the author was just trying to get out of it with too neat tie-ups.