Precious Children

by Mary G. Thompson

A wealthy family trying to cheat death is overmatched—by a stubborn teenager hiding in a body that looks just like their son. In this taut tale of genetics and entitlement, nature vs. nurture goes horrifically wrong.



Dina Blake’s fourteen-year-old son, Geoff, has just died for the second time. But everything will be okay. The Blake family’s wealth has bought them thousands of clones of each of their children. These children are farmed out to loving families, but with the caveat that the bodies are always available to the Blakes.

After Geoff dies, the Blakes upload their son’s memories into Nathan, who is an unwilling host, desperate to stay with the family who loved him.

Dina’s younger daughter, Di, is terrified because she knows something her parents don’t—the memory transfer doesn’t always go as planned. The Geoff who’s been living with them since his first death isn’t the person her mother thinks he is, and the families of the bodies the Blakes steal aren’t all innocent.

When Geoff returns to life in Nathan’s body, he has to contend with Nathan’s frustrating desire to live and his unexpected ability to fight for his life. For some children to live, others must die. Dina must decide how far she’ll go to protect her children, and Geoff must find out if, and who, he’s willing to kill.

Genres: Horror

224 pages, Paperback

Expected publication September 1, 2026

About the author

Mary G. Thompson is the author of Wuftoom, which Booklist called “impressively unappetizing and absolutely unique,” and other novels for children and young adults. Her contemporary thriller Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee was a winner of the 2017 Westchester Fiction Award and a finalist for the 2018-2019 Missouri Gateway award. Her short fiction has appeared in Dark Matter Magazine, Apex Magazine, and others. Mary is originally from Eugene, Oregon, where she attended the University of Oregon School of Law. She practiced law for seven years, including five years in the US Navy JAGC, and now works as a law librarian. A graduate of The New School’s Writing for Children program, she lives in Washington, DC. Find her on the web at http://marygthompson.com.

Reviews

[Bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella is an extremely off-putting sci-fi horror about children being cloned and their cloned bodies being used to house their conscience if their host body dies. Very strange, but also familiar, this novella explores the divide between social classes, what could happen if technology became too advanced, and the philosophy of human existance in general.

I thought the story was quite interesting! I really enjoyed the anticipation that built up through the entire novella and the extremely dystopian ending. I do think there are a few plot holes, though, and a bit of undeveloped characters. I didn't feel connected with any of the characters AT ALL. I also found myself questioning specific points of the story and why couldn't a character do XYZ (trying not to spoil) and it did throw me off course of the overall mood.

This novella does need some polishing, but overall it is a fascinating read and those interested in sci-fi dystopian-esque plots would enjoy this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for this ARC.

[DaniPhantom · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley & Tachyon Publications for providing me with an ARC copy. This was super interesting and a good commentary on issues today in the world. I liked the nuances of whether the Blake family were in the wrong for wanting their children to be the healthiest, even at the expense of other children. There were several times in the book though that the writing was kind of bumpy, but with work it’ll be an awesome book!

[sof · Rating 3 out of 5]

thanks so much to Tachyon Publications for the advanced reader copy! rtc

[Naz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moral and ethical implications be damned. If you’re filthy rich and childless why not sign up for the President’s Population Program and Generations Inc. cloning service? Never fear losing your child again, because in this futuristic Black Mirror-esque world money can buy you your children back anytime. Just don’t read the fine print and don’t think too hard about those disposable lives you snub in the process.

In Precious Children it has become increasingly difficult to naturally conceive, and children are dying at an alarming rate. To curb this decline the government has designed a cloning programme, where rich families can create their own clones as their children. To mitigate this child death epidemic thousands of clones are created to essentially compensate the original family should their chosen child die. This is made possible through a complex continuously backed-up consciousness. The other disposable clones are adopted into their own families with the caveat that they don’t own their bodies. If required the original child can take over their duplicates becoming Congruent in a new host body.

This story however begins with Incongruence; as Geoff Blake struggles to assert dominance over his new host body, with its original owner Nathan fighting for his own survival. It doesn’t help that Nathan is privy to Geoffs own secrets, which coupled with a anxious stim-addled mother, a image conscious father and an all too clever sister creates quite an interesting story waiting to be unravelled.

Thompson is able to evoke conflicting feeling surrounding the characters and I definitely feel this incongruence. There’s very little clear indications of good or evil; instead you have impossible yet thought-provoking situations. Humans are inherently selfish and self preserving; it’s understandable that they want outcomes to be in their own favour. The characters feel well written, real, pitiable and undoubtably flawed. Nathan’s demand for life in his own body is understandable, but on the opposing spectrum so is Dina’s desire as a mother to want to preserve her own child. If you had the chance to live you’d take it, just like you would fight to prevent someone from taking yours. Thompson writes this conflict so well that I can’t hate or love the characters; but just accept them and their circumstances.

The plot is twisty and dark and I was definitely invested and thoroughly immersed. The futuristic world building is interesting and despite the rich high-tech setting there’s something bleak about the fractured Blake family, and a strange hollowness is apparent, that even money can’t hide. There’s also the subtle enduring horror of an existence you have no autonomy over; whether a host or an original clone. Overall this was an enjoyable and highly entertaining read, with an ambiguous but satisfying conclusion that leaves many lingering thoughts thereafter.

Thanks NetGalley, Tachyon Publishing and Mary G. Thompson for the eARC, this was a brilliant read!

[Scarlet · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️: 3/5

Format: Ebook (ARC)📱🌟

Genre: Sci-Fi / Horror (Dystopian) 👽🔪


In a world where money can buy children, Preston and Dina Blake have bought thousands of them. Di and Geoff, their two children, are clones of their parents, facilitated by The President's Population Program. The other several thousand children were adopted out to families who couldn't afford the program, with one catch: if the original Blake children die, a clone is removed from their adopted family, their mind is wiped and then overwritten by the original Blake child's backed-up memories. When Geoff dies for a second time, Di realises her brother is fighting for his life against his body's original mind, Nathan, and he has other malevolent plans...The Blakes must choose the lengths they'd go to to protect their Precious Children.

I really like the premise of this book. The discussions around class and conception reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale and Never Let Me Go, which initially drew me to it. The story is really the backbone of this book which kept me reading. I'm not usually a fan of mixed media, however, the interjections of The President's Population Program between the thoughts of the characters served the story well.

This is a short novella and as such, I did feel that some parts were rushed over. I didn't feel particularly connected to any of the characters as I didn't have much time to connect with them. I wanted to feel conflicted at some of the characters' decisions but I just didn't care. For me, the world building felt non existent. The story moved quickly and I feel if the story moved slower, more tension could have been built. I think if this book was full length and had more meat on its bones, it could have gained an extra star from me.

This book is marketed as Sci-Fi/Horror, however I would file this under dystopian. For me, there weren't enough Sci-Fi or Horror elements for it to be classed as either. I was expecting the ending to have some kind of a pay-off, but unfortunately for me, it was a case of, 'oh, ok, that's it.' As such, I was left a little disappointed as I was expecting more from this book.

I really liked the idea of Precious Children, but it just left me wanting more. The story is what carried it for me, despite the weaknesses in the worldbuilding, it's ending and characterisation. Still, I would recommend this book to fans of classic dystopian novels such as The Handmaid's Tale or Never Let Me Go and to fans of the TV series 'Black Mirror.'

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC to voluntarily review.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Precious Children by Mary G. Thompson is a sci-fi novella about a future where most Americans are unable to give birth to healthy children, and so wealthy families pay to have themselves cloned. They keep one clone from each batch to raise as their child, and the thousands of other clones are adopted out to poorer families willing to pay for healthy babies. But should the wealthy family’s child die, they may take their pick of the others, abducting the child from their home and uploading their dead child’s consciousness into the new body.

I loved this story. It reminded me of old episodes of Outer Limits, and even though the story beats felt predictable, I had a blast going along for the ride. It was a quick read that absolutely flew by, and the tension never flagged for a second. Plus, two people forced to share a body is one of my favorite horror tropes, and this book delivers in spades.

Precious Children is mandatory reading for any fans of horror or sci-fi, especially if you’re into shows like Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone. Even if you’re unsure, it’s such a quick read I’d recommend everyone give it a shot.

Thank you Tachyon Publications for providing this advance copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Sage St James]

The premise of this book was so intriguing that I couldn't help but request this ARC. This story provides such an unnerving future that is definitely worth the read. I spent the entire book not entirely sure of what was going to be coming next and couldn't wait to find out. I really enjoyed the structure of the story and having excerpts from studies to give extra information and raise more questions about what was going on. I did enjoy this story and the depth of the characters however, I felt that the ending was a bit rushed and the connection to who the characters were was slightly lost. i think that with an extra few pages on Di and Geoff before the final chapter would have given some more insight to how they progressed along with potentially having a chapter from Preston's POV to see what his experience had been would have been really interesting. The ending just felt a bit to neat for a book that had been so interesting.

[megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Black Mirror was a book, it would be this one.

I picked this up 2 days ago and honestly couldn't put it down! I was drawn to this book by the cover and was super intrigued by the premise as soon as I started reading. When I wasn't reading the book, I was thinking about when I could pick it up again. I was really rooting for Di the whole time!

One thing I will say is I think the writing needs a little more editing because I did notice a couple typos here and there (but it didn't bother me too much because I was so invested in the story). Also the ending did feel a bit confusing and a few of the characters needed fleshing out a bit more, but regardless the book was such a pleasure to read. With a little work, I believe this book has the potential to become something really big!

Thank you so, so much for this ARC. I enjoyed every minute of this book!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept but poor execution. I loved the idea of rich families having children that could never die due to having their consciousness being uploaded into children that were made specifically for that purpose. However, this book moved too quickly to flesh anything out properly. It was lacking lots of details and explanations. I didn't care what happened to any of the characters because the character development was basically nonexistent. The writing was very rocky, with many typos and just the style in general didn't feel cohesive. I can't say I recommend this one. The only thing I liked was the idea.

Thank you Mary G. Thompson, NetGalley & Tachyon Publications for the ARC of this book.

[Concha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications
In the near future, children begin to die, and the government decides that the wealthy will be able to clone their children, who will live with other families until they are needed and the original’s memories must be transferred to that new body. When Geoff dies, only his sister Di realises that something is wrong.
The story is told from the perspectives of the parents and the two children. It explores how this affects everyone morally and the dilemmas they face.
A disturbing tale in this blend of horror and dystopian science fiction that leaves no one indifferent and makes you ask yourself some questions.

[Ned · Rating 3 out of 5]

Black mirror if it was a bit more rambly. The concept of this book is very much something that would be in a black mirror book and was a genuinely interesting idea. The way it was explained got very confusing and it did feel like there was a lot of repitition that never clarified the process. I think there needed to be more of a distinction in the POV that we were in and it was confusing having the mother and daughter's chapters be named basically the same thing. I did enjoy the story but found it needlessly confusing a lot of the time.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a rare misfire for Tachyon Press, which can usually be relied upon for entertaining speculative fiction in reasonably sized volumes.
The brevity is there -- as is the interesting Black Mirror-esque concept of consciousness transfers, although the author doesn't do anything really original with it.
The narratives jump from one non-particularly engaging character to another, and most of them are kids, so that combined with the deliberately simplistic language, it reads rather YA.
A fairly quick read, but it didn't work for me. User mileage may vary.
Thanks Netgalley.

[Nichol Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a very interesting premise and for the most part I found it to be good. However, it does have a few slower parts and mild repetitiveness. The biggest issue for me though is that the book failed to make me actually care about the characters. I believe they could have been fleshed out a lot better. A bit more explanation as to why the world is the way that it is would have also been good. That said though, I still believe that this book is worth a read.

[abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩.

this one probably was a little bit on me, I don’t think I paid enough attention to what this one was actually about. it was basically a black mirror episode in a book, and black mirror is not my favorite show. I just wasn’t interested in the premise, I felt like it dragged and was much longer than needed even though this was about a 200 page book. I just don’t think this type of dystopian story translated well to a book. I feel like it would’ve done better as a short story.

[Petri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC for this book from NetGalley for free.

Cloning children and memory transfers. This had all the materials to be a great scifi horror and I did enjoy this, but there was something very distant with the writing style that kept me from truly sinking myself to the story.

I do think this is a book worth reading as it kept me entertained and I don’t think every book needs to be a literary masterpiece to be worthwhile.

[Julia Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is certainly an interesting and quick read, but overall Precious Children lacked in the entertainment department. None of the characters were fleshed out so I didn't care about any of them and the writing seemed overly simple. I understand some of the POVs were children, but even for them the language used was too simplistic. It almost read like a book written for middle schoolers. The idea was there and it was amazing but the writing fell flat for me.

[Chris Panatier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a tense, quick read. Recommend if you want your blood pressure to go up (in a good way(). From my blurb:

"I finished Precious Children and had to come up for breath. Mary G. Thompson has crafted a tightly wound psychological horror story that feels all too real. You've been warned."

[Nicola Blamires · Rating 4 out of 5]

Precious Children mixes horror and sci fi with an interesting concept in this easy to read novel. Personally I wasn't a huge fan of the mixed media elements as I find that stops the flow however that is down to personal preference.

[Katie Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cloning kids?? Yeah I was immediately drawn to this book when I found out what it was about. It sounded so interesting. I really enjoyed the ending and felt so bad for Geoff. Poor boy went through so much.

[Amanda Newby · Rating 4 out of 5]

*arc received from netgalley*

Precious Children follows the rich who have readily available clones to replace their children when they pass.
Many have said that this could be a Black Mirror episode and I agree! It’s an interesting concept and made for a great read.

[Lottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley, Mary G. Thompson & Tachyon Publications for this e-arc!

review to come

[Obscura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A disturbing near future where cloning blurs the line between life, ownership, and identity.

Will be posting review on Release Day!