CAST OF SHADOWS by Kevin Guilfoile

[Joy Calderwood]

The best crime novel I've read in years. The blurb says, "How far would you go to look into the face of your daughter's killer?" A scientist creates a clone from DNA found at the scene of his daughter's murder. The child Justin is a miniature of a violent and very intelligent man known to his daughter. But were this man's urges the product of nature or nurture? The exploration of Justin is thrillingly complex and his personal answer leaves readers stunned.

Discussion:
1) Have you read it?
2) If you haven't, do!
3) What did you think?

[Jude Hardin]

Haven't read it, Joy, but it certainly is an interesting concept.

Nature vs. nurture. I had a sociology professor in college who believed that people are 100% product of their environments. Hogwash, I say. If you've ever raised a kid, or if you've been close to someone and observed them from birth on, it's not hard to see that people are born with certain personalities. Sure, environment plays a big part, but I think people are genetically hardwired in certain ways.

[Julie Morrigan]

1) No, not yet.
2) Yes I will, it sounds great!
3) To be continued...

Joy, it sounds like a brilliant read and I love picking up things other people are passionate about. It does occasionally backfire (Bridget Jones - eek!) but generally it's worthwhile and a great deal of fun. This site could be the bankrupting of me!

[David J. Montgomery]

I read it, but just couldn't get interested in the story or the characters. A real let-down for me.

[BrianLindenmuth]

I've never heard of the book before but I just reserved it at my local Borders and will be picking it up with in three days

[Steve Mosby]

I've read it (it's called 'Wicker' here in the UK, if anyone looks for it). I liked it. The style's really interesting. It's set over about 20 years, and each chapter is a key event over that time, so it moves very quickly, but the story is quite fragmented: sometimes the next chapter carries straight on; sometimes a year has passed. Did make it a little hard for me to relate to the characters - it's almost like a series of snapshots, rather than a home movie - and the ending was a bit predictable (sorry!), but overall, I thought it was different and interesting. Well worth reading, anyway.

[Joy Calderwood]

You're referring to the last-page ending, aren't you, Steve? One of the subplots. I would never have guessed Justin's solution, which to me is the main plot. Though I suppose which of the plots is the main one is debatable.

Thanks for the UK title. Hard to recommend books worldwide when the titles are different. :-/

[Steve Mosby]

Hmmm - not sure, as I read it a while back. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I think I know what you mean: and the last-page ending was fairly predictable, in that a character would have been a bit redundant without it. But Justin's ending - I did see it coming from a way off. Maybe I just have a morbid imagination and thought "wouldn't it be awful if this happened?". So, although I half-guessed where it was going, I do remember being pleasantly surprised by it having the courage of its convictions, as it gets very dark indeed. And I like that.

Seemed to pre-empt all this Second Life business very effectively too - although maybe it just pre-empted me hearing about it. :-)