Cast of Shadows: A Novel

by Kevin Guilfoile

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A bereaved doctor undertakes a diabolical experiment in a shattering philosophical thriller that anticipates the moral, social, and metaphysical dilemmas science is poised to confront.Davis Moore is a fertility doctor in Chicago specializing in reproductive cloning, a controversial and closely regulated new practice, when his seventeen-year-old daughter is brutally raped and murdered. The case is investigated but never solved. Months later, Moore retrieves her belongings from the police, and finds among them a vial containing the killer’s DNA. Tormented by grief, Moore entertains a monstrous thought: the possibility of cloning not his daughter but the man who killed her. How far would you go to look into the face of your daughter’s murderer? Justin Finn, at three, looks like any other child. Bright, joyful, sweet; an innocent toddler to his unsuspecting parents and to all who know him. But his face, one day, will be the exact match of the cold-blooded killer of whom he is a perfect genetic replica. Can a three-year-old have a past? Where does evil come from? What happens to the soul when we die? What are you duplicating when you duplicate a human life? Cast of Shadowsis a spectacularly original, hair-raising novel about the fate of a little boy brought into the world to solve a crime. Relentlessly gripping, profoundly unsettling, and visionary, it introduces a major new suspense novelist.… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)

I really wanted to like this book. It was recommended in some forum somewhere where supposedly smart people were discussing another book I really liked and someone suggested this was a good one in the same vein. It wasn't. Poor character development. Some of them don't ever have backstory. Some characters are introduced only to further a single plot point and then disregarded. Entire sub-plots are introduced and go nowhere. Too much emphasis on a twist ending that could be seen miles away. (Although admittedly the author sprinkled in so many clues that this, perhaps, was his intent.) It disappointed me, and I'm glad I'm done and can move on. That said, I'll give it as many stars as I have because the writing (the prose) itself wasn't bad. I've certainly read worse writing before and I suspect Guilfoile could turn out a good book if he abandoned cliches and gimmicks and focused more on his characters. (

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invisiblelizard | Aug 18, 2023 |

I thought this a really great book. Lots of twists and turns, but nothing that seems cheaply plotted. About choices and their consequences--consequences for the choice maker and all of those around him/her. This is one of those stories that pops into my head years after having read it. (

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Chris.Wolak | Oct 13, 2022 |

A very interesting and well developed book, it's overly complex at times (the person before me was reduced to writing notes in the library book to keep track of events), but it all spawns from a very interesting premise and is a good read if you can get through it. (

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swampygirl | Dec 9, 2013 |

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

His daughter, AK is raped and murdered. The killer escapes and when Dr. Moore picks up AK's belongings, he obtains a sample of the killer's DNA. With no other way to identify the killer, he clones a child with the killer's DNA so the child will grow up to be the exact replica of the killer.

Mickey the Gerund is a religious fanatic and member of the group the Hands of God. He feels he's a soldier in God's army whose mission is to destroy fertility clinics and the doctors running them. He'd dubbed Byron Bonavarti by the press.

The novel proceeds at a leisurly pace which allows the suspense to build. It spans many years and we see the baby, Justin Finn, born and grow older.

The author provides information about the moral and ethical considerations of cloning. Our interest heightens as Justin turns various ages and develops an avid interest in serial killers and in Bryron Bonavarti.

With haunting prose, Justin seems to become more like his cloned father and we wonder if the author has cloned another mass murderer.

There are some excellent surprises and twists along the way which add to the interest.

The author has delivered a unique and interesting novel pitting the forces of good against evil and we wonder which side will win. (

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mikedraper | Jan 20, 2012 |

I'm giving this high ratings because I really just did not see the ending coming! The story seemed a little slow for a while but then it took off and didn't stop. Of course it was highly contrived and circumstances were over the top with how they worked out but I'm impressed with what the author pulled together. (

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nyiper | Nov 3, 2011 |

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year

Great Lakes Book Award (Finalist – Mystery/Intrigue – 2005)

Kansas City Star Best Book of the Year

Lovey Award (First Novel – 2006)

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Information from the Russian Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

Театр теней

Original title

Cast of Shadows

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Epigraph

The opinions which naturally spring from the character and the situation of the hero are by no means to be conceived as existing always in my own conviction; nor is any inference justly to be drawn from the following pages as prejudicing any philosophical doctrine of whatever kind.

Mary Shelley, from the preface to Frankenstein

Dedication

For Mo, who said everything would turn out exactly the way it did

First words

This wasn't grief Davis felt, staring at her so-still feet pointing at the impossible sngles to the tight synthetic weave of charcoal carpet.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

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Canonical DDC/MDS

813.6

Canonical LCC

PS3607.U48

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Cast of Shadows

Kevin Guilfoile

▾Book descriptions

A bereaved doctor undertakes a diabolical experiment in a shattering philosophical thriller that anticipates the moral, social, and metaphysical dilemmas science is poised to confront.Davis Moore is a fertility doctor in Chicago specializing in reproductive cloning, a controversial and closely regulated new practice, when his seventeen-year-old daughter is brutally raped and murdered. The case is investigated but never solved. Months later, Moore retrieves her belongings from the police, and finds among them a vial containing the killer’s DNA. Tormented by grief, Moore entertains a monstrous thought: the possibility of cloning not his daughter but the man who killed her. How far would you go to look into the face of your daughter’s murderer? Justin Finn, at three, looks like any other child. Bright, joyful, sweet; an innocent toddler to his unsuspecting parents and to all who know him. But his face, one day, will be the exact match of the cold-blooded killer of whom he is a perfect genetic replica. Can a three-year-old have a past? Where does evil come from? What happens to the soul when we die? What are you duplicating when you duplicate a human life? Cast of Shadowsis a spectacularly original, hair-raising novel about the fate of a little boy brought into the world to solve a crime. Relentlessly gripping, profoundly unsettling, and visionary, it introduces a major new suspense novelist.

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Book description

A bereaved doctor undertakes a diabolical experiment in a shattering philosophical thriller that anticipates the moral, social, and metaphysical dilemmas science is poised to confront.

Davis Moore is a fertility doctor in Chicago specializing in reproductive cloning, a controversial and closely regulated new practice, when his seventeen-year-old daughter is brutally raped and murdered. The case is investigated but never solved. Months later, Moore retrieves her belongings from the police and finds among them a vial containing the killer's DNA. Tormented by grief, Moore entertains a monstrous thought: the possibility of cloning not his daughter but the man who killed her. How far would you go to look into the face of your daughter's murderer?

Justin Finn, at three, looks like any other child. Bright, joyful, sweet; an innocent toddler to his unsuspecting parents and to all who know him. But his face, one day, will be the exact match of the cold-blooded killer of whom he is a perfect genetic replica. Can a three-year-old have a past? Where does evil come from? What happens to the soul when we die? What are you duplicating when you duplicate a human life?

Cast of Shadows is a spectacularly original, hair-raising novel about the fate of a little boy brought into the world to solve a crime.

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