Constance, a review by Joanna

In 2038, medical technology has advanced to the stage where the very wealthy can clone themselves and upload their consciousness to a computer regularly, so that if they die, they can be reawakened in a new healthy version of their own body. Not everyone agrees with this, it is banned in some states, and powerful religious factions are violently opposed to it. Con Darcy is a former rock musician whose career ended in a car crash that killed most of her bandmates, left her boyfriend in a vegetative state, and seriously damaged her leg. Mired in survivor’s guilt, estranged from her family, broke and alone, she would never normally be able to afford a clone, but her brilliant scientist aunt Abigail happens to be one of the founders of Palingenesis, America’s major cloning company, and gifted each of her family members a cloning contract, despite removing herself from their lives. After a routine upload, Con discovers she is now a clone, and is missing the last eighteen months of her memory. Confused, scared and with sinister thugs apparently pursuing her, Con becomes obsessed with finding out what happened – can she find out who killed her before they try again?

I like this kind of mildly futuristic sci-fi where the world is recognisable but enough has changed to keep it interesting. While the medical advances here are completely implausible in the time frame given, if you roll with it and accept that a person’s entire mind and memory could be flawlessly transferred from one brain to another via a computer, you set up an intriguing premise with all sorts of fascinating legal and ethical dilemmas. I didn’t immediately like Con as a heroine, she’s prickly and obsessive, but as we get to know her, I warmed to her feisty determination to get to the truth. The plot does get complicated, some elements of the conspiracy just don’t make sense, and the identity of the ultimate villain was not a surprise, but I enjoyed how it all played out. The audiobook narration by January LaVoy was excellent – she has an agreeable accent and handles the various voices admirably. I’m looking forward to the sequel although gather that it’s not about Con, but rather a new character in the same world.