Cellmates [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert A. Burton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 1999

Imagine: You've just found out you have nine brothers.  Identical to you in every way.  Except for the gene that made one of them a killer--

Artie Singleton's mother was dead.  But among her possessions lay a letter.  And inside was a secret that would shatter her son's world: In 1963, a shocking experiment at a famous fertility clinic had cloned ten identical male children from a single donor embryo.  Artie Singleton was one of them.

Artie, a successful San Francisco entrepreneur, is now searching for his nine brothers.  He assumes they will look just like him.  But Artie finds some things he didn't expect: a sociopath among the clones determined to kill off the others--and a terrifying truth about their gene pool that could spell Artie's doom, or give him the cunning to stay alive.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Arnie Singleton would appear to have a wonderful life. He's 28 and owns a comic book and CD-ROM shop in San Francisco that has suddenly become a hot hangout. Then Arnie learns a disturbing fact: he is one of 10 genetically identical clones. Not only that, but somebody is killing off his siblings and making their deaths look like suicides. In Robert A. Burton's energetic, thoughtful thriller, written in a brisk and funny style that makes Ira Levin's similarly themed The Boys from Brazil play like a Wagnerian tragedy, Arnie and two of his remaining brothers set out to uncover the secrets of their strange birthright. Burton's first medical thriller, the equally engaging Final Therapy, is available in paperback. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

When comic book and computer game retailer Artie Singleton discovers the family he never knew?nine genetically engineered clones of himself?plans for a preliminary reunion go bust; one by one, each of his "brothers" succumbs to a serial murderer until Artie, along with his surviving identical gambling brother, Tuna, tag-team to catch the killer in a setup that proves as complicated as one of Artie's best-selling hypertext games. Burton's (Final Therapy, Jove, 1994) wireless technothriller is peppered with jargon and plotted with an almost loopy sensibility that will mesmerize some and confuse others. An optional purchase for contemporary fiction collections.?Ahmad Wright, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dell (February 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440226562
• ISBN-13: 978-0440226567
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,545,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful writing and a predictable finish, May 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Cellmates (Mass Market Paperback)

There aren't too many good things to say about this book. In summary, there are ten clones, all scattered throughout the West Coast, one of which is trying to kill the other nine. The problem is, the author tells you which one is the killer towards the beginning, which eliminates all suspense. The characters are poorly developed and not credible. Only one of the ten 28-year old clones has a real job (the others live in the woods as hermits or have joined various religious sects). It was difficult to relate to any of them. Even Artie, the main character, works in a virtual reality-type game shop with a Bozo-the-clown looking girlfriend (at least that's the way she was described in the book). Again, not very believable.

File this book under science fiction. Or, better yet, file in the recyclable heap, which might be more appropriate.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Terrible job, November 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cellmates (Mass Market Paperback)

The plot sounded promising, but the author failed to deliver. The characters are ridicilously unbelievable. There are ten 28 year-old men, and none of them have a normal lifestyle - one is a monk, one is a professional clown, one gambles at Las Vegas casinos for his income, one lives in the woods as a recluse, etc. Give me a break... Also, the dialogue is rushed and choppy. I had a hard time believing that Artie would take a two hour flight to have a two minute, uneventful conversation with one of his clones.

Most importantly, perhaps, is that the killer is purposefully revealed in the first 80 pages. I was hoping for a mystery where the reader has to guess which of the clones was the culprit. That was not the case. The only reason I read further was to be introduced to the rest of the Artie Singleton "zoo" (the ten characters) for a good laugh. In that sense, the book was entertaining (hence, the second star). Otherwise, it was a major disappointment.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Predictable, March 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Cellmates (Mass Market Paperback)

I found that the characters are likeable. The general pace of the book such that it made the book a fast read. However, the plot, as promising as it was, was completely predictable. If you are a hardcore mystery buff, I would definitely go elsewhere.