Double Helix [Unabridged, Audiobook] [Unknown Binding]

Nancy Werlin (Author), Scott Shina (Narrator)

Product Details

• Unknown Binding
• Publisher: Recorded Books; Unabridged CD edition (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419318306
• ISBN-13: 978-1419318306
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,069,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy Werlin was born and raised in Peabody, Massachusetts, USA and now lives near Boston. She received her bachelor's degree in English from Yale.Since then, she has worked as a technical writer and editor for several computer software and Internet companies, while also writing fiction. She is a National Book Award finalist.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book, May 25, 2004

By 

trent gerber (monroeville, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Double Helix (Hardcover)

The setting is in present time. It is a science fiction book that deals with cloning and DNA manipulation. The suspense keeps the story moving throughout the book. Eli is an 18 year old who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. By chance a famed scientist Dr. Wyatt took interest in Eli and gave him a good job. A job that his father is abosolutly agianst Eli in taking. What ever the reason Eli's father doesn't want him taking the job, it is to painful for him to speak about. Eli thinks that there is some connection between Dr. Wyatt and his family and wants some answers. This is an excellent book to read and I would suggest everybody who would like a good read to read this book. This would definatly one of the best books I've ever read.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An extremely poor attempt at discussing bioethics., July 21, 2010

By 

EvoDiva - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Double Helix (Paperback)

This book was a phenomenal disappointment. I was excited the day I found it at B&N and bumped it high up on my reading list. What a letdown. I am a Biological Sciences major and I wrote my honors thesis on scientific literacy. When I found this book, I thought, "How wonderful! A teen book about science and NOT vampires!" What I got was a lecture on how scientists are evil and immoral and all genetic research is suspect.

From a literary standpoint, the main character, Eli Samuels, is emotionally shallow, self-serving, naive, angsty... the list goes on. The pacing was extremely bizarre. Some of the plot points were scientifically inaccurate (for example: new recruits are not allowed to play with lab animals, there are a LOT of hurdles you have to jump in order to work animals of any kind - the kind of detail that underscores how lazy the author was). And the "mystery" wasn't especially mysterious, or even remotely difficult to figure out.

As for the bioethics of this book, Werlin mentions discussions with people about genetic research and claims to have read a great amount of material on the subject, yet her view is so narrow-minded and heavy-handed that it's difficult to believe that she even cracked a book that disagreed with her viewpoint. There is no discussion of right and wrong, of the different positions that exist on the subject or where some of the grey areas might be. Scientists are represented as pretentious, scornful of anyone who isn't an expert, and completely lacking a moral compass.

And yet, we're supposed to believe that a young man whose only belief about his mother (who suffers from Huntington's Disease) is that she's "insane" and that she should just die and get it over with so he and his father (whom he also hates) can get on with their lives -- this young man is APPALLED to discover that embryos were considered "waste material" by the evil Dr. Wyatt. Apart from being unbelievably trite, it's appallingly hypocritical.

If you want a good story about the bioethics of human genetic manipulation, watch Gattaca. It has the added bonus of Jude Law and Ewan McGregor. And Uma Therman, if you're into that sort of thing.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Werlin at her best!, April 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Double Helix (Hardcover)

This book was amazing! I absolutely loved every part of it. The summary above explains the plot, but the greatness of this novel cannot be put into words. I recommend this book to anyone who has read Nancy Werlin's books before, and anyone who wants a good read. Thumbs up!