My Brother's Keeper [Mass Market Paperback]

Charles Sheffield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

TIME-SHARING TWINS

Lionel Salkind was a rising musical star. His twin brother, Leo Foss, was a researcher in government work that he couldn't talk about. Then the helicopter they were flying crashed.

When he woke up, Lionel learned that both he and Leo had sustained fatal injuries, and he was only alive because the surgeon had used organs from Leo to repair Lionel's slightly less damaged body. More than half of Lionel's brain was gone, and had been replaced with Leo's. Lionel, in fact, had become "His Brother's Keeper!"

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Baen (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671578731
• ISBN-13: 978-0671578732
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,609,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Action Thriller - Misleading cover, October 13, 2000

By 

"mje_2" (Orlando, Fl United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Brother's Keeper (Mass Market Paperback)

I am glad that this book is being reprinted. I have worn out previous copies reading them.

As a mystery thriller, it is one of the best I have read. On top of that, as an SF book, the 'science' of the story is intriguing.

The plot and the characterization of the two brothers is what takes this book from 4 stars to 5 stars. The antagonist is truly evil.

Oh yes, the cover.. Have a sense of humor.. The 'hero' is supposed to be a pianist. The cover looks like the 'Hulk'.

Enjoy!!!!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Does two (minds) into one (body) go?, October 2, 2000

By 

Mr Mark Brimicombe - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Brother's Keeper (Mass Market Paperback)

Lionel Salkind, a world-class pianist, meets his twin brother Leo Foss (a naturalised american CIA agent) only for both of them to sustain fatal injuries in a not-so-accidental helicopter crash. Doctors manage to save Lionel by transplanting half of Leo's brain into his less-damaged body. In consequence, Lionel finds that his dead twin is still alive, buried within his brain. In three months, Leo will be able to communicate directly with Lionel and the outside world - but Leo's enemies don't know which twin survived, and are taking steps to protect themselves, and the mysterious "Belur package" they took from Leo's body...

An interesting premise - all the more so when you consider that everything in the novel is theoretically possible. Lionel is clearly a more conservative character than his James Bond clone brother (who seems to have girlfriends or wives in every corner of the globe), and is desperately trying to make a new life for himself, knowing that his brain damage has almost certainly ruined his playing, while his emotional centres have been replaced by Leo's. And, of course, there is a 70% chance that when his brain and Leo's finally knit together, that he will suffer a fatal stroke.

A gripping biotechno-thriller, with a limping, battered, possibly dying protagonist, I strongly recommend this book

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a younger effort but a great read!, September 8, 2000

By 

Robert (jossalyn) Emslie (San Gabriel, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Brother's Keeper (Mass Market Paperback)

i read this one by accident, years ago, when i thought it looked interesting in the bookstore and i had never heard of the author before. since then i think i have reread it a dozen times. a little choppy in the progression of the storyline, but a neat premise. twin brothers, separated at birth and raised apart by different family members, develop different lives as adults. but being twins enables them to be perfect matches for each other when an accident nearly takes both lives and the organs of one are harvested to save the other. this includes part of each brother's brain- when the nerves begin to reconnect, the survivor starts experiencing memories of the dead twin's secret life... and it turns out he's not the only one who wants to understand the rest.