Customer Reviews

My Brother's Keeper

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!!!!

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for himself, knowing that his brain damage has almost certainly ruined his playing, while his emotional centres have been replaced by Leo's. And, of course, there is a 70% chance that when his brain and Leo's finally knit together, that he will suffer a fatal stroke.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

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.

This is marketed as science fiction, but it is only nominally so. The story is about Lionel Salkind, who is a concert pianist. His twin brother, Leo Foss, works for the U.S. government. His exact work is unkown to Salkind. Foss, who is a helicopter pilot, takes Salkind on a ride one day and tells him he has something important to tell him. Before he can do so, the helicopter crashes, and Foss is killed. Salkind suffers horrific injuries, and survives by receiving some of Foss's organs during surgery. Part of Foss's brain is also implanted in Salkind's head. That ends the science fiction angle. The rest is a mostly lame adventure story, which follows Salkind as he tries to unravel the mystery of his brother's secrets and the circumstances of the crash. The crash is never fully explained. There are some uninteresting passages involving the effects of the fusing of Foss's mind parts with Salkind's.

The "adventure" story is never really suspenseful, because of the nature of the bad guys. They are the perfect example of the gang who couldn't shoot straight. Although they are adept at repeatedly predicting where they will find Salkind, they are continually thwarted in their efforts to hang on to him. He doesn't need genius or ingenuity to survive. Their own inattention is repeatedly their undoing. They are even thwarted by a lawn sprinkler, while escorting Salkind across some grass. The showdown at the end involves a chase across a zoo, where a snake exhibit foils the bad guys. Their evil nature is hinted at, but never really sold, with the exception of one torture scene. And it doesn't involve Salkind. One of the bad guys just so happens to be a talented piano player. Of course he develops a connection with Salkind because of that, and becomes an ineffective evil character. The ending hints at a possible book sequel. I don't know if it was completed. Hopefully not. If it was, hopefully the bad guys attended some training at advanced bad guy school, where they worked on strategies to tackle lawn sprinklers. In the end, this was an accidental comedy. Sheffield has always provided reliable science fiction. This wasn't really science fiction. Perhaps that explains the awkward attempt at an action/suspense book.

This book was better then I had thought it would be. I didn't initially search out this book rather I picked it up because nothing else was available. I have to admit initially I did not hold out much hope on this novel as it was much different then the type I usually enjoy.

Despite my initial trepidation I did enjoy the novel. It was a fast and good read that satisfies much as a sandwich satisfies hunger. It was not a steak but it was fine.

Even though I liked the book I did find the premise as a bit of a stretch and the writing is sometimes confusing. Even with all these faults I found the book a good read and I have no regrets spending a few hours with it.

The plot is interesting and perhaps the best feature of the book. With the merging of body parts between twins to save one from awful injuries to both we see behavioral and mental changes in the surviving twin. The fun is following these changes while the rest of the plot unfolds. As strange as it sounds the somewhat out there plot was not an issue. If there was an issue it was the plot execution.

A good read that deserves 3 stars but I really can't give it 4 stars which I reserve for novels I intend to read again perhaps. A good but not great novel.