Review of Chloe The Clone
Posted: 18 May 2025, 02:36
[Following is a volunteer review of "Chloe The Clone" by William E. Mason.]
Sam Turner needs a heart transplant, so he paid Clonal Transplants, Inc. to grow a clone who is supposed to be brain dead to supply a healthy heart. Unfortunately for Sam, some errors at the company led to the growth of a sentient girl. When a change in the law leads to the FBI coming to seize all the clones, company CEO Demetri Andropov decides to hide Sam's clone and give her to him while she's heavily sedated. Andropov convinces Sam that he must go to Mexico with the clone using a fake birth certificate for her in which she is named Chloe. Can Sam go through with this plan?
Chloe The Clone by William E. Mason explores the ethical and moral issues connected to human cloning. The author uses various characters to develop different points of view connected to the use of human cloning with the aim of growing organs that will be used for transplants. Cloning single organs, which would solve all ethical and moral issues, is a technology that hasn't been perfected yet. The novel is set at a time when that's legal, but the law changes at the beginning, triggering some crucial events.
The plot is fast-paced, as Sam's attempt to go to Mexico to have a heart transplant quickly takes unexpected turns. Surprising plot developments are another positive element of this novel. There are moments when Sam and other characters reflect on the use of clones for transplants, but most of the time, the author just shows their actions and lets the reader reflect on the characters' choices.
Sam Turner is the character who is forced to make the hardest choices, as he's a man suffering from heart disease, so he wanted to have a clone grown to obtain a new heart. He wasn't told that his clone was sentient, and that made his situation more complicated. It's easy to relate to Sam because he's a normal man who wants to live and paid for a healthy heart.
To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that Sam's choices offer most of the food for thought. Different points of view are expressed at a meeting of a support group that also includes religious people who have strong moral objections to cloning. For the same reason, some religious people might not want to read this novel.
You could say that Demetri Andropov is Sam's antagonist. Andropov is a ruthless businessman who got angry when he discovered that Chloe wasn't properly treated to destroy her brain functions. However, his anger is due only to the fact that he can get in legal trouble and lose money. He's a bit monodimensional, as he has no redeeming qualities. If I have to pick a negative in this novel, it's that some characters are a bit stereotypical.
The book contains more than 10 errors, so I have to deduct a star from its rating. I rate it 4 out of 5 stars because it explores ethical and moral issues connected to human cloning and its possible ramifications. Various animals have already been cloned, so at least in theory, human cloning is already possible.
If you want to explore the possible consequences, especially the ones connected to organ transplants, I recommend reading Chloe The Clone. I urge caution concerning young readers because the novel contains a lot of profanity. There are just mild hints of sex and some violence, far less than your average teenager has seen on TV.
******
Chloe The Clone
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Sam Turner needs a heart transplant, so he paid Clonal Transplants, Inc. to grow a clone who is supposed to be brain dead to supply a healthy heart. Unfortunately for Sam, some errors at the company led to the growth of a sentient girl. When a change in the law leads to the FBI coming to seize all the clones, company CEO Demetri Andropov decides to hide Sam's clone and give her to him while she's heavily sedated. Andropov convinces Sam that he must go to Mexico with the clone using a fake birth certificate for her in which she is named Chloe. Can Sam go through with this plan?
Chloe The Clone by William E. Mason explores the ethical and moral issues connected to human cloning. The author uses various characters to develop different points of view connected to the use of human cloning with the aim of growing organs that will be used for transplants. Cloning single organs, which would solve all ethical and moral issues, is a technology that hasn't been perfected yet. The novel is set at a time when that's legal, but the law changes at the beginning, triggering some crucial events.
The plot is fast-paced, as Sam's attempt to go to Mexico to have a heart transplant quickly takes unexpected turns. Surprising plot developments are another positive element of this novel. There are moments when Sam and other characters reflect on the use of clones for transplants, but most of the time, the author just shows their actions and lets the reader reflect on the characters' choices.
Sam Turner is the character who is forced to make the hardest choices, as he's a man suffering from heart disease, so he wanted to have a clone grown to obtain a new heart. He wasn't told that his clone was sentient, and that made his situation more complicated. It's easy to relate to Sam because he's a normal man who wants to live and paid for a healthy heart.
To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that Sam's choices offer most of the food for thought. Different points of view are expressed at a meeting of a support group that also includes religious people who have strong moral objections to cloning. For the same reason, some religious people might not want to read this novel.
You could say that Demetri Andropov is Sam's antagonist. Andropov is a ruthless businessman who got angry when he discovered that Chloe wasn't properly treated to destroy her brain functions. However, his anger is due only to the fact that he can get in legal trouble and lose money. He's a bit monodimensional, as he has no redeeming qualities. If I have to pick a negative in this novel, it's that some characters are a bit stereotypical.
The book contains more than 10 errors, so I have to deduct a star from its rating. I rate it 4 out of 5 stars because it explores ethical and moral issues connected to human cloning and its possible ramifications. Various animals have already been cloned, so at least in theory, human cloning is already possible.
If you want to explore the possible consequences, especially the ones connected to organ transplants, I recommend reading Chloe The Clone. I urge caution concerning young readers because the novel contains a lot of profanity. There are just mild hints of sex and some violence, far less than your average teenager has seen on TV.
******
Chloe The Clone
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon