Kevin Guilfoile writes a creepy new thriller inspired by Frankenstein & cloning

The New York Times > Books > Books of The Times | 'Cast of Shadows': The Frankenstein Model, but Updated With Cloning
Surprise! cloning is creepy; plots moralize about technology in terms of "good" versus "evil"; Frankenstein, the union of medical technology and human invention, is programmed for evil:

"The inspiration for that plot comes from the mother of all horror stories: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein." In that novel a student named Frankenstein brings to life a monster made from body parts stolen from graveyards and dissecting rooms. After being rejected as a freak by the rest of society, the monster goes on a bloody rampage, wreaking revenge on his creator, who had dared usurp God's role as creator.

"The Frankenstein role in 'Cast of Shadows' is taken by a workaholic doctor named Davis Moore, who specializes in cloning. The novel takes place in the not so distant future when human cloning has become a feasible if controversial method of reproduction; like abortion today, cloning draws the ire of certain religious groups, including a handful of vigilantes intent on using violence to publicize their protest. Chief among these vigilantes, we're told, is a man known as Mickey the Gerund, who has killed a growing list of fertility doctors and who has made an unsuccessful effort to assassinate Davis."