Double Helix

The Washington Post

Werlin is a mistress of intelligent, imaginative mystery writing for the YA crowd, and Double Helix is as good as anything she's done. — Elizabeth Ward

Publishers Weekly

In this mesmerizing novel, Werlin (The Killer's Cousin) adapts the medical mystery genre to explore the bewildering, complex issues surrounding experimental gene therapy. Narrator Eli Samuels, about to graduate from high school, has fired off an e-mail to Quincy Wyatt, a world-famous scientist and head of a genetics research corporation-stunningly, Wyatt summons Eli and offers him a job. Eli is thrilled, but the news horrifies his father, who, without explanation, asks Eli to turn it down (Eli takes it anyway). Eli's father's silence on the subject of Wyatt has many precedents within Eli's home. Eli's mother is rapidly deteriorating from Huntington's disease, a hereditary illness. Eli has not told his girlfriend, Viv, about his mother nor even introduced Viv to his father. Eli has talents he hides, but somehow Wyatt knows of them and even takes pride in them. Meanwhile Eli knows that his father conceals other information-and that Wyatt has somehow been pivotal to his family. The characterizations feel somewhat incomplete, but the plot moves at a tantalizing clip, with secrets revealed in tiny increments, and hints and clues neatly planted. Werlin distills the scientific element to a manageable level, enough for readers to follow Eli as he ponders Wyatt's work and his mother's illness. As the author tackles bioethical issues, the story's climax appeals to reason and love for humanity without resorting to easy answers. Brisk, intelligent and suspenseful all the way. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

From The Critics

Eighteen-year-old Eli has always been smarter, faster, and stronger than the average kid. He has never really questioned why until the mysterious and brilliant Dr. Wyatt begins to take a curious interest in him and offers him a job at his renowned lab, Wyatt Transgenics. When Eli's father pleads with him to decline the offer but refuses to explain why, Eli becomes more intrigued. His life gets turned upside down as he begins his search for answers and uncovers some disturbing secrets about his past. This suspenseful book is both mysterious and exciting. Nancy Werlin takes her readers on a wild ride with Eli as he struggles to gain an understanding of the secrets in his own past that may be his only hope in the future. This gripping novel explores some serious themes such as morality and the ethics of genetic engineering. It is also a story of the ties of love and loyalty that bond a father and son. 2004, Dial Books, 248 pp., Ages young adult.
—Sarah Briggs

Children's Literature

Can scientists succeed in selectively altering human DNA? If so, are such procedures ethical? Who gets to decide what is ethical? Edgar Award winner Nancy Werlin addresses these weighty questions in a compelling novel about Eli, a young man whose mother is dying from a debilitating genetic disease, leaving him to wonder whether he has inherited the DNA sequence that marks the disease. When the unqualified Eli is offered a job in the transgenetic lab of a famous molecular biologist, he begins to sense a mysterious connection between this doctor and his own family. Where does a cleverly concealed lab elevator lead? Who is the beautiful girl who looks so much like his mother when young? Eli's quest for answers leads him to some unsettling information about himself, his mother, and the doctor's secret experiments in the basement of the lab. While pursuing the truth about his past, the troubled young man must also confront his feelings for his faithful girlfriend and try to build a relationship with his secretive father. As the suspense builds, a chilling climax solves the mystery on one level, but leaves vital ethical questions unanswered. A more mature Eli urges his bioethics professor at MIT to include the general public in discussions about the ethics of genetic engineering, too important to be left to scientists alone. Young adult readers of Double Helix may well be inspired to join the dialogue between concerned citizens and the scientific community about issues raised by this timely mystery. 2004, Dial, Ages 12 up.
— Barbara L. Talcroft

KLIATT

Eli, just graduating from high school, has been offered a job as a lab assistant at Wyatt Transgenics. It sounds like a great position, but his father doesn't want him to take it and won't explain why. Eli knows that something went on between his parents and Dr. Wyatt in the past, but his father won't talk about it and his mother is too ill with Huntington's disease to communicate at all. Eli decides to take the job in spite of his father, but he discovers that there is more to the place than he had first suspected: a whole secret underground level, in fact. Dr. Wyatt takes a special interest in Eli, and engages him in stimulating conversations about genetics and the existence of free will. He introduces Eli to a beautiful girl named Kayla—and then Eli discovers that Kayla is the spitting image of his mother as a teenager. Together, Eli and Kayla uncover the daring and frightening genetic engineering experiments in which Dr. Wyatt has been engaged, and learn more about their own unusual heritage. This story about bioethics will appeal to the intellectually curious reader. Werlin, author of the acclaimed YA mysteries The Killer's Cousin, Black Mirror, and other novels, keeps the suspense high, and she draws convincing portraits of a bright young man, his anguished father, the clever, amoral, Dr. Moreau-like Dr. Wyatt, and the other characters. Lots of food for thought here. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2004, Penguin Putnam, Dial, 256p., Ages 15 to adult.
—Paula Rohrlick

VOYA

From the award-winning mystery writer, whose Killer's Cousin (Delacorte, 1998/VOYA October 1998) was named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, comes a mystery that revolves around a secretive molecular biology laboratory, its eccentric director, and a recent high school graduate. Seventeen-year-old Eli has always felt somewhat different from his peers; he is 6 feet 7 inches tall and still growing, excels to the point of perfection in sports, and intentionally made mistakes in school so that his girlfriend could become valedictorian. But all is not well. His mother is in a nursing home dying of a debilitating disease, one that Eli might have inherited. His reticent father broods and keeps secret what happened to Eli's mother years ago at Transgenic Labs. Eli's fear of the disease has almost destroyed his relationship with his girlfriend. He secures a summer job at the lab to do some investigating and soon encounters the overly friendly director and Kayla, an oddly familiar student who seems to be another perfect specimen. Together the two teens discover a hidden elevator that leads to an undocumented subbasement wherein lie many surprises. Was Eli genetically engineered? Why does Kayla look just like a young version of Eli's mother? The novel starts out a bit slowly, but the suspense builds quickly. The final revelations are surprising but disappointing—not particularly shocking and somewhat incomplete. The story is well told, however, and explores the ethical questions surrounding genetic engineering, an issue with which the next generation will undoubtedly wrestle. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High,defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Dial, 256p., Ages 12 to 18.
—Kevin Beach

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Eighteen-year-old Eli Samuels, whose once-vibrant mother is losing her long battle with the ravages of Huntington's disease, is hired at the Wyatt Transgenics Lab. Eli's father is dead set against the job because of a secret he harbors concerning the lab's owner, Dr. Quincy Wyatt, and Eli's mother. Shortly after starting work, the teen meets Kayla Matheson, a beautiful girl who eerily reminds him of a photo of his mother when she was young. Slowly, Eli uncovers one layer after another of the shocking truth about Dr. Wyatt's genetic-engineering experiments and their connection to his parents, Kayla, and himself. With the support of his longtime girlfriend and soul mate, he confronts Dr. Wyatt in a taut climax to the story. Werlin clearly and dramatically raises fundamental bioethical issues for teens to ponder. She also creates a riveting story with sharply etched characters and complex relationships that will stick with readers long after the book is closed. An essential purchase for YA collections.-Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Tragedy and family politics combine for a suspenseful exploration of love and bioethics. Brilliant Eli has been fighting with his father for months. The fight began when Eli refused to apply to college, but the communication breakdown is rooted in their unshared and inarticulate grief over Eli's mother. The genetic disease that will eventually kill her has left Eli's once-loving mother shamefully insane. Desperate to escape home for the summer, Eli takes a job with the brilliant Dr. Wyatt. He's lucky to get a chance to work with the famous geneticist, but his father is furious. Some terrible secret lies between Dr. Wyatt and Eli's parents, which must explain Dr. Wyatt's fascination with Eli, and Eli's father's hatred of Dr. Wyatt. There will be no easy answers for Eli as he explores the mystery of his own past, and of the compellingly beautiful girl to whom Dr. Wyatt introduces him. Thought-provoking, powerful, and rich in character. (Fiction. YA)