The Gene Thieves
By (Author) Maria Quinn
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
Voyager
1st March 2009
Australia
General
Fiction
A823
Paperback
432
Width 136mm, Height 198mm, Spine 28mm
288g
Brilliant, lonely genetic scientist Piggy Brown is desperate for a child, but he's in a tricky legal situation. Dancer is a lawyer with his own reasons for wanting to grant Piggy's dearest wish - and he can set up Conjugal Contracts which push the envelope of the law. Dancer visits The Nest, the official centre for surrogates, and inveigles them into recommending someone they have used before, someone who won't ask too many questions about the baby she carries. But choosing a surrogate can be risky, and this one, Angela, comes with baggage: her own child, Molly, a six-year-old who has already seen too much of her mother's world. When a grotesque kidnapping occurs, everything is thrown into chaos and Jack Lee, Chief Investigator for the UN Ethical Science Council, decides it's time to take charge of the case - for the sake of humanity's future.
Maria Quinns career began in Sydney as an advertising copywriter. After working in the US and Canada, she moved to a London agency, as Creative Director. Returning to Australia, she became a magazine editor and feature writer. Her television credits include producing the national program Kings Kitchen. She is the winner of the 2007 Todhunter Literary Award for short story and the recipient of a prestigious Varuna fellowship. This is her first novel. Visit Maria's website at www.storyworldonline.com