Review of
The Fragile Egg
by A.J. Russo

Highly recommended

In Baltimore 2011, thousands of eggs are frozen each year in preparation for vitro fertilization. Cloning has fallen under FDA jurisdiction, an agency renowned for moving slowly on doctor's requests and requiring mountain of paperwork. With her friend's biological clock ticking, they can't wait two years for FDA approval. Consequently, Dr. Megan McGrath surreptitiously performs the cloning procedure that will lead to her close friend's eventual pregnancy. Even as she questions her right to play God, Megan impregnates her friend with two embryos from her own cloned cells.

Investigator Sean Duncan has a hunch about the lab he'd been watching. He gains access to the room after a doctor leaves late at night and uses a scanner on an open notebook. With his suspicions confirmed, Sean has the power to destroy Megan's career and stop highly successful research into human cloning. Megan is duly prosecuted, but then the plot takes a frightening twist. Someone calls anonymously, claiming that there's something wrong with the eggs Megan donated to her friend.

The struggle to define the point at which life begins provides a strong philosophical basis in AJ Russo's THE FRAGILE EGG. Truth lies in the point of view of the teller, for example, from the woman who desperately wants a child to educators, from social activists and politicians. As their points of view lead to obvious conclusion, issues of abortion, cloning and vitro fertilization come to life. Add ethical and legal consideration, and Russo vividly presents the varying religious and moral consideration of cloning. Further, by giving the story a very human face, he also presents the pain and desperation of would be parents and their medical supports. Regardless of the reader's beliefs, they will find something here to challenge their beliefs and affirm their humanity. Fans of medical thrillers will thoroughly enjoy THE FRAGILE EGG.

~ Cindy Penn editor@wordweaving.com
Senior Editor, http://wordweaving.com
Amazon top 50 reviewer
eBook Specialist, Midwest Book Reviews

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