"Baby X" by Kira Peikoff is a thrilling exploration of the potential consequences of advanced technology in the near-future United States. The novel introduces a world where biological matter can be used to create life, and the black market is capitalizing on this by selling celebrity DNA to the highest bidder or the most obsessed stalker.

The story centers around Trace Thorne, a famous singer tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site specializing in stealing DNA. In an effort to protect himself, Trace hires Ember Ryan, a bio-security guard who is well-versed in the tricks employed by the Vault to obtain DNA. Ember is determined to keep her clients' biological material safe, and her skills have prevented countless DNA thefts. However, when a pregnant woman named Quinn claims that Trace is the father of her baby, the situation takes an unexpected turn.

The narrative delves into themes of biosecurity, privacy, and the ethical dilemmas surrounding advanced reproductive technologies. The tension is palpable as Ember and Trace navigate the challenges posed by the black market and the uncertainties surrounding the paternity claim.

Peikoff's storytelling is propulsive, with a gripping plot that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The exploration of the potential consequences of technological advancements adds depth to the thriller, making it both thought-provoking and entertaining. The comparison to works like "Gattaca" and "Black Mirror" gives readers a sense of the novel's speculative and prescient nature.

"Baby X" is a compelling and unpredictable speculative thriller that should resonate with fans of the genre, especially those who enjoy exploring the intersection of technology, ethics, and human relationships.

This read was 5⭐ way up!

Thank you to NetGalley, The Quick Brown Fox & CO, and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an eARC!

BABY X comes out on March 5, 2024.

Wow! This was a crazy wild ride! I picked Baby X up and finished it in 4 hours, I couldn't put it down! The premise is intriguing, the story captivating and the revelations jaw dropping!

In the not so distant future, DNA from every day objects like your saliva from a water bottle, a stray eyelash on the table, dander on your shoulder, any of it can be used to create viable sex cells for procreation. This means that anybody can have a baby with anybody, (much to the delight of same-sex couples!) and also means that babies can be made from stolen DNA. Celebrity Trace Thorne is dealing with genetic extortion since he's one of the most sought after singers, so he hires Ember to be his bio-security guard, i.e make sure no one can steal his DNA. Thorne and Ember inevitably start falling for each other, but their worlds are rocked when a heavily pregnant woman approaches them and claims that Thorne is the father of her baby! How could this be true? Did Ember miss something? Or is there more to the story than meets the eye? I'll leave that, dear reader, for you to find out!

I can't recommend this book enough! The prose, the pacing, the characters, everything is top notch. The author seamlessly weaves 3 POVs in this captivating story to explore the morality and ambiguous nature of the world she created, while wrapping it all up in a half medical half domestic thriller. And she does this flawlessly. It's a gripping and thought provoking read, and will probably be thinking about the questions asked in this book for a while.

I honestly can't think of any negatives, I didn't even find any spelling errors!

I will be eagerly looking for more of her works because I am hooked :)

This was a quick read with lots of mystery/thriller going on.

read if you like family secrets

I just reviewed Baby X by Kira Peikoff. #BabyX #NetGalley

I am a first time reader of Author Kira Peikoff. This book is fascinating, terrifying, heartwarming and
heartbreaking. The forward thinking scientific breakthroughs that allow a persons trash to potentially
become a child has huge ramifications, and not all are good. I literally read this thriller in a day-I could
not put it down.
The story is that babies are no longer conceived in the usual fashion, but are created by turning in
components at special labs which will create fertilized eggs that are pre-selected by parents, with specific
desired traits and characteristics taken from the available donor pool, ‘Donor’ is a loosely thought out
concept here since folks go to all extremes to engineer their offspring. And due to advances, people are
allowed to conceive well into their golden years, with assurances of healthy babies as all traits and
genetics are sequenced for healthy babies. Next we must deal with what happens to the ‘other’ people~
the rest of us who were not ‘pre-selected,’ and might have catastrophic inherited illness or less desirable
traits - do we tell those kids? Is being ‘preselected’ the new way to have kids….
Then, what happens when young people want to know who their genetic parents are? Is there any privacy
for the famous people whose genetic material might have been lifted from a napkin at a coffee house….
Are Mom and Dad who they say they are? Did they swap out familial genes for better ones?
I am going to read this again before the release date (5 March 2024) because there is a lot going on
and it’s just not possible to hit every note.
My thanks to The Quick Brown Fox & Co. [Crooked Lane Books] via NetGalley for the download copy
of this very entertaining book, for review purposes.

This was a great book! I was hooked from the beginning. I started to lose a bit of interest about 3/4 of the way through, but the ending redeemed it. Highly recommended!

Woah Kira Peokoff, I was not expecting you to hit me so hard with this book! I agree that it definitely gives Gattica vibes but I found it a bit Black Mirror-ish (season 1 vibes). I was fascinated by the realistic future that the author flushed out and the story moved at such a good pace. It kept my interest the entire time.

I'd definitely recommend this to any of my sci-fi Blake Crouch friends.

Big thanks to NetGalley and The Quick Brown Fox & CO, Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy so that I may share my honest feedback and review. I loved this one.