4 stars

In the near future science will now all two consciousnesses (is that right? It doesn’t look right.) to exist in one body. Laurie, 65, has Alzheimer’s and Amelia, 23, her daughter, who was once an activist against the Merge, can’t bear to let her go, so they are preparing to be the first pair to undergo the merge where one of the two participants has Alzheimer’s (and things are reeeeeeally sketchy on how, exactly, they expect this to work so that, in the new version, neither has Alzheimer’s. I understand the cancer brothers, the addict family and the baby couple, but this one doesn’t make any sense from a purely medical standpoint. You know, if you’ve bought into the Merge.). Anyway, Laurie will be transferred into Amelia’s body.

They join other Merge participants; teenager Lucas who will merge with his brother Ben who has leukemia, Ben who will merge with pregnant fiancée, Aimee and Lara, an addict who will merge with her father, Jay, all are experimental, like Laurie and Amelia. The group prepares for the procedure and the move to the Village, (The Villages? Ha! That would explain a lot! I kid my southern Florida retirees!) a fancy rehab center for those who have undergone the Merge. However the group starts to wonder if everything is as it seems.

The POV shifts between Laurie and Amelia, and the book takes a Quick Look at economic realities in Western nations (this is in the UK) and class divides, but mainly examines the ethics of this whole thing. It’s very good, if a bit depressing, and the end is excellent. An easy 4 stars.