Shephard's Drone

A breathtaking, near-future novel from the author of Re-Engineering Humanity, one of The Guardian's Best Books of 2018.

Boston, Massachusetts, 2154. Life is good. Kate Genet has her dream job. She is a renowned geneticist with her own state-of-the-art research lab. Suddenly, when visiting a maternity ward, everything in her life changes. Kate observes the unexpected death of a bio-mod couple's newborn. The shock rattles her, awakening memories and long-suppressed fears. Kate rejects the doctor's explanation and is determined to figure out what actually happened. She's catapulted on a quixotic and dangerous adventure in a world where engineered harmony cannot smooth out more basic human conflict. Kate learns how to live as a human being through death, friendship, sex, danger, and ultimately, love. But in the end, Kate makes an incredible discovery that undermines everything she believes and threatens everyone she loves.

"A toweringly good first novel, with echoes of Brave New World, but searingly relevant to our digital, genetically engineered age, and where it could well lead in this and the next century. Frischmann develops his female protagonist with a masterful hand, and invests his narrative with shocks and surprises in a world that slaps us in the face with its dangerous similarity to ours. Truly science fiction of the finest calibre, and highly recommended."

• Paul Levinson, author of The Silk Code and The Plot to Save Socrates, and President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (1998-2001).

"Brett Frischmann writes like a mad scientist, altering the code of life to elicit new thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. His novel is an experiment conducted on our brains and hearts, to condition us for the future."

• Joshua Cohen, author of Book of Numbers.