The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

Did you ever break the expensive vase and then try to fix it before your mom came home? This book is kinda like that… but with clones.

Evelyn is a diehard workaholic. Nothing is going to get in between herself and her lab… including her husband and the baby he wants. Things get tricky when he eventually has an affair with her lab assistant. Did I mention Martine, the lab assistant, is Evelyn’s clone (built by Nathan to be more compliant than Evelyn)? Pretty soon Nathan wants a divorce and Martine gets preggos… A clone that can get pregnant?

With all this tension in the air, Evelyn’s phone rings… There’s been an accident. She rushes to her ex’s house to find blood everywhere and in the middle of it all is Nathan’s dead body. Martine says it is “Self-defense…”

How do Evelyn and Martine propose to ‘fix the broken vase?” Won’t Nathan’s friends and colleagues start questioning his absence?

Gailey has written some of the best works of SSF in the past several years. Upright Women Wanted was one of my very favorites from last year! They write characters that I undoubtedly relate to. Even at their greediest, Gailey finds a way to get me to empathize with them and their twisted moral compasses. It particularly becomes fun when in the context of a clone and the process it takes to build and condition them.

Let’s talk about science… The reader is given just enough of the amnio and helixes and embryos to get that science-y feeling, that lab credibility. This foundation allows for the “love triangle” to proceed. I write this for those who may shy away from a science fiction novel… I see this as thriller wrapped in a bit of science to give the speculation legitimacy. A perfect blend of creepiness, tension, and intelligence.

I recommend The Echo Wife is a twisty SciFi “love triangle” for the future. It is awesome!

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Books, and the author for an advanced copy for review.