Canadian scientist Pierre Tardivel works in Berkeley on the Human Genome Project. One night he and his wife Molly are attacked by a neonazi on their way home. Molly, who is able to read the thoughts of people standing close to her, later explains that this had been an intentional attack on Tardivel. Neither of them knows why anybody would want to kill him.

Change of scene. During World War 2, at the concentration camp Treblinka a feared warden known as Iwan the Terrible abuses the imprisoned jews. Avi Meyer, whose father was a prisoner at Treblinka, tries to find Iwan the Terrible more than fifty years later to finally bring on him the punishment he deserves.

As a young man Pierre Tardivel was confronted unexpectedly with his own family’s past when his mother revealed that the man he thought of as his father is really his stepfather. Pierre arranged a meeting with his biological father that had profound consequences for his further life.

Robert Sawyer wrote a complex novel with two plotlines that at first don’t seem to be at all connected. A strange but well-done mix of science fiction, thriller and mystery. Looking for the motive for the attack on his life the Canadian scientist uncovers dubious practice of American insurance companies that pose grave ethical problems. Genetic engineering makes it possible to recognize hereditary diseases and perhaps even to prevent them, but it’s a curse as much as a blessing. Where do we draw the line? At the discrimination against people with "bad" genes or at genetic manipulation on human beings? These questions can certainly not be answered by a novel, but a soundly built plot with believable characters can give some food for thought.

Some people might say that Sawyer tried too much with this novel because he included too many subplots. I didn’t get the impression that he lost sight of his strands of narrative, and rather than turning the book into a confusing omnium gatherum of ideas the various subjects match up like a jigsaw puzzle as you read on. A remarkable book.

Tor Books, New York, 1998
ISBN 0-812-57108-8

Links

You can read a sample chapter or - if you already know the book - some chapters that have not been included in Frameshift at Robert J. Sawyer's Home Page.