In this scorching contemporary thriller, Ken Follett has crafted an electrifying tale of the chilling possibilities of genetic manipulation. Jeannie Ferrami, a brilliant young research scientist studying the genetic components of aggression, makes a startling discovery. Using a restricted FBI database, she locates two young men who appear to be identical twins: Steve, a law student, and Dennis, a convicted murderer. Yet they were born on different days, to different mothers, in hospitals hundreds of miles apart. When she delves into their backgrounds, forces as powerful as the Pentagon and the New York Times take notice. The more she learns, the worse it gets. Steve is accused of a terrible crime, which he swears he did not commit. As Jeannie finds herself falling in love with him, she has to ask herself how she can be sure he is different from his murderous twin brother. When her life is threatened, she realizes there is much more than just a scientific problem facing her. Unwittingly, she has stumbled upon evidence of a conspiracy involving a top biotech company, right-wing politicians, and her own university. Their aim is as shocking as it is technologically possible in this era of genetic manipulation: the reshaping of American society according to their own reactionary, racist, and sexist principles.