One of NPR’s 2024 Books We Love

When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder–or the craziest stalker–in this propulsive thriller.

With a vivid imagining of the future, Gattaca meets Black Mirror in Kira Peikoff’s Baby X.

In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person’s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site devoted to stealing DNA. Sick of paying ransom money for his own cell matter, he hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety.  

Ember will do anything she can to protect her clients. She knows all the Vault’s tricks–discarded tissues, used straws, lipstick tubes–and has prevented countless DNA thefts. Working for Thorne, her focus becomes split when she begins to fall for him, but she knows she hasn’t let anything slip–love or not, his DNA is safe. But then she and Thorne are confronted by a pregnant woman, Quinn, who claims that Thorne is the father of her baby, and all bets are off.   

Brilliantly plotted and terrifyingly prescient, Baby X is an unpredictable and relentless speculative thriller perfect for fans of Blake Crouch and John Marrs.

BABY X
By Kira Peikoff

Imagine the miracle of being able to conceive a child with anyone else no matter your age, gender, or fertility status. All you need to do is provide a biological sample. Saliva, blood or mucus will do the trick. Then your cells can be chemically coaxed to become sperm or egg cells. Now imagine the nightmare of your used napkin or fork in the wrong hands—and your egg and sperm are up for sale to the highest bidder.

That’s the terrifying premise behind Kira Peikoff’s BABY X (Crooked Lane; March 5, 2024), a brilliantly plotted, compulsively readable thriller that careens from propulsive action to wrenching emotion as a black-market operation called The Vault steals celebrity cells to convert into sperm and egg in a hidden lab for a massive profit. Their customers range from obsessed fans to hyper-competitive parents who want to give their future children the most desirable genes.

Music superstar Trace Thorne knows that his sperm and eggs are in demand and that the slightest slip up could result in a child he never intended to conceive. To protect himself, he hires gorgeous bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure that whatever genetic material he sheds in public is safe from theft.

Ember is a pro and knows all the Vault’s tricks. She’ll stop at nothing to protect her most famous and beloved client. As they grow closer, Ember allows herself to fall for the man himself. But what will happen to their developing relationship when a pregnant stranger confronts Thorne with his worst fear?

This thought-provoking look into the near future will make you question the price of groundbreaking technology and how it impacts our bodies, our minds, and our world. BABY X raises as many issues as it resolves, and is a great read for fans of Blake Couch and John Marrs—or anyone who enjoys a heart-pounding peek into what lies ahead.