Double Helix
by Nancy Werlin
DOUBLE HELIX by Nancy Werlin
Category: Mystery/Thriller
Age Recommendation: Grades 6+
Release Date: 5/5/05
Publisher: Puffin
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
Rating: 5 Stars
After recently reading and reviewing Nancy Werlin's THE RULES OF SURVIVAL, I went in search of some of her other
books. I discovered DOUBLE HELIX, and it didn't disappoint me.
Eli Samuels, salutatorian of his graduating class, has decided to postpone college for a year. His father is not pleased. But
Eli is struggling to decide just exactly where he is headed in life. Complicating matters are his relationship with his girlfriend
and his mother's illness, Huntington's disease.
Eli and his father have been struggling with Ava's illness for many years, but the end is near. She is confined to a nursing
home and not even aware of their visits. Eli's future is uncertain because Huntington's disease is hereditary. His mother may
have passed him the gene which carries the disease. A simple blood test holds the answer, but Eli is not ready to know the
truth.
Dr. Quincy Wyatt, a famous scientific researcher, offers Eli a job at Wyatt Transgenics. It involves caring for research
animals and helping in the lab. The more Eli learns about Dr. Wyatt and the work of his company, the more he begins to
question what he knows about his own life.
Using clever twists and turns, Nancy Werlin has created a real nail-biter that makes this book hard to put down.
