The Mirror Man by Jane Gilmartin (Review by Madhura Mukhopadhyay)

Rating: 4/5

When ViGen Pharmaceuticals approaches Jeramiah Adams with an offer to participate in an experiment, it sounds too good to be true. Using a breakthrough drug called Meld, they offer to make him a clone who would have all his memories and live his life for a year. In exchange, Jeramiah would get to sit back, relax and take a break from his busy work and increasingly aloof family. What could possibly go wrong?

Soon, Jeramiah finds himself locked in a luxurious prison with every amenity imaginable, forced to watch his clone interact with people from his life who don’t seem to notice the difference. Aghast, he watches as his life slowly spins out of control and his family falls in imminent danger. Now Jeramiah must find a way to break his multimillion-dollar contract with ViGen and stop the experiment.

The Mirror Man is a speculative fiction and ventures into a futuristic world where corporations have unchecked scientific power. This book makes for a compelling and thrilling ride and marks the debut of author Jane Gilmartin. Still, by the end of the book, I wanted more because I felt that perhaps the book ended a bit too conveniently. It was also a little hard to sympathize with Jeramiah despite his many predicaments, since I didn’t think there was nearly enough time for robust character development.

But to the author’s credit, when a book starts with the phrase “The first time he saw his own replica…”, you can’t help but dive right in. Jane Gilmartin maintains taut suspense enhanced by some very unexpected twists. The book is such a nail-biter, I found myself, bleary-eyed, turning pages in the wee hours of the morning anxious for the fate of Mr. Adams.

In conclusion, The Mirror Man is an intriguing debut, and I am looking forward to more by this author. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking to read interesting science fiction.