Book Description

The Memory Gene, a sci-fi thriller from the author of Out of Body (St. Martin's Press; a People Magazine Beach Book of the Week), tells the harrowing story of Arky McAlister, a high-school student with an eye for women of all ages, a tendency toward violence, and several gifts he has trouble accounting for. He knows Spanish without ever having been exposed to it, could perform feats of carpentry when he was four years old, and played a complete tune on the guitar the first time he picked up the instrument. He's haunted by memories of things that never happened to him--violent events that seem to have happened instead to his biological dad, Lloyd Yarbro, who deserted Arky's mom when Arky was a baby. Arky's transcontinental search for Lloyd brings him face to face with his equally haunted half-siblings: Galen, a 10-year-old boy-wonder preacher born with total recall of the Bible; Kyle, a country rock musician who's been invading Arky's horrifying nightmares; and Maya, a high-school science whiz, whose bizarre and frightening pregnancy unleashes a government vendetta on the "genetic terrorism" represented by Arky and his fellow mutants. Acclaim for Tom Baum's Out of Body: "A tour de force...an unforgettable novel powered by a searing and haunting narrative voice." (Vanity Fair) "A chilling, twilight-zone thriller." (People Magazine) "Immensely well-detailed storytelling, reminiscent of James M. Cain at his best." (Kirkus Reviews) "A rich and fascinating supernatural thriller." (Booklist) "A dynamic fusion of crime drama and dark fantasy." (Publishers Weekly) "Compelling, memorable, and one of the best reads I've had in years." (Harry Crews) "Out of Body has the tingle of immediacy that makes Baum a crack screenwriter. Reading it is like being on board a speeding train, destination unknown." (Pauline Kael)