The Switch

August 28, 2000
With some 60 novels, including 40-plus bestsellers already to her credit, it seems a sure bet that this new romantic thriller will not blemish Brown's phenomenal track record. On a whim, the same day she is artificially inseminated at a Dallas fertility clinic, Gillian Lloyd switches places with her identical twin sister, Melina, a professional celebrity escort assigned to chauffeur astronaut Col. Christopher Hart (or "Chief," as he is called by his NASA cohorts because his mother was a Native American). It's lust at first sight. Swept away by Chief, Gillian is caught up in a marathon frenzy of lovemaking in his hotel room. Slipping out in the wee hours of the night, she is found brutally butchered in her own bed the next morning. From an obscene blood-smeared scrawl on the bedroom wall, her sister realizes that the killing was related to Gillian's love tryst with the astronaut. Hours later, the killer, an employee at the fertility clinic, commits suicide. The resulting investigation connects him to Brother Gabriel, the charismatic, egomaniacal leader of a powerful TV religious cult who is mysteriously linked in turn to artificial insemination clinics nationwide. Determined to avenge Gillian's murder, Melina and Chief become the targets of professional assassins masquerading as FBI agents. Potential witnesses are murdered as the trail eventually leads the pair (now fighting to keep their hands off each other) cross-country to Brother Gabriel's mountain stronghold in the remote reaches of New Mexico. Displaying her talents for fast pacing and tricky plotting, Brown delivers one of her patented twists in the denouement, setting the scene for a breathy, rose-colored climax. 700,000 first printing; major ad/promo.

August 1, 2000
Brown's novels, which include the best-selling "Alibi" (1999), define the term "page turner," and her latest effort, with more plot twists than San Francisco's famous Lombard Street, is no exception. It's the story of two twins, Gillian and Melina, and what happens when they switch places. Gillian, unmarried but engaged to a man who is infertile, undergoes artificial insemination. Later, to get Gillian's mind off the anxiety-producing procedure, Melina suggests Gillian pose as "her." Melina is a media expert, and she has an assignment to escort a famous astronaut around town that night. The next morning, after she pulls off the switch and very much enjoys the astronaut's company, Gillian is found murdered, and authorities quickly find a suspect--it's not the astronaut. The FBI becomes involved in the case, Melina and the astronaut form their own investigative unit, and evidence leads to the charismatic leader of a strange cult immersed in some frightening project they refer to as the Program. Is the Program involved in genetically engineering babies? Things are never quite what they appear to be in this compelling thriller--up to nearly the very last page. Fans of suspense fiction will be thoroughly entertained. ((Reviewed August 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)