Prototype

May 12, 2014
This disappointing follow-up to Archetype develops its predecessor’s weaknesses rather than its strengths. The first novel believably showed the emotional turmoil of Emma, a beautiful young clone, as she recovered from her past and found herself torn between two men: Declan Burke, a ruthless tycoon who had her cloned and loved her as a possession, and Noah, her true lover and a leader of the underground resistance against the oppressive system. Uncertain of her identity, Emma fled from both. The sequel begins with Emma on the run, but when Declan’s attempts to recapture her become too bothersome, she takes refuge with the resistance, where she finds Noah and their daughter comfortably settled into a relationship with another woman. Much hullabaloo follows, sometimes in martial arts combat, sometimes in swoony romantic moments, and sometimes in both simultaneously. Emma’s tortured psyche is still impressive, but the plot is too clumsy to carry the heavy load of passion.

July 1, 2014
The sequel to Waters' dystopian Archetype (2014) is set in a world where women are in scarce supply and cloning has a creepy, but increasingly important, role in society.Emma Wade Burke has managed to escape from Declan Burke, the richest man in America, who claims to be her husband; she's fled to Mexico, where she hunts for her resistance-connected parents. But Declan's obsession with Emma threatens the resistance, which fights against the components of society that allow women and female children to be treated as possessions. Within moments of making contact with a man she hopes might help her, Emma discovers Declan has offered a huge reward for her return and that plenty of takers exist. Emma returns to the resistance fighters' headquarters and her true husband, Noah, the father of her child. But this Emma is a clone of the woman Noah married. His wife died, and many in the resistance movement don't accept that Emma, the clone, is as much a human being as they are. After settling into everyday life around the facility, Emma decides she must resume the search for her parents, no matter where that might take her, even if it means walking back into Declan's life. While Waters works hard to convince readers that Emma's clone is every bit as human as Emma, the character herself emphasizes her differences by speaking in an oddly formal and stilted manner. Although billed as a futuristic story involving a dystopian society, the plot really centers on Emma's tiresome swooning over both Declan and Noah. When she's not daydreaming about Noah's amber eyes or Declan's lush lips, Emma proves to be an interesting-enough heroine, but those who are not up for a romance novel will find her dilemma tiresome.A good run at constructing an out-of-the-ordinary romance that never quite succeeds.

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February 1, 2014

In her smash debut, Archetype, a woman named Emma wakes up in the hospital with no memories, nightmares about a man named Noah, and growing doubts about what she has been told by her supposedly loving husband, Declan Burke. Here, she's on the run, desperate to escape Declan, and equally desperate to find Noah. But tracking down Noah leads to heartbreak and the queasy realization that she must face the past, even if it means getting herself killed--or reborn.

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