Extreme Makeover

October 3, 2016
Wells (the John Wayne Cleaver series) spares no aspect of American society’s darkest corners or obsessions in this enjoyable satire, and those who fear heavy-handedness will be glad that it reads more like a humorous thriller than a diatribe. Lyle Fontanelle, a chemist working for the cosmetic company NewYew, creates products he hopes will make people feel better about themselves. But worldwide chaos ensues after he creates a hand lotion called ReBirth that morphs its user into anyone whose DNA the lotion has bonded with. Ordinary people look like celebrities, infiltrators impersonate members of governments, and thousands of people accidentally turn into copies of Lyle. ReBirth might even convey immortality. But it’s more insidious than it seems, and every chapter starts with the countdown to the end of the world. The best and worst of humanity—sometimes embodied in the same person—are at the forefront of the sometimes breathless, often twisting story of a world spiraling out of control because too many people couldn’t be happy with who they were. Reminiscent of Vonnegut at his most subtly biting, Wells’s novel should find favor with speculative and mainstream readers alike. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger.

October 15, 2016

In his work for NewYew cosmetics company, Lyle Fontanelle spends most days devising a new formulation for a hand lotion that he hopes might have additional uses that are beyond skin deep. In his efforts to design the product to rebuild cells for burn victims, he inadvertently invents a cream that overwrites DNA and creates clones. When focus group members testing the lotion suddenly start looking like Lyle, he realizes he has made a terrible mistake. His company, however, sees the possibility of enormous profits on the horizon. VERDICT The pursuit of youth and beauty takes a dark turn in this satirical novel from Wells (I Am Not a Serial Killer). The science is of the hand-waving variety that doesn't bear close scrutiny, but it is an entertaining send-up of corporate greed and societal shallowness.--MM

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2016
Some people want so desperately to not look like themselves that they are willing to inject toxins into their faces and submit to horrifying fat-sucking procedures. In Wells' latest, executives at a health and beauty company discover that people are so eager to change their looks, they'll rub a cream on themselves that changes their DNA. Scientist Lyle Fontanelle discovers the substancewhich imprints the DNA of a beautiful person onto anyone elseby accident while researching a cure for cancer, and brings it to the board of NewYew, Inc., where greedy executives decide to turn it into a cosmetic lotion. But the lotion is not quite ready for market (seeing as though no one is really sure of just how it works) and, of course, havoc ensues. Pretty soon there are thousands of Lyle clones running around, then hybrids of humans and animals, and, well, the whole world is headed for destruction. This is a rollicking and detail-packed satirical look at the end of human civilization, which will find readers shaking with both laughter and worryafter all, beauty is truth, truth, beauty.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)