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With nothing more than a swab of saliva, we can trace our family lineage back to the dawn of man in Africa. These data used to take years to map but in the new century the scientific community jumped light years ahead. Any individual’s entire genome (DNA composing all of their chromosomes) can be mapped within only hours to days. If an individual person’s lifespan can be scientifically exact, the world and how we choose to live in it would be forever altered. Protagonist Essie Rachelson discovers a way to make such a prediction with accuracy. She is a young but seasoned geneticist who is recruited by the antagonist, Harrington Pierce, to head up his insurance corporation’s biotech laboratory. His goal is to be able to decide whom he will and will not insure based upon more than actuarial table data. While everything Harrington Pierce does is within the letter of the law, with the help of his long-time attorney and friend Dunmore Throop, it is corrupt on the most moral, ethical and human levels. To ensure Essie’s silence, he blackmails her with information that could destroy the reputations of everyone she loves from her own husband to her best friend. She is caught between moral and professional obligation until unexpected allies become Essie’s only hope of bringing down Harrington’s plans.