Talissa answers an advert to be paid to carry a child. But this is no ordinary surrogacy, her pregnancy will be shepherded by the Parn Institute and closely monitored at every turn. The scientists are asked to stretch the boundaries of ethics as never before with IVF treatments. All they can hope is that no one ever finds out about the experiment. Especially the child, a young boy called Seth, who is set to upend the human race as we know it. An astounding literary thriller from one of the UK's finest writers.