Twenty years in the future, one Brilliant Scientist has discovered the way to make Human Cloning a reality. Her company sells the opportunity for the very wealthy to have backup bodies ready when they die; they simply do monthly uploads of their consciousness.

Con D’Arcy, a just-scraping-by musician who has struggled since a car crash killed two members of her promising band (one of whom was her boyfriend) and left her with a bad knee, has a clone waiting for her at Palingenesis. That’s only because her aunt is the famous Abigail Stickling, founder and brilliant scientist. After Con goes in to the clinic for her monthly neural refresh, pushing past the protesters who find Cloning an abomination, she finds out her estranged aunt has committed suicide. It’s not upsetting since she barely knew her, but it gives the protesters reason to celebrate.

But then Con wakes up in the clinic and learns it’s 18 months later. She can’t remember anything from the time in between, and she’s told her “original” is dead. It should be impossible: the company’s policy is to cut off the option for using a clone if a person hasn’t done a refresh recently. So something strange is going on at Palingenesis; a worker sneaks her out so she won’t be “deleted.” Then she’s on the run, on her own, with nothing to her name — if it even IS her name. Because who is she, exactly? Is she truly Con D’Arcy? Because the original Con had 18 months of experiences and memories that she isn’t privy to, that changed her. And now that Con is dead, her body missing. Not only that, but dangerous-looking people are after this new Con. She just wants to stay alive and figure out all the mysteries that she’s facing. That means trying to retrace the original Con’s most recent steps and figure out how and why she died. Several people tell her they can help her, but she can’t trust any of them. She just has to solve this problem on her own before being killed … again.

Constance is a smart thriller, with interesting takes on the science and ethics of human cloning. The protagonist is in peril no matter which way she turns, her whole life a question mark. There’s plenty of action and maneuvering by various possibly shady actors, the story filled with layers of mystery. I had a good time with it.

Rated: High. Profanity includes 7 uses of strong language, around 35 instances of moderate profanity, about 60 uses of mild language, and almost 10 instances of the name of Deity in vain. There’s really no sexual content. Violence is moderate, with regular peril and some murders and blood.