Evening, the daughter of a powerful genetic-engineering visionary, is whisked from the hospital hours after surgeons reattach her leg following a traffic accident. While recovering at her mother's research facility, Spiker Biopharmaceuticals, Eve meets Solo, the orphaned son of Spiker's partners, who is collecting damaging information that could take down the whole corporation. Meanwhile, Eve is making some discoveries of her own. First, her leg is flawless mere days after being severed. Then there's her creation of Adam, a computer that simulates a man from the DNA up. Questions build into a late-night chase around Seattle, a clever rescue of Eve's troubled friend, and a dramatic and dangerous climax. Solo and Eve, who swap narration duties, have clearly differentiated voices, and when Adam appears in the flesh, he does as well. Too many logical leaps and unanswered questions about the Spiker program could be problematic for dedicated sf fans, but the blend of action and suspense will be welcoming for plenty of others. HIGH-DEMAND NOTE: Grant is behind the best-selling Gone series, and the husband-wife team cowrote the popular Animorphs series. That kind of pedigree moves books.

Seventeen-year-old Eve's mother has put her to work in her bio-research lab, designing "the perfect boy." This is just a simulation, right? The text is rife with apt allusions to Frankenstein, the book of Genesis, Michelangelos The Creation of Adam, and even Pygmalion; a love triangle element will keep readers engaged on a level beyond the scientific speculation.

The husband-wife team behind the Animorphs series returns with the first installment of an entertaining saga that pits smart teens against high-tech evildoers and bionic skullduggery. A run-in with a streetcar left Evening Spiker's body seriously mangled. Against medical advice, her widowed mother, Terra, insists on moving her from the hospital to Spiker Biopharmaceuticals, the cutting-edge biotech company she owns, renowned for its worldwide medical good works. Assisting Terra--though with an agenda of his own--is Solo Plissken, who takes more than a passing interest in Eve. Both teens feel a deep ambivalence toward Terra and Spiker Biopharm, though for different reasons, and beyond their mutual attraction, share a troubling, mysterious connection from the past. Eve's healing is strangely swift but leaves her bored and restless until Terra drops a project, billed as genetics education, in her lap: Design a virtual human being from scratch. With help from her feisty, reckless friend Aislin, Eve takes up the challenge. While she becomes increasingly mesmerized by her creation, Adam, Solo edges closer to achieving his own goals. The straightforward narration by Eve, Solo and Adam in compact, swift-moving prose, makes this a first-rate choice for reluctant readers while raising provocative questions about the nature of creation and perfection. An auspicious, thought-provoking series opener. (Science fiction/romance. 12 & up)

Eleventh-grader Evening Spiker (E.V. or Eve for short) has grown up with the wealth and privilege that go with being the only child of Terra Spiker, the stereotypically icy and no-nonsense CEO of Spiker Biopharmaceuticals. When Eve's leg is severed in an accident, the company clinic comes in handy, and when recovery gets to be a bore, there's the human simulation program to play with-Eve's mother asks her to "design the perfect boy" with it. A young orderly, Solo, is easy on the eyes, but he also prods Eve to acknowledge truths she'd rather ignore, like how fast her reattached leg is healing. Solo knows a lot about Spiker, more than a guy who pushes the coffee cart ought to. Why? The husband-and-wife team of Grant and Applegate (the Ani-morphs series) knows how to keep the questions and the action coming as they alternate (mostly) between Eve and Solo's perspectives. Observant, smart, and unencumbered by emotion, this is a tasty read that readers will devour in a flash. Lucky for them, there's a sequel planned. Ages 13-up. (Oct.)