Blood Ties Books in Order

The Blood Ties books take a thriller set up and push it into science fiction. Theo Glassman is a London teenager who cannot go anywhere without his bodyguard and resents the constant security, while Rachel Smith is an ordinary girl suffocating under comparisons to her perfect, dead older sister.

When Theo finally demands to know who is threatening him, he learns that his father, a genetic scientist he believed to be dead, is actually hiding from a violent anti research group. The same extremist organisation has ties to Rachel’s family, and a mysterious text meant for her father pulls both teenagers into the same dangerous story.

As they dig into the past, Theo and Rachel uncover the truth that they are both clones, created secretly from the DNA of people their parents lost. Their existence is tied to illegal experiments, fanatical opponents of genetic engineering and a charismatic scientist whose interest in them is far from paternal.

The sequel, Blood Ransom, finds Theo and Rachel relocated to supposedly safe lives on opposite sides of the Atlantic. They miss each other, and when Rachel discovers that their creator is still experimenting and that a younger clone, Daniel, may be at risk, she sets out to stop him. Her disappearance drags Theo back into a struggle that involves sinister clinics, coded messages and a plan that could cost them everything.

Across both books McKenzie balances chases, kidnaps and cliffhangers with questions about identity, free will and what makes a person a person. Theo and Rachel have to decide how much of them is defined by the people they were copied from and how much by the choices they make.

If you like thrillers with a strong sci fi hook and enjoy stories about found family, loyalty and the ethics of cutting edge science, the Blood Ties duology offers a tense, thought provoking ride.