BookBrowse Reviews Blood Test by Charles Baxter

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A mild-mannered man is shocked when an experimental test predicts that he will become a murderer.

Brock Hobson is a loving single father, a Sunday School teacher, and an upstanding and honest insurance agent. He's patient with his teenage son and daughter, of whom he has primary custody, and even more patient with his ex-wife and the boorish man she left him for. He enjoys a relationship of comfortable stability with his girlfriend, a staunch environmentalist and fellow do-gooder. Brock's the sort of all-around good guy who's always happy to help people in need, even people he dislikes. That's why it's such a surprise to him when an experimental genetic testing technique reveals that he has a propensity for criminality. Not only that, but the test predicts with near-certainty that he will commit a murder.

His sense of identity shaken, Brock dabbles in minor acts of recklessness, like shoplifting from the local discount store. As he juggles the everyday hassles of parenthood, squabbling with his overly demanding ex and making time to see his girlfriend, a question lingers in the background: Will he actually kill someone? And if so, who?

The best part of this book is its irreverent tone, which sometimes stretches into absurdity. Unrealistically heightened details tip into the realm of the delightfully bizarre, but placed against a backdrop of ordinary family drama and an economically depressed town, the story feels relatable. Some characters, like Brock's immensely practical girlfriend, seem very rooted in reality, while others are more overtly comedic. For instance, his ex and her new partner are diehard members of a ridiculous-sounding self-improvement cult. The interactions between such vastly different characters result in some laugh-out-loud dialogue. But the sharpest examples of the story's biting wit come in its treatment of cutting-edge medicine.

Generomics Associates, the company that carries out the testing, is a clear satirical take on hubristic healthcare startups. The way Generomics' testing actually works is extremely opaque. The doctor at a local clinic who tells Brock about the test knows very little about the process: "They take your blood sample, get your entire genome, run it through a supercomputer, and then they digitize it and, you know, they have these algorithms that…I'm not sure how they do it. I'm just a country doctor." In addition to a blood test, the company requires clients to fill out a questionnaire that asks things like, "When you were born, how old were you actually?" and "Why are manholes circular?" After Brock's results are revealed, the company continues to hound him with associated special promotional offers, trying to sell him an insurance policy covering criminal defense lawyers, as well as a gun and a pet rat (because the company's experts believe caring for a pet could help him). It's a delightful sendup of profit-motivated private healthcare.

It isn't really clear (to Brock or the reader) if the company is legitimate or an elaborate scam. He is offered the testing by a medical clinic that vouches for the startup, but as his dealings with them become increasingly weird, he's left wondering how much he can trust the results. And yet Brock begins to change. He takes the gun out into the woods for target practice and finds that he enjoys the rush he gets from shooting it. And others begin to give some credence to the test's results. When his ex's partner falls down a flight of stairs in his presence, family members ask Brock if he pushed him.

While deliberately exaggerated, Blood Test raises real questions about the malleability of our identities. Just being told that he will commit a crime prompts a new attitude in Brock and alters the way people around him treat him. Once so sure in his uprightness, he begins to question the morality he's been taught all his life. It also points to the tendency many of us have to put faith in institutions without asking questions. Often, trusting those who appear to have expertise can be a good thing, but at its worst, it can lead to elaborate scams like the Theranos blood-testing scandal. While Brock understands that what he's being told by Generomics is bizarre, a part of him believes it because it's coming from Ivy League-educated doctors.

Readers who enjoy literary fiction with a hefty dose of dry humor will get a kick out of Baxter's novel. Its well-crafted characters are a blast to spend time with, and its twisty plot makes it the sort of book that's hard to put down. Its sharply satirical tone and slightly unhinged premise might not resonate with everyone—but readers who can get on board with it will find themselves both satisfied with the ending and sore from laughing.

This review first ran in the October 16, 2024 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.