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Though the exact year the novel takes place is not revealed, small details in the first chapter indicate that it is set sometime in the not-too-distant future. As he drives through Denver, Logan points out landmarks that locate the story in the future, such as the “megatall Half-Mile Tower” (4); he and Nadine also speed along at 120 miles per hour in an electric vehicle. They pass a billboard that reads: “GENE EDITING IS A FEDERAL CRIME” (4), indicating that major scientific breakthroughs and subsequent judicial backlashes have occurred. Similar clues throughout signal that the novel takes place in the near future.

Logan is a conflicted character, and Crouch reveals his troubled past slowly, feeding out cryptic remarks during quiet moments between action sequences. Affected by a billboard reading, “ONE MISTAKE CAUSED THE GREAT STARVATION #GPA #NEVERFORGET,” Logan reflects, “The guilt of what we’d done never failed to hit its mark” (5). While Miriam’s role in the catastrophic crop failure that led to the creation of the GPA is revealed early on, this is the first hint that Logan was associated with her team. His conversation with Ava about the motivation behind Miriam’s action explores the legacy of guilt his mother left them. Though she never knew her grandmother, Ava reveals that she doesn’t know how to process being related to such a key figure in a global tragedy and that she hasn’t even told her boyfriend.

Miriam is cast as a colossal villain in the minds of ordinary citizens, and Logan seems to be the only character who can make the distinction that her motivations were noble. The novel uses this tension as a means of exploring evil—though Logan sees a difference between evil results and evil intentions, the evil of the tragedy regardless casts a shadow so large that innocent people, who are only guilty by familial association, live under it and can hardly escape it. These opening chapters also examine the Ethical Implications of Genetic Engineering, considering the practice’s ethical boundaries and whether synthetic altering of the natural world is ever acceptable. Crouch explores the risk-reward calculations of genetic modification, considering how much risk is acceptable in relation to the possible reward. Miriam’s work, which resulted in a catastrophic loss of human life, exemplifies the devastating consequences of getting such calculations wrong.

The existence of the Gene Protection Agency, a government task force established to prevent genetic manipulation of any sort in the aftermath of the Great Starvation, is also problematic in its assumption that any and all practice of genetic modification is unethical. It is an overreaction that goes against the principle of scientific inquiry. Logan reflects on his role in the arrest of a well-respected geneticist, Dr. Romero, who told Logan, “I know you’re trying to do the right thing, but you can’t put this knowledge back into the box” (14). While Logan works for the GPA, he does not truly believe in the cause, and the arrest of Romero illustrates how Logan is conflicted between supporting unrestrained scientific inquiry and preventing its unintended consequences. As the novel progresses, Logan will demonstrate that he favors determining a proper balance: Genetic modification should be explored because of the potential benefits it could have on the natural world, but it should not be allowed to proceed without guardrails and extreme caution. Subsequent chapters will show that not all the actors in Logan’s world believe the human race has the time for such guarded progression, however.