Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - White Male Infant

White Male Infant
White Male Infant
Author: Barbara D'Amato
Surgical pathologist Dooley McSweeny and his wife dearly love the son they adopted from Russia four years ago. But when medical tests indicate that their little boy could not possibly have come from Russia, the couple is plunged into the dark, complex, and emotionally fraught world of international adoption. — Who is their son? Where did he come ...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780765300249
ISBN-10: 0765300249
Publication Date: 6/29/2002
Pages: 336
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 3

3.7 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: Forge Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed White Male Infant on + 222 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Very good story, scary if true.
booknookchick avatar reviewed White Male Infant on + 117 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed the intrigue and suspense of the subplot about a female journalist and her cameraman filming a segment on foreign adoptions.

The main storyline involves an adoptee's father trying to find out how his child was placed for adoption. This plot was also interesting but I didn't find the father's personality very credible with the risks involved in returning to the country where his son's adoption occurred. This lack of credibility caused the suspense the author was building to fall a bit flat.

Definitely believe this story would make a better movie than the book.
sarah5775 avatar reviewed White Male Infant on + 386 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
D'Amato weaves several stories together in this book- a father trying to figure out if his adopted son was really kidnapped, two undercover cops, and a reporter trying to solve the mystery of a murdered friend. The thread tying them all together is an adoption agency that may be more than it appears to be. Though suspenseful, at times this book seemed to be farfetched. But it was definitely worth the read, if not as strong as some of the author's other books.
Read All 11 Book Reviews of "White Male Infant"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

swingsistert avatar reviewed White Male Infant on + 78 more book reviews
An interesting fictional perspective on adoption!
reviewed White Male Infant on + 88 more book reviews
I thought the premise was an interesting one: the father of an adopted child (supposedly from Russia) learns that his baby could not have been born there--and so who is his son in actuality? It turns out the father is a pathologist and happened to get a sample of his son's bone marrow or spinal fragments from a test for leukemia. The doctor noticed the sample was fluorescent and began to wonder why. It turns out that only a specific antibiotic could cause such a thing to happen--an antibiotic not available in Russia. Meanwhile, it turns out the little boy did not have leukemia.

This dad kept wondering and worrying about that sample. I wondered if I would go to the lengths this doctor did--it almost seemed to me like maybe he really didn't want the child after all because after his first attempts to research the child's background instead of giving up and feeling relieved he had a healthy son, he kept going. He began looking for missing children reports and trying to match the boy's physical characteristics with parents who'd had their babies stolen--very noble, don't get me wrong. But believeable? Eh.

If the author stuck with this character, I think I would have enjoyed it more. Instead, she introduces a whole bunch of "cardboard" characters with little or no substance to them. The worst of these stereotypes was the doctor's father-in-law. There was little to no imagination in them and that's too bad.

I'd give the book a 5 out of 10. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as a great read.
Brookie avatar reviewed White Male Infant on + 30 more book reviews
Really interesting read. Great ending. Greta caracters that Tie together well.


Genres: