Genetic memories resurrected from a man's great-grandfather ignite a deadly battle of wills with a 19th century assassin. Simon Thomas, a UC Berkeley history professor, is the loving husband of Jan, a San Francisco attorney, and devoted father of identical twin daughters Louise and Elizabeth. He is also the spitting image of his great-grandfather Payton Adams, an Irish immigrant steel worker who died during the bloody Homestead Works strike of 1892. On his twelfth birthday, Simon was given a photo of Payton and told that his great-grandfather was murdered by Pinkertons hired to crush the strike by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. That night, Simon awoke to what would be a recurring dream in which he experiences Payton's death as if it were his own. Simon's haunted nightmare triggers a rare form of PTSD that has grown increasingly debilitating. Neurological tests reveal Simon's brain harbors genetic memories of Payton that must be brought forth in their entirety to avoid mental breakdown. Simon is treated with an experimental drug called "Quip" that enables him to relive Payton's memories as if he were time-traveling back to the 19th century. He discovers that Payton was a Fenian enforcer smuggled into this country to assassinate Carnegie. Summoning these genetic memories releases Payton's homicidal personality, setting off a fierce internal struggle for control of Simon's mind and endangering the lives of all he holds dear. The greatest threat is to Jan, whom the Payton personality has vowed to kill from beyond the grave. "Quip" is a modern take on the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde theme, a psychological thriller about a man's love for his family and friends, and how the past shapes our present and charts our future… whether we learn from it or not.
