This is a clever book that blends mystery, historical drama, and science fiction. The main character, Phil D'Amato, is a NYC forensic detective who will be familiar to readers of Levinson's short stories. A string of bizarre deaths appear to be severe allergic reactions. As D'Amato investigates, he finds clues among the Amish, in Toronto, London and 750 A.D (and he doesn't have a time machine).

Recently, I've read several books that could be called hard "biological" science fiction. I'm not sure if this is a recognized genre or not, but The Silk Code falls into this category. The Amish characters in the book have an ancient knowledge of genetics that is based on nature, not technology. The plot (and the fate of humanity) pivots around the application of this knowledge.

The book is a quick read. The story is clear and easy to follow, yet still intriguing. I have two complaints about the book. The first is that it is written as if it were five short stories, rather than five chapters of one story. The connections among the stories are a bit clumsy, probably because this is the first novel from a short story writer. My second complaint is that the solution to the mystery is a bit unfair. We are privy to D'Amato's thoughts and conversations all throughout the novel, but then the final clue is hidden in ellipses and we don't know what it is (I'm leaving the details of this a bit vague, so as not to spoil the story). It seemed unfair that the reader wasn't let in on the clue as D'Amato discovered it. I think this is a common failing in sub-par mystery novels. However, I give the book a " because the science was creative and the story was compelling; the mystery is almost secondary. I hope there is a sequel.

Oh, there is one minor issue. When one of the characters is mourning the death of a friend, she says "I just got my e-mail returned with that automatic advisory that they had tried to deliver it for two days and were giving up" (p. 287). That simply would not have happened.