There may be no loss as devastating as losing one's child. Who then could fault the Jacobsons, overwhelmed by anguish, for accepting the help of a scientific cabal promising to clone their son Joey? Though Joey's promising second life will lead to love and a good job with the CIA, he remains unaware of the circumstances, and the deleterious consequences, of his existence. When tragedy strikes, Joey must come to terms with the mystery of his past and the uncertainty of his future. A Life Twice Given , the captivating debut novel from David Daniel, is a masterwork of speculative fiction inspired by the author's personal loss. Daniel delivers an immaculately crafted, genuinely human portrait of a future both idyllic and dystopic. "A deeply moving, beautifully written mystical story. Challenges our traditional concepts of the boundary between reality and hopes and dreams." -Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, author of Imperfect Justice and The Future of the Jews "A poignant, compelling family drama with unforgettable characters and a haunting vision of the future. An original, masterful debut for a new Southern author." -Robert Berman, author of A House of David in the Land of Jesus "A gripping story told with passion and skill. It probes the deepest recesses of our humanity in a spiritually moving way. The novel moved me again and again. I could not put it down." -Michael Berenbaum, author of The World Must Know and Murder Most Merciful "Reminiscent of Philip K. Dick. A Life Twice Given revises the boundary between science and fiction." -Michael Allen, author of Emergency Psychiatry    In 2004, our son, David was killed in an ATV accident. A Life Twice Given is our effort to give David a life the only way we can, through fiction. We have also created a foundation in his honor, the David Gordon Louis Daniel Foundation: dgldfoundation.org   All author's proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to the foundation. David Daniel was born in 1956 to Carlton Ralph Daniel and Beverly Beatrice Gordon. His father's family were the only Jews in a small town in southeast Georgia. They owned two clothing shops before the Great Depression, then lost everything and rebuilt. His mother's family were descendants of a rabbi and other eastern European Jews who settled in Meridian and Jackson, Mississippi and became prosperous merchants.    During his grammar school and high school years, the civil rights movement and Cold War were prominent. His rabbi and others in the Jewish community actively supported desegregation, leading to bombing of the synagogue and rabbi's house by the Ku Klux Klan in 1967. During that period, it was not uncommon for Jewish families to sleep with firearms nearby for their protection.    His favorite columnists as a child were William F. Buckley and Art Buchwald. He was torn between a career in journalism and medicine and elected the latter due to his interest in psychiatry. He obtained his medical school education and post-graduate training in psychiatry at Vanderbilt Medical School and began a research career in medical school with the study of cerebral blood flow patterns underlying behavior. He has  published extensively on the biological basis and treatment of psychotic disorders and has patented his own treatments.