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With her son’s cancer in remission, NYC medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work—and finds her first case back to be a dangerous puzzle in this compelling mystery by the bestselling “master of the medical thriller.” (The New York Times)
The investigation into the shocking death of CIA agent Kevin Markham is a professional challenge for Dr. Laurie Montgomery, and it has her colleagues wondering if she still has what it takes after so much time away.
Markham’s autopsy results are inconclusive, and though it appears he’s been poisoned, toxiccology fails to corroborate Laurie’s suspicions. While her coworkers doubt her assassination theory, her determination wins over her husband, fellow medical examiner Jack Stapleton, and together they discover associations to a large pharmaceutical company and several biomedical start-ups dealing with stem-cell research.
Laurie and Jack must race to connect the dots before they are consumed in a dangerous game of biotech espionage.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Organized crime, international espionage, and kidnapping only mildly enliven Cook's methodical ninth medical thriller featuring husband-and-wife medical examiners Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton (after Intervention). Laurie's first case back in the Manhattan medical examiner's office, after giving birth to the couple's firstborn, John "JJ" Junior, appears to be a routine case of death by natural causes. But Laurie suspects otherwise, and her dogged investigation uncovers a diabolical poisoning and a plot involving the Mafia and rival Japanese gangsters laundering money for a shady start-up firm promoting stem-cell research. To deter Laurie's prying, the thugs snatch JJ, and suddenly the intrigue gets very personal. Cook provides an interesting study of the strange bedfellows that the biotech business and the mob might make, but he telegraphs all his plot twists so far in advance that there's little suspense other than how quickly Laurie will tip to them. Even devoted Cook fans may find that the crimes and subterfuges are resolved too swiftly and perfunctorily.
