The Protocol

Jennifer Rockhill is hired as the corporate attorney for a Seattle biotech firm led by Dr. Sherwood Fielding, who had killed her husband through his traffick in illegal human organs, but she soon discovers that Fielding has embarked on deadly new research that transcends the boundaries of medical perversion. 25,000 first printing.

Starring two complex and often fallible characters, this debut thriller is expertly paced and tautly woven. Michael Crichton-like in its scientific focus, the novel begins when beautiful, widowed attorney Jennifer Rockhill is hired as in-house counsel for BioGentech, a Seattle biotechnology company run by her nemesis, Dr. Sherwood Fielding. Though he doesn't know who she is, Jennifer suspects that Fielding, then a physician in Southern California, killed her husband, comatose after a car accident, in order to sell his kidneys on the black market. Since her daughter died in the same accident, Jennifer has nothing to lose. Her fledgling plans for revenge collide with the agenda of suave, manipulative Matthew Pace, an ex-CIA agent who now makes his living as a corporate spy. Jennifer and Matthew, both trying to discover the secret behind Fielding's "Project X," stumble together upon so many illegal genetic experiments and biological grotesqueries that they decide to join forces. Christofferson's narrative moves briskly, easily shifting from the heroes' perspective to Fielding's. Though too many new characters are introduced as the novel progressesAeven the climactic scene at the end unfolds to reveal a new villain, diminishing the force of Fielding's downfallAthe author compensates by developing a credible romance between Jennifer and Matthew, who at first seem unswervingly single-minded in their self-serving missions. Although it's not the metaphorical treatise on the dangers of genetic engineering that Christofferson might have intended, the novel offers a rapid pace, high body count and well-rounded characters that combine to make the story a suspenseful success. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bumpy debut woman-in-periler pits a fatuous head of a trendy Seattle biotech company against a headstrong lawyer determined to avenge the death of her husband and child. Did Dr. Sherwood Fielding, smooth-talking, Armani-clad director of BioGenetech who privately dreams of cloning himself, finance his company by operating a human chop-shop that sold organs to the rich and politically powerful? Lawyer Jennifer Rockhill is almost sure that Fielding's need for a rare spare had something to do with her family's suspicious deaths when he was practicing medicine in California, but she needs proof, so she applies for a job at Fielding's firm as a lawyer specializing in biotech issues. Of course, she's not a specialist, but, with the right clothes and the right smile, she charms Fielding and gets the job. Meanwhile, dashing, handsome Matthew Pace, a former CIA agent currently employed as an industrial spy by a rival pharmaceutical firm, is assigned to snoop around Fielding's operation, to check on rumors that he might be secretly cooking up nasty biological weapons. Of all BioGenetech's numerous employees, it's Jennifer that Matthew decides to romance. Soon Jennifer learns that Fielding's company is nearly broke and that if his attempt to go public fails, he'll have a sudden, desperate need for cash. Caught by brainy, transvestite scientist Patricia Lukins, she blabs her revenge plan, only to be unwittingly snared in the schemes of Angelique Mannington, Fielding's right-hand woman and kinky bedmate. Matthew and Jennifer grow closer. Jennifer discovers that Matthew is really a great guy with two kids and a wife dying tragically of cancer. It doesn't take long before both run afoul of a mysterious Frenchman, whose breezy murders hide darker lusts. Science as a prime-time TV soap, with tons of techno-talk that doesn't add believeablity to the storys unconvincing premise. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Christofferson, a Seattle biotechnology attorney, enters the realm of medical fiction with the story of corporate attorney Jennifer Rockhill, recently hired by a biotechnology firm in Seattle. Consequently, the reader learns a good deal about the business of biotechnology as she recounts Rockhill's quest to avenge her husband's death, which she attributes to Dr. Sherwood Fielding, biotechnologist, physician, and founder of BioGentech. With former CIA agent Matthew Place, an interesting and daring accomplice, Rockhill follows the trail into a world of illegal organ procurement and, worse, human cloning. Fast-paced, suspenseful, and frightening, this work highlights the conflicts that can result from the overcommercialization of science as well as the dangers of uncontrolled scientific experimentation. It should definitely be read during the light of day. For substantial fiction collections.ALinda M.G. Katz, MCP Hahnemann Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.