Judgment Day - Softcover

Patrick Reinken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1451672411 ISBN 13: 9781451672411

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2011

Synopsis

As Jon Patchett and Anne Matheson look into the death of a medical researcher, they discover that an experiment in human testing has gone terribly wrong and that a pharmaceutical company is eliminating the victims (from the hardcover edition).

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

Predictable but carefully drawn genre-surfing bio-thriller featuring an affectionate portrait of Minnesota and southwestern scenery--all in a first novel crowded with odd characters and bloody incidents. When top pharmaceutical scientist Alexander Tomlin crashes through his 11th floor office window, only Jon Patchett, a hard- drinking, world-weary lawyer, wonders if Tomlin jumped or was pushed. Tomlin was working on the oddly named Prohiva, an HIV vaccine that is nearing what the drug industry calls judgment day (full approval from the FDA). Because Patchett's firm represents Weber BioTech, the Minneapolis drug company behind Prohiva, Patchett is ordered to conduct discreet inquiries, if only to make sure that nothing happens to affect the drug's approval. Patchett becomes romantically drawn to his coolly competent paralegal assistant Anne Matheson; the two discover a cover-up in Weber's Arizona drug development lab. Meanwhile, a handful of middle and underclass types, such as de rigueur noir prostitute Maggie Washburn, are being hunted down and killed before their nagging coughs develop into virulent cases of AIDS. Add to this a pathetically perverse serial killer named the Barber, who strangles female joggers and then clips their hair. Is it a coincidence that one of the Barber's victims was Tomlin's lover, Rebecca Cartaway? Or has the author tried to pack too many genre conventions into his tale? This first novel becomes Hillermanesque as action shifts to the Arizona desert, where a dreamy Navajo child and a guilt-ridden physician help Patchett and Washburn reveal how a hideously dangerous batch of the drug has escaped laboratory controls. Reinken escapes his burdensome kitchen-sink plot with convincing glimpses of industry insiders and just-plain-folks affected by the reckless pursuit of profits. Overplotted legal/medical/psychokiller/city vs. Navajo desert whodunit, with better-than-average characterization, a more reasoned take on medical research than Robin Cook's, and a reluctant lawyer hero who, thankfully, doesn't sleep with his clients. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

In a fear-ridden age shadowed by the proliferation of menacing viruses, this deftly crafted though not inspired first novel by a young Minneapolis attorney conjures up one of our best worst nightmares. On the eve of FDA approval of human testing of Prohiva, a promising breakthrough in the quest to find an effective vaccine against HIV, the chief research scientist of Weber BioTech, the company that has developed Prohiva, takes a swan dive from his office window. Jon Patchett, a disillusioned associate in the politically correct Minneapolis law firm representing Weber BioTech, is charged with reviewing the company's file to confirm that the apparent suicide won't delay the approval process. When Patchett discovers that research notes are missing and finds an enigmatic fax referring to a "Lot 17," he and his assistant become entangled in a Gordian knot of stock market manipulation and murder. The bloody trail leapfrogs from Minnesota to Las Vegas, spilling into Utah and Arizona as the action intensifies. Insights into the workings of the FDA and the SEC, a crash course in genetic engineering and stark descriptions of the barren Navajo high country unfold against a murky counterplot about a maniacal serial strangler. Welding thriller genres together is no mean feat, but, employing clever pacing and solid characterization, Reinken creates a nearly seamless medical/legal chiller that's one slick piece of work.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1451672411
• ISBN 13: 9781451672411
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384