The bullet

Just when the world is realizing that global pandemics may be the rule and not the exception, the discovery of a rare botanical concoction that could be a panacea for all life-threatening conditions threatens the life of the doctor researching this medical silver bullet. Diane Connors' find garners the attention of Joshua Nalam, a Big Pharma billionaire whose industry is threatened by such a product. A power-hungry sociopath, Nalam has kidnapped and purportedly murdered the brother of Connors' partner in the development of the miracle cure, and there's only one person who can ascertain whether the charred corpse found in a mountain enclave is that of Kai Hakali, and that's Eve Duncan, starring in her twenty-seventh outing. When Connors recruits Eve, she also involves Duncan's husband, Joe Quinn, who just so happens to be Connors' ex. Along with other Johansen heroes Catherine Ling and Richard Cameron, the entourage must keep Connors and her silver bullet from ending up in the wrong hands. Less action-oriented than many of Johansen's thrillers, this timely tale focuses on the power struggle between Connors and her protectors.

In bestseller Johansen's overstuffed 28th outing for forensic sculptor Eve Duncan (after 2020's The Persuasion), scientist Diane Connors, the beautiful ex-wife of Eve's husband, Det. Joe Quinn of the Atlanta PD, turns up on Eve's doorstep and asks her "to perform a reconstruction on the skull of a man who is supposed to be buried somewhere in the Rocky Mountains of Nevada and help me identify him." The reconstruction of the skull gets lost in the main plot, in which Diane, who has found a way to synthesize a plant that can cure cancer and practically everything else, Eve, and Joe do battle with billionaire Joshua Nalam, who has the "power and money and ability to bend governments and companies to his will" and covets Diane's discovery. Paranormal elements include the ability of Eve's psychic 10-year-old son, Michael, to achieve a sort of emotional contact with various players in the drama. Readers should be prepared for long stretches of expository dialogue in which characters lay out their CVs to one another. This one's strictly for series fans. Agent: Andrea Cirillo, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (June)