Author: Amy S. Peele

Publisher: She Writes Press

ISBN: 978-1-64742-245-51

Undeniably, it becomes an issue when these firms are linked to venture bankers, where business needs can override scientific intent.

The kickoff chapter of the narrative introduces us to Sarah Golden and her best friend, Jackie Larsen, both residing in San Francisco.

Sarah is employed at the San Francisco Global Transplant Institute and manages the coordinators who work for the researchers. Her boss is Dr. Bower, whom she feels considerable respect and reverence until she learns some distressing news about him.

We further hear that she is in a romantic long-distance relationship with Rodney, who has been given the nickname Handsome. He is a cop working in Miami and will play a crucial role in figuring out a crime.

Sarah's dear buddy Jackie had just obtained her P.I. License and could barely wait to start her new career. Previously, she had been involved in some amateur sleuthing that nearly cost her and Sarah their lives in trying to figure out a medical mystery.

The women are now holidaying in Cuba, thanks to a gift given to them by Handsome and Jackie’s partner, Laura. Sarah and Jackie both assured their partners that they had given up the detective business.

While in Cuba, they meet with a Dr. Lopez, Chief of Transplant at the Havana medical center. Sarah reached out to him before taking off for Cuba, inquiring if he could suggest a guide and permission to tour his transplant center. Little did Sarah and Jackie realize the perilous road they would be led down when they met Dr. Lopez at the medical center and their subsequent lunch date with him.

In their introductory encounter with Dr. Lopez, they are briefed that the transplant community had lost four of its distinguished immunologists in a fatal car crash. Sadly, the catastrophic disaster occurred before the upcoming immunology conference in Chicago to examine their findings surrounding inducing tolerance for kidney transplant patients. These conclusions concentrated on the prospect of the body not rejecting a kidney or any other organ without the use of drugs long term. In that case, patients will be free of these drugs’ troublesome side effects. 

Sarah is moved by this tragic news, mainly because she recognized all these immunologists, and one of them, Dr. McKee, even worked in her institute’s programs.

Dr. Lopez informs Sarah that he requires her assistance concerning the research conducted by the four deceased doctors. Evidently, they had shared with him, and off the record, the protocol they were using for the tolerance study. Sadly, when Dr. Lopez applied it with one hundred patients, none did well. A number even died. He was about to send the data summary to Dr. McKee when he heard about his fatal accident.

Sarah pointed out to Dr. Lopez that she knew very little about the study and it would be prudent to approach Dr. Bower. Dr. Lopez responds that Dr. Bower was uninformed of his participation with the four deceased doctors. He further appeals to Sarah if she could help him and his family escape Cuba. As Dr. Lopez mentions to Sarah, his life is in jeopardy because of his participation in the trial in the tolerance study. He further hoped his research would open doors to academic appointments in the states. Dr. Lopez schedules to meet Sarah and Jackie the next day for lunch.

The narrative veers when we meet Victor Bosworth, CEO of the pharmaceutical company Lago. He and his company colleagues are troubled that the disastrous misfortune of the four immunologists may put the spotlight on their company as potential culprits. Their company would have the most to lose if inducing tolerance is successful. The entire industry is valued at roughly five billion dollars. 

When Sarah and Jackie encounter Dr. Lopez for lunch, little do they realize that all misery is about to break loose. The two discover an envelope left by Dr. Lopez when he leaves the restaurant. They likewise notice that they are being watched. 

As the tale unfolds, we will learn the seriousness of the envelope’s contents, which is critical data from Dr. Lopez’s research study. As we read more of the story, we discover that Lago pharmaceutical company receives substantial financing from a venture capitalist, Leland Ackerley, who represents several investors. 

Ackerley and Bosworth were college buddies and have remained close friends. Ackerley is not thrilled to hear about Dr. Lopez’s study. He and his investors would lose a bundle if their venture to invest in Lago did not materialize. 

Both Ackerley and Bosworth are devious characters, and nothing will stop them from ensuring that Lago’s profits are not harmed. This will include drugging Sarah and attacking Jackie’s grandmother to send a message that whatever Sarah knows about Dr. Lopez’s study must not see the light of day.

As a former nurse employed as Director of Clinical Operations at the University of California, San Francisco, Peele has masterfully integrated her expertise and training in crafting this mesmerizing thriller.

The narrative triumphs as both a mystery and a reminder that the pharmaceutical industry, one of the largest and wealthiest industries, can be culpable of unethical clinical trials. Sometimes, data is falsified. Protocol is thrown out the window, and researchers manipulate their findings. As a result, the results are distorted. When identified, it may be too late to remedy the damage caused to patients who have been harmed and robbed of quality healthcare.

Follow Here To Read Norm's Interview With Amy S. Peele