Heat Shock

The author of the acclaimed CJ Floyd series returns to the world he knows best-high stakes medical research-in this riveting new thriller ripped from today's headlines. Dr. Carmen Nguyen, a Colorado emergency room doctor, finds herself unwittingly drawn into the problems of a patient. Luke Redstoke, a former Uranium miner, is dying of cancer but is more worried about his prized gamecocks. Someone has been sneaking onto his property and trying to steal his precious birds. Now he has no way to protect them. Carmen agrees to check on the birds if only to humor Redstone-but she soon realizes the birds are genuinely valuable. A former medical researcher, Carmen learns that the birds raised on uranium rich soil hold secrets about strength, power, and chromosome changes. Determined to honor her promise to the dying man, she enlists a new friend and former patient to help protect the birds. Very little can stop the motorcycle-riding, Vietnam-born survivor, but a small army of ruthless killers hired by a businessman who can make a fortune from the birds' secrets are determined to try.