Dead Promise

by Linda Wells

Overview

New York City becomes ground zero for a bioterrorism attack when a weaponized strain of avian influenza is released into the city subway. The result is devastating-a deadly pandemic that threatens to tank the US economy.

Evidence leads FBI agents Georgiana Reed and Mark Strickland to a government research lab and a beautiful scientist, Dr. Suzy Chen. She had access. She had motive. And she had a secret connection to a group known only as the Organization and its sinister Director, who were operating to bring down the US economy.

When Chen's love affair with a high-ranking military officer puts the Organization at risk, she is assassinated.

As Reed and Strickland draw closer to discovering the Director's identity, they struggle to hide the love affair they began in Dead Love. Now is not the time for emotional entanglements, but passion has a way of sabotaging duty.

Chen's grieving lover, Colonel Maxwell Graham, joins forces with Agents Reed and Strickland to hunt down the mysterious Director. Can they stop the Organization's twisted plot to destroy the United States?

The government tries desperately to stem the chaos of the deadly pandemic. But is it too late?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781537704883
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	06/19/2017
Pages:	338
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

A former flight attendant for a major airline, Linda Wells grew up in the southern United States and attended the University of South Florida.

Her new novel, Dead Promise, picks up shortly after the events of Dead Love, continuing the adventures of Colonel Maxwell Graham and FBI agents Georgiana Reed and Mark Strickland.

Wells, who lives in the Midwest, is currently working on her third novel.

Editorial Reviews

2017-08-02
The U.S. struggles to fight a pandemic—with viral outbreaks in three major cities—while agencies search for the mastermind behind the biological assault in this sequel. The call to the FBI about a potential attack unfortunately has merit. A canister in a New York City subway station released an airborne mutated H5N1 virus that spreads quickly. FBI partners (and currently lovers) Georgiana "George" Reed and Mark Strickland are on the case, but their prime suspect, biochemist Dr. Suzy Chen, may already be dead. Someone fired a bullet into her head, likely an assassin for "the Organization," referenced in a cryptic note Suzy left behind. An attempt to kill her boyfriend, Army intelligence officer Col. Max Graham, however, fails. George and Mark turn to Max for answers regarding Suzy, including the possibility that Dr. Eric Adams, director of the lab where the two were employed, is an accomplice. The Organization's enigmatic Director, meanwhile, learning that Max is still breathing, sees the colonel as a loose end, because Suzy could have told him anything. Finding the person behind the terrorist strike entails tracing a bank account (also from Suzy's note) as well as the biochemist's probable motive. The Director promised to get Suzy's separated-at-birth twin sister, Lee, a prostitute, out of Hong Kong. While a Manhattan hospital deals with an influx of infected patients, there are also significant outbreaks in Miami and Chicago. The CDC's working on a vaccine, but it could take months—time the American people don't have. Wells' (Dead Love, 2013) latest novel picks up right where her preceding book left off. She adeptly eases her audience into the story, reintroducing characters with minimal exposition or recapping, and even readers just joining the series shouldn't be lost. The (occasionally) nonlinear narrative is likewise utilized to great effect; George and Mark, for example, get a report of a murder—one that, in a later scene, a drunken Max (upset over Suzy's fate) awakens to discover. As the pandemic affects so many people, Wells includes an abundance of relevant characters, from doctors and flight attendants to President Jake Howland and his advisers in the Cabinet Room. As in the earlier book, all these players beget various relationships and accompanying obstacles: George is reluctant to be with partner and subordinate Mark; nurse Chris Noel is worried about her sickly lover, Dr. Dave Grant, as is his wife, Vicki. The no-frills narrative complements the short chapters, providing the tale with a brisk pace, especially considering that it began in the midst of the action. But, though George and Mark, along with Max, are unmistakably the protagonists, they don't have much impact on the main plot. Quantico's cyber-forensics team uncovers most of the leads, such as another canister, while a surprising character becomes suspicious of the person who, readers already know, is the Director. There's a definite resolution—a couple of crucial deaths cap off some of the storylines—but plenty of lingering questions remain, enough for the series' third entry. A conventional thriller elevated by the author's masterly juggling of characters and subplots.

Kirkus Reviews