Quantum: A Thriller

by Patricia Cornwell

Overview

A USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts bestseller.

International bestselling author Patricia Cornwell delivers pulse-pounding thrills in the first book in a series featuring a brilliant and unusual new heroine, cutting-edge cybertechnology, and stakes that are astronomically high.

On the eve of a top secret space mission, Captain Calli Chase detects a tripped alarm in the tunnels deep below a NASA research center. A NASA pilot, quantum physicist, and cybercrime investigator, Calli knows that a looming blizzard and government shutdown could provide the perfect cover for sabotage, with deadly consequences.

As it turns out, the danger is worse than she thought. A spatter of dried blood, a missing security badge, a suspicious suicide—a series of disturbing clues point to Calli’s twin sister, Carme, who’s been MIA for days.

Desperate to halt the countdown to disaster and to clear her sister’s name, Captain Chase digs deep into her vast cyber security knowledge and her painful past, probing for answers to her twin’s erratic conduct. As time is running out, she realizes that failure means catastrophe—not just for the space program but for the safety of the whole nation.

Brilliantly crafted, gripping, and smart, Patricia Cornwell’s cliffhanger ending will keep readers wondering what’s next for Captain Calli Chase.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781503905092
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	04/14/2020
Series:	Captain Chase , #1
Pages:	354
Sales rank:	244,128
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

In 1990, Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. An auspicious debut, it went on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure prize—the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. Growing into an international phenomenon, the Scarpetta series won Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.

Today, Cornwell’s novels and iconic characters are known around the world. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written the definitive nonfiction account of Jack the Ripper’s identity, cookbooks, a children’s book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and two other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano and Andy Brazil. While writing Quantum, Cornwell spent two years researching space, technology, and robotics at Captain Calli Chase’s home base, NASA’s Langley Research Center, and studied cutting-edge law enforcement and security techniques with the Secret Service, the US Air Force, NASA Protective Services, Scotland Yard, and Interpol.

Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston and Los Angeles.

Hometown:

Boston, MA and New York, NY

Date of Birth:

June 9, 1956

Place of Birth:

Miami, Florida

Education:

B.A. in English, Davidson College, 1979; King College

Website:

http://www.patriciacornwell.com

Editorial Reviews

10/07/2019

Sabotage and family loyalty collide in this disappointing series launch from bestseller Cornwell (the Kay Scarpetta series). When Capt. Callisto “Calli” Chase, a NASA cybercrime expert, investigates a security breach and a suspicious death in the tunnels below the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., she has reason to worry that the trail will lead to her identical twin sister, Carme, a fighter pilot who went AWOL a few days earlier. The tension grows as Calli realizes the breach represents a serious threat to the space program, though undercut by extended crime scene descriptions that at times provide nitty-gritty specifics twice—in grams and pounds, kilometers and miles, Celsius and Fahrenheit. These factoids do little to propel the narrative forward to the abrupt cliffhanger ending. A bigger problem is wunderkind Calli. Her prodigious gifts enable her to dominate every conversation and handle cyanide, surveillance, and hazmat suits with equal aplomb. Flashbacks reveal critical incidents in Calli’s past, yet her character lacks the vulnerability of a flesh-and-blood human being. Scarpetta fans will have a hard time taking to Cornwell’s implausible new heroine. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

The creator of Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta peers into space and finds just as much skullduggery there…[introducing] an equally strong, even more tormented heroine…[in] federal special agent Capt. Calli Chase.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Move over, Doctor Kay Scarpetta…Quantum inaugurates a new series with a confident new heroine…” —The Telegraph

“Cornwell’s long-time fans will recognize her talent for jumping immediately into action. From page one, the reader is drawn into the space and time of the characters, as Cornwell wastes no time getting the reader oriented into the story. The claustrophobic confines of the opening setting are fantastically described, to the point that readers may have to remind themselves to breathe normally.” —The Nerd Daily

“Brilliantly crafted, gripping, and smart…” —Post Register

“Buckle up for a race to the finish that does not disappoint.” —Bookreporter

“As always, Cornwell establishes time, place, and mood by expertly crafting each scene to make you feel as if you’re in it.” —New York Journal of Books

“Gripping, suspenseful, and leaves you wanting more.” —Better Reading

From the Publisher

Thriller fans are in for a treat as narrator January LaVoy performs Patricia Cornwell’s latest. It’s the first adventure of Captain Calli Chase, a NASA pilot, quantum physicist, and cybercrime investigator who must puzzle through the clues that point to her missing identical sister, Carme. LaVoy delivers this heart-pounding story using a combination of emotionally even tones, chaotic thoughts, and increasingly tense comments. Lacing events with tension, she imbues all the characters with their own mystery and self-confidence. LaVoy is a vocal shape-shifter gliding between fluid narrative; the staccato, gravelly voice of Calli’s sister, Fran, a police officer; gruff male characters; and Calli’s increasing paranoia. As Calli follows the trail left by her missing sister, LaVoy’s tones echo her growing distrust—of herself. M.B.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2019 - AudioFile