(2006)Very good thriller that involves an FBI agent who is pursuing a series of cancer deaths that she thinks have been caused by a murderer. No one believes her and the FBI wants her to drop the investigation or be fired. Publishers Weekly ReviewStarred Review. Smooth prose, psychological depth and crafty plotting lift bestseller Iles's latest suspense thriller, which puts a fresh twist on a familiar theme-the cat-and-mouse game between an FBI agent and a fiendishly-clever serial killer. One personal tragedy after another has struck Alexandra Morse, a rising star in the FBI who specializes in hostage negotiation: her father's shooting death in a robbery, her mother's diagnosis of advanced ovarian cancer, and a misstep on the job that left her face scarred and a fellow agent dead. Now Alex's sister, Grace, lies dying in a Jackson, Miss., hospital after suffering a stroke. Alex arrives from Washington just in time to hear Grace say that her husband has murdered her. After Grace's death, Alex learns that Dr. Eldon Tarver, a brilliant scientist in need of funds for research into developing a biological superweapon, has teamed with a Mississippi divorce attorney who offers select clients the opportunity to avoid a protracted court fight by arranging for their spouses to die. When Alex identifies the next intended victim, Dr. Chris Shepard, she goes undercover as one of the idealistic doctor's patients and soon finds herself in a race against Tarver as well as her own superiors, who have not sanctioned her investigation. This pulse-pounder is sure to be another bestseller for Iles (Turning Angel). Booklist ReviewThe new novel by the author of, among others, Mortal Fear (1996), 24 Hours (2000), and (most recently) Turning Angel (2005)begins with a big surprise. Dr. Chris Shepard, a doctor in Natchez, Mississippi (where the author lives), is visited by an FBI agent who tells him two things: a local divorce lawyer has a series of clients whose spouses have all died suspiciously, and Dr. Shepard's wife paid this lawyer a visit about a week ago. Now agent Alex Morse wants Dr. Shepard to help her trap a killer. If Iles has a trademark, a single literary feature that identifies him, it's his intriguing, ordinary-people-in-extraordinary-situations premises that hook readers immediately, forcing us to read on. How will Chris Shepard, a successful doctor in a seemingly happy marriage, react to the news that his wife may be planning to have him killed? Will Alex Morse, the deeply troubled FBI agent (she's still recovering from her own brush with death), confuse professional responsibility with personal interest? Before you know it, you've reached the last page, and you're all out of breath--but you've had one hell of a ride. Plot-driven is too often used as a pejorative term; Iles shows the other side. DavidPitt.

FBI agent believes there is a group murdering the spouses of the wealthy to help avoid the cost of divorce. She tells Dr. Chris Shepard he is next. Together they work to expose the truth. Very exciting.
When talking about cancer specialist the book mentions M. D. Anderson, I had just heard about them listening to Anti -MLM videos about Jesse Lee Ward.
Dr. Tarver has a negative view of animal rights activists. He reflects that "Your animal rights fanatics weren't like Jehovah's Witnesses, who would lie there and die within ten feet of a bag of blood that could save them. ---Jehovah's Witnesses had been some of the toughest resisters to Nazi tyranny, Eldon knew, especially in the death camps. He figured the average animal rights activist would have lasted about three days at Auschwitz." ( )

Yet another great page turner from a favorite author, this story like all the others was engaging from start to finish. What I really enjoy is how many of the Natchez characters have become a sort of family. This story centers around a female character never mentioned in the other books and yet Greg finds ways to bring in Penn Cage and his father along with Agent Kaiser who we see in the Natchez Burning trilogy. Iles has a formula that much like other best selling crime authors works across any situation. His talent with momentum building using unique characters is remarkable as is the copious research done that adds depth. This story poses a concept that devious minds could use to destroy civilization. That alone makes this worthy of adding to your list! ( )

slow starting but glad I stuck with it! Turned into a great thriller ( )

This is a compelling thriller, yet not one of my favorites by this author. Some nasty fellows devise a means to hire themselves out to kill off spouses of very wealthy clients who do not want to pay alimony in a divorce. Then, unfortunately for them, they knock off the sister of an FBI agent. Uh oh! Let the unraveling begin. Not a bad plot, just not my favorite. ( )