Fatal Impact

Dr. Anya Crichton #7

by Kathryn Fox

THE SEVENTH CRIME NOVEL IN THE BRILLIANT ANYA CRICHTON SERIES - A SERIOUS RIVAL TO PATRICIA CORNWELL'S DR KAY SCARPETTA.

When forensic pathologist Dr Anya Crichton finds a dead child covered in blood and stuffed into a toy box, her thoughts immediately turn to murder. Then the post mortem reveals that the girl died from a deadly bacterial infection brought on by food poisoning. But does that mean Anya can rule out foul play?
Anya was only meant to be in Tasmania for a conference and to visit her mother, but when more people fall sick, including her father's cousin, Anya becomes intimately involved in the case. At the same time, her mother - with whom Anya has always had a difficult relationship ever since her little sister Miriam went missing thirty years ago - is acting strangely, talking about conspiracies and exhibiting classic signs of dementia.
As Anya deals with her increasingly paranoid mother, she is also racing to discover the source of the fatal bacterial infection. But Anya's investigations into the close-knit Tasmanian agricultural community where the contaminated food originated soon put her in grave danger as someone tries to kill her. As the deaths pile up, Anya's search leads her to an old murder case, and soon it becomes clear that her own family is closer to danger than ever before. But will Anya be able to discover the truth behind the poisoning and unmask the killer in time to save them, and herself?

Genres: Crime, Audiobook, Mystery, Fiction, Australia, Thriller, Tasmania

400 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2014

About the author

Kathryn Fox is a medical practitioner with a special interest in forensic medicine who currently lives in Sydney, Australia.Her debut novel, MALICIOUS INTENT, received international acclaim, won the 2005 Davitt award for adult fiction and was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly best debut novel award. In addition, it toppled The Da Vinci Code to become  the no. 1 crime book on Amazon in the UK and Germany. Fox is also the author of the internationally acclaimed and bestselling WITHOUT CONSENT, SKIN AND BONE, BLOOD BORN, DEATH MASK, COLD GRAVE AND FATAL IMPACT. In her spare time, Kathryn indulges in her favourite pastimes - reading and playing the harp (very badly).

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number seven in the Anya Crichton series.

Once again Kathryn Fox takes on a divisive topic, G.M. crop research and its implication on humanity.

No doubt Ms Fox did a lot of research on the subject before putting pen to paper but, at times, she draws a fairly long bow.
That apart, this is not a text book it’s a novel with the use of some literary licence. If we can accept love sick vampires😄, why not cancer causing seeds.

Whilst in Tasmania giving a lecture on sex abuse Anya take the opportunity to visit her mother who lives in a small community in the north west of the island.
When Anya sees her mother she is taken aback at her mental and physical condition. Not many days into her visit, a friend of Anya’s mother is found dead from a gun shot wound. When the police arrive they find the deceased with Anya’s mother sitting close by covered in blood.
As a result of this incident Anya discovers that her mother has serious problems with her auto immune system. The more Anya investigates the more she comes to believe that the centre of the problem lies with a multi-national conglomerate that has been buying up local land and growing G.M. crops.

People are becoming ill and, of all things, the Ebola virus is the culprit. People are also being threatened, Anya and her mother amongst them.

This is a tight, well plotted tale that will keep you turning pages.

Highly recommended.
4/5 stars.

[Phrynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A teeny bit disappointed with this one! Anya is still on top of her game and there are sufficient dead bodies and nasty people around, but I could not get along with the main story line about genetically modified foods. Fox seems to have quite strong feelings herself about the issue and a lot of time was spent on long political conversations. I am always uncomfortable when a fiction book tries to educate the reader in this way especially when some things are presented in quite a naive way. So I enjoyed the body of the book and skimmed the silly stuff!

[Deb Bodinnar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually read Kathryns' books very quickly because I can't put them down, but I feel like I maybe missed something with this one. The story line of the organic farm and the genetically modified foods just didn't grab me. As bad as it sounds I was finally happy when someone was actually murdered in the book, it was like "Yes! We've got a body to work with!" Sorry Kathryn.... I still love you and Anya. But no more E-Coli or spinach please. :)

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite a different Anya Crichton to the rest of the series. It didn’t involve much domestic violence or sexual abuse, and it was based around political/environmental issues such as GM food and foreign multi-billion dollar corporations buying up large tracts of Australian land. It is obvious that these are issues that Kathryn Fox feels passionately about - if what she has written about increases in medical conditions when GM food was introduced to the food supply is true, it is scary. I’d like to hope she has taken some artistic licence and made connections for the point of the story that aren’t true…

I liked that this was set in Tasmania, as I haven’t read many books set down there.

It was more difficult to keep track of what was happening in this one than the others in the series. Despite that, I am still keen to read more - this is the last book in the series at this point, but Anya’s story doesn’t feel finished, so I hope Kathryn Fox will continue with the series.
3.5★

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this storyline didn't seem as forensically based as her previous novels, the storyline was one, I feel, everyone should be educated on. Personally I hold a real fear of the way the world is heading with regards to GMO's and the company portrayed in this novel screamed Monsanto to me.

The potential that consumers could be eating genetically modified foods without knowing it, really scares me! Ultimately this is a work of "fiction", however this is a real issue!

Apart from the GMO's I missed the follow-on from Cold Grave with regards to Martin & Anya's relationship, but enjoyed getting more of an insight into Anya's mother's character and how the loss of child affects all family members in different ways.

Another great read from Kathryn Fox, which continued to cement her as one of my favourites.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A complicated plotline based around genetically modified foods and animals being pumped full of growth hormone, that meanders along without reaching the heights of some of Kathryn Fox's earlier books. It is obvious Fox feels strongly about (against) GM modified foods and I felt at times a line was crossed away from crime fiction and tending towards a political science lecture.
I also found there were a lot of characters (and real estate transactions) to keep track of in this book, and I found myself constantly reversing to check who was who. Maybe I was just distracted, but I am hoping the future direction of this series is back towards the forensic science style crime thriller that was the foundation of the earlier Anya Crichton books I came to know and love.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read one of Ms Fox' books last year and enjoyed it immensely, but this one disappointed.

It seems that she has read a bit about some of the food security problems facing us today - including the issues around the massive feed-lots in the US (NOT here in Australia) and GM crops - and has lumped the whole lot together, setting her improbable tale in Tasmania. I doubt the Taswegians will thank her for this, given that Tasmania is actually GM free.

The plot line was far too convoluted, the story far-fetched and I just got fed up with the protagonist.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this one a bit hard going as there were so many characters to keep straight and it wasn't the usual sexual assault plot, more government and business orientated. Still a great read but it required constant concentration.

[Ruth Caukwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an exciting book that I could not put it down.... a must read if you want to find out more about what it being put into our food! Starts off with a death of a child and then moves on..... (no spoilers though you will just have to read for yourself)

regards
Ruth Anne Caukwell
Writer Author and Public Speaker

My first inspirational book - 'Musings of a Blogger - Inspirational Thoughts for Your Life's Journey', (Published in 2016) is available through Balboa Press:-
http://bookstore.balboapress.com/Prod...
and Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Ruth-Anne-Cauk...
I also write an inspirational blog – RuAnCa http://ruanca.blogspot.co.nz
My webpage – http://ruanca.caukwell.com/
Please note that soon my inspirational blog and website will be under my new website – www.ruthannecaukwell.com

[Mirren Hogan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kathryn Fox writes a reasonably good story, although like so many authors, they get less good as they go along. The story in Fatal Impact is ok but I didn't really care all that much about the characters or the resolution. There were a few too many strings that it became a bit of a knot.

My biggest problem with this book was the editing. Either Fox needs a better editor or she needs to listen to the one she has. The whole book was littered with minor, but annoying, editing issues. At times it's hard to know who is speaking, because Fox uses the pronoun 'she' when two women are having a conversation. She repeats herself and are we really supposed to believe that a remote cabin in Tasmania has wifi? The reader knows the book is set in Australia but the fact is shoved a bit down our throats at times.

Yes, it's minor stuff, but she's been around for a few books now, so I'd expect a lot more polish.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! So much happening in a sleepy little Tasmanian town. Some parts of this story really stretched my imagination: important documents hidden in the chicken coop, houses bugged, cars and people incinerated etc, etc.

Although this was a good yarn, the impact is lost when we all know the protagonist has to survive. Surely more people would have been affected by the infected spinach? And I have difficulty imagining a mother placing her dead child in a toy box.

Too many issues were touched on in this story: anti vaccination, alternative medecine, sexual assault, contaminated food, GM food, dishonest politicians, compromised environmentalists, Chinese purchase of Australian land and more.

I sincerely hope Kathryn Fox used artistic licence with regard to GM foods and their possible effects; if that aspect of the story was based on research, we are all doomed.

[Carianne Carleo-Evangelist · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book about nutrition meets crime and how the worlds intersect. I'm sad I'm finished with the Anya Crichton series, but really enjoyed getting to "know" her. I do find that I preferred the ones where she was with Kate, Peter Latham and others in Sydney vs. on location elsewhere.
Nice to see her mom wasn't a total villain, but I found the latter focus on her and the Dengates left a lot unresolved, including her forensic physician role as well as that of Evie. I'm not one who is interested so much in the crusade of GMOs, so I didn't enjoy this as much as others might have. Still, was a good plot with well developed characters.

[Sallyann Van leeuwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this one. It started well, with the discovery of a body stashed in a toy box and the mother MIA. But this quickly became an inconsequential story, with the story going off in a completely other direction.

Maybe it was a blurb issue, it wasn't an accurate representation of the book.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book I have read by Kathryn Fox. Anya is in forensic pathologist who is asked to look into the death of a child. This leads her into organic farming, corruption and becoming sick due ro what they have eaten. The book covers a lot about farming practices, organics and GM foods. I found this rather interesting and enjoyed learning about it. Great characters especially in a small town.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten how much I enjoy Dr. Anya Chrichton. To me, she's like an Australian version of Bones. I read a few reviews where readers didn't like the organic food/genetically modified portion but I found it fascinating. And somewhat scary. Do we really know what we are eating? Does it truly explain the surge in food allergies? Food for thought (pun intended lol).

[Shan]

Zero ☆'s
I'm going to remind myself to come back and write an articulate review when I'm less annoyed about the epic downfall of this series.

[PJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I think, get past the awful title. If I hadn't had the basics of the plot described to me before picking this story up, I would never have started it. No, it doesn't resemble an 80s action movie that should have Arnie or Bruce Willis in it. In fact, the title seems to have nothing to do at all with the plot, which is something I am very grateful for.

Where Fatal Impact and Kathryn Fox shine is the story. The subject matter—organic agriculture and industrial farming—is something I'm very involved in, and to see it as the setting for a political mystery / thriller is exciting. And it's handled well; many of the key elements of corruption and corporate monopoly are included and stitched together into a believable story.

The down side? The writing is there. It never flies, remains functional to the story. But it never (quite) descends into Dan Brown territory and there's very little to complain about. Servicable is probably the perfect word for it. You're never bored or horrified, but at the same time, you're never quite pulled entirely into the book's universe.

The ending, also, leaves a bit to be desired. Although most of the loose ends are tied up, I felt a bit cheated. It didn't really feel finished, we didn't really see the consequences for the villains and conspirators. What they were doing, in the story, had enormous real-world consequences, but Fatal Impact ended as if only the consequences to Anya and her family mattered, and once the threads were all tied up we can put the book down and wait patiently for the next Anya Crichton mystery.

I think Kathryn Fox has done us a service by bringing the subject matter and issues with the industrial, corporate food industry to a wide audience. But with that pat ending, I sense that Ms Fox has gotten more out of the issue than the issue will get from having its story told.

[S.J. Hartland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fatal Impact is an excellent crime story featuring the interesting character forensic physician and pathologist Anya Crichton.
On another level, it deals with vital issues about genetic modification of food and foreign ownership of Australian land.
Returning to her home state of Tasmania, Anya is approached at a conference by a grandmother concerned about the safety of her daughter’s children. When Anya investigates she finds one of the girls dead in a toy box. Tests show the girl died from a virulent strain of food poisoning.
When others begin to die, Anya is drawn into the investigation and into a tight-knit farming community in Tasmania where her mother Dr Jocelyn Reynolds. Anya finds her mother’s behaviour increasingly irratic; Jocelyn mutters about conspiracies and murder, warning the “walls have ears”.
Anya’s investigation leads her to an old murder of a scientist and a shady multi-national corporation with links to the Chinese government. When someone tries to kill her, she turns to internal affairs officer Oliver Parke to help unravel a sinister mystery.
Fatal Impact is well plotted, beginning with a girl’s death and leading somewhere even darker.
It raises serious questions about genetically modified foods and about the wisdom of allowing companies connected to the Chinese government to buy up large parcels of Australian agricultural land. Not only are governments being seduced, Australia is being conned and the consumer isn’t aware of what they’re being fed and how it’s making them sick.
For crime fans, this is good stuff.
For those who want their eyes opened, Fatal Impact is a must-read.


[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fatal Impact
by
Kathryn Fox

Fatal Impact was my sixth of Kathryn Fox’s however, it was book number 7 in the Anya Crichton series.

As usual Fatal Impact commences with Anya speaking at a conference. This time the conference is in Tasmania where her mother lives. After the conference Anya is asked to assist local law enforcement where she finds a dead child in the home of a missing person.
Postmortem results conclude that bacteria from food poisoning was the cause of death. Was it accidental or foul play?

From this point forward Anya becomes entwined with international corporations, genetically modified foods, murders, cold cases, conspiracy theories and, almost, the death of her mother.

Having spent fifty-five years living on a farm in a rural community I felt I was able to identify with some of the issues raised in Fatal Impact. This made it all the more enjoyable to listen to. Again, I enjoyed this Anya Crichton novel and rated it a solid three star read.

At the time of writing my review, Goodreads readers have awarded Fatal Impact an average of 3.66 stars, from 424 ratings and 60 reviews.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars if only for the simple fact that I couldn't put it down. I easily recalled the salient points from the previous book, which made getting invested with this all the simpler. The plot started slow, and then took a massive left turn, which got me wondering where this was all going. I was glad to see that I had absolutely no idea about the end goal, since all of my guesses were totally off the mark, and even so, the climax was rather enjoyable. I would have liked to have seen more of a resolution, and I hope the author continues the series.

[Wide Eyes, Big Ears! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taking a break to present at a Tasmanian conference and visit her mother, Dr Anya Crichton finds herself embroiled in the death of a young girl and a deadly strain of food poisoning. There was a lot going on in this novel and I couldn’t wait to see how the vast array of characters and potential suspects fitted into a seemingly huge conspiracy. 🎧 Jennifer Vuletic provides her usual excellent narration - she really embodies the characters, especially Anya.

[Shirley Baerken · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW, I've never read a Kathryn Fox book before (apart from what she wrote with James Patterson) and boy, I have been missing out. I just LOVE this book and will now eagerly look for more by this author. I didn't know we had such a gem of an author in Australia. I can't recommend this author highly enough AAAA++++

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have now read all the series and it seems a shame there have been no more since 2014 although I see she has co-written one with James Patterson this year. I would hope that there would be at least one more.

[Percy Yue · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old book but a rare gem which combines medical suspense, politics, national security, corruption, murder, family and kids. Haven't read such an exciting western suspense for ages. Even Rock, Paper, Scissors and Veracity are no match.

[Pauline Chamberlain · Rating 2 out of 5]

an okayish book set in America regarding forensic science and the solving of a crime

[Ejlkasld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off really well but the plot was a little complicated and confusing. Still an enjoyable read just not as good as the ones I have previously read.

[Nicky Mottram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good read

[Darien Griffiths · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟, enjoyed it but thought something was missing :/

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

more good pulp
with added organics

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much description of ordinary and predictable behaviour of characters, what a bore. Get to the story!