I'm reading this legal thriller in the Sasha McCandless series as a palate cleanser before my next library hold becomes available.
This collection contains two novels and two novellas in the i>Sasha McCandless legal thriller series, as well as an excerpt from a novel in the spinoff Bodhi King series.
Indispensable Party (***)(My 1-5 * stars rating)
Colton Maxwell is CEO of ViraGene a pharma company which has created a antiviral AviEx to a highly contagious virus H17N10. Maxwell makes sure there is demand by his product from the government by having the virus stolen from a secure lab in France and brought to a survivalist group to spread in the US. The preppers have also stolen hundreds of vaccine doses from Serumceutical, the company that Leo Connelly works for as chief security officer. When theft of the vaccine and virus samples is discovered, Sasha and Leo are drawn into a sinister plot involving bioterrorism, survivalists, and greed.
I've enjoyed this series like cotton candy, entirely for sugar-coated pleasure (no nutrition). In particular, I like the Sasha character and her relationship.with her boyfriend Leo Connelly. While I originally put this book on the backburner because the bioterrorism plot was just too close to the real world of the current pandemic, it didn't turn out to be as unsettling as I feared. As usual, Sasha and Leo save the world and are definitely still in love. I wasn't disappointed in this entertaining story.
Lovers and Madmen (***)
This is a Sasha McCandless novella, published in 2013. Sasha and Leo rescue an abused teenager and a homeless kitten. And Sasha fixes a special Valentine's dinner for Leo who has a surprise for her too. This is a story with a brief physical encounter and romance. Fluffy and sweet.
Improper Influence (***)
Several young healthy women have died suddenly from myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle). The young forensic pathologist Bodhi Kimg who examined the first three victims, has had his reports and computers stolen, and was fired from his job without justification. It appears there is a coverup occurring from the highest levels of the city government. Bodhi approaches Leo Connelly for help with his predicament and he finds them all willing to help him discover the truth. While all this is happening, Leo and Sasha are making slow but steady progress on wedding plans.
As usual, Sasha and Leo perform like super private detectives, ferreting out the truth from guilty public officials and protecting their associates from both violent and white collar criminals. There's some Intriguing secondary characters in this story: Naya, the relentless aide, Mackenzie Lane, the ruthless bureaucrat, Bodhi King, the Buddhist doctor, and others. I thought it ended a little abruptly, which is not my preyference. Okay for a long plane ride.
Excerpt from Dark Path: A Bodhi King Novel
Dr. Bodhi King is enlisted to investigate the cause of a death cluster on an island in the Florida Keys. The island is privately owned by a church which is run by a greedy televangelist.
A Marriage of True Minds (***)
This is a Sasha McCandless novella, published in 2013. In this story, Sasha and Leo are getting married at a private tropical resort with their family and best friends in attendance. Sasha and Leo have specified no weapons and no cell phones are allowed at their wedding. What could go wrong? Drama ensues when an uninvited villain crashes the wedding. However, Sasha again comes through and eventually they make it to the altar.