Admissions right up front, so you can take my review with a grain of salt. Read Kathleen Valenti’s debut novel Protocol if the subject matter interests you. I’m not a fan of scientific/medical thrillers. My eyes glaze over when there are paragraphs about the science or medicine, and I just skim over them. However, I reviewed the book for a journal, and what they’re looking for is a short summary, and the appeal of the book. I can do that, even if the book doesn’t appeal to me.
Maggie O’Malley is thrilled to have landed a job in her field right out of college. Rxellence is a company that does pharmaceutical research, and, for personal reasons, she wants to work on cancer research. Instead, she finds herself researching acne during the day, and going to a bar with co-workers in the evening. But, Maggie’s a little socially inept, and her first evening at the bar is a disaster. She receives an appointment reminder with the photo of a woman she doesn’t know, only to see that same woman’s picture on TV as she is leaving the bar. The woman is dead. In her panic, Maggie tries to push through the door, only to run right into a man from her company’s management team.
That collision symbolizes Maggie’s life spiraling out of control. She receives another appointment reminder, and another person ends up dead. At the same time, someone at work seems to be sabotaging Maggie. Strange documents appear on her desk. There are rumors about what she’s doing. When she and her best friend search for connections between the victims, they find a connection to Rxellence. But, who is going to believe a woman’s conspiracy theories when she’s been suspended on suspicion of using drugs and taking money?
Valenti’s debut mixes technology, medical research and social media in a complex novel that leaves some loose ends. Perhaps they will be cleared up in future books. But, there were too many sharks, too many plot twists that I had seen on television. Protocol wasn’t for me, but it may be for those who like medical mysteries involving conspiracies.
Kathleen Valenti’s website is https://www.kathleenvalenti.com/
Protocol by Kathleen Valenti. Henery Press. 2017. ISBN 9781635112399 (paperback), 294p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a copy to review for a journal.
