Lin Wilder's A Price for Genius Brings Thriller Kidnapping into Literary Series!

Lausanne, Switzerland. Suddenly regaining consciousness, Rich Jansen attempted to stand, then instantly regretted the abrupt movement. The pain began at the base of his head and exploded in successive and increasingly intense waves of agony, forcing him to close his eyes, hang his head and wait motionless. Remaining on his hands and knees for a minute, then two; waiting for the pain to subside, for the nausea to fade. Jansen finally risked opening his eyes. Squinting at the bright light, he very slowly and carefully moved his head from right to left...
Whatever they hit me with had carried one hell of a wallop. The phone call from Reardon had happened last night? Or wait, was it yesterday? The minute he hung up the phone, Rich had called the airport to secure a seat on the next flight to Zurich. Sixteen hours later, he was in Lausanne, Switzerland, and had arrived at the animal research labs in the corporate offices of Andrews, Sacks, and Levine, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The elfin-like Ariana had been showing him where the test mice were kept when everything went black. Quickly looking around for her, Jansen saw only a few spots of blood and some scuff marks. And, ugh… hundreds of mice, scrabbling all over the lab; for whatever reason, whoever broke in decided to free the mice. Ariana was nowhere to be seen. The letter... where is the letter? Jansen reached into the pocket of his sports jacket, the one he’d had on since leaving San Luis Obispo, and breathed a sigh of relief when his right hand found the single page. A page now smeared with blood from his head wound. 
Hello Mr. Reardon, By the time you get this letter, it will be too late. We’ll already have her. Here are the steps you must NOT take: Do not call the cops. Do not contact Interpol. Tell no one. We’ll know if you contact the police or Interpol. We’ll know and we’ll kill her instantly. But we are civilized business people; this is all about business after all. Do nothing at all until you hear from us. And you will hear from us, Mr. Reardon. You must know Sir, there is a price for genius. We trust you will pay it if you want to see your daughter alive.

~~~

A Price for Genius

By Lin Wilder

Rich Jansen had immediately flown to Lausanne as soon as he'd received the call Hank Reardon. He headed directly to the main offices of the pharmaceutical company and had immediately become part of the kidnapping...by getting knocked out in the animal quarters where he was reviewing the destruction and mice theft... He had been talking with Ariana who had been showing where the test mice were kept...Now, as he was trying to regain full consciousness, he realized that she was gone! Could this get any worse...

His first thought and action was to call Lindsey, his wife, and ask her to be on the next flight to Switzerland...

Two important women in their lives had been kidnapped, or possibly could be worse...

Wow, Lin Wilder has created a set of characters that have won, I am sure, the concern and care of all readers of this series. First, Wilder has a number of intelligent female scientists that are making groundbreaking discoveries--how I wish they were truly happening! Also, a leading prize-winning news journalist, as well as a legal team, including Rich Jensen, husband of Lindsey, who are the two main characters... There are a number of other close friends, including Hank Reardon, that round out a wonderful, close group that are always involved in doing the latest and greatest things for the world...

But this time, two of those individuals, both outstanding scientists in the pharmaceutical company run by Hank Reardon, have been kidnapped. One of them is Hank's daughter. And the ransom is not money...it's pharmaceutical discoveries and patents! Potentially worth billions!

“That’s one of the main things

 that keeps me from leaving the

church...

 I know what I am capable

 of doing.”

~~~

There are always multiple stories in Wilder's books...These are people who are doing things and looking to do more. Lindsey, who had become the medical director of the prison has begun to get itchy to move on. She has already used her own money to totally upgrade the medical area of the prison, and soon realized that there were very few challenging cases that required her expertise... We learn where she is going next in this book, which undoubtedly will lead to the location of one of Wilder's future novels. 

In the meantime, readers learn about gang member issues there in Houston... And with 50% of the prison population being gang members, readers are involved with a major explosive situation within the prison where Rich actually gets back involved even though he is no longer head of the prisons... 

All hell had broken loose. The smoke was so thick that Rich’s eyes were streaming, and he could hear screams, but could not see... “Max, here.” Although he could not see him, Rich suddenly felt the cold nose of his dog in his right hand, the one which was groping along the wall as he moved in a rapid semi-crouched crawl, and breathed a sigh of relief at the touch. Suddenly, there was a pocket of clearer air, and he could see a pile-up of bodies on the floor. 
The skinny guard who had climbed through the ventilation ducts had one inmate in cuffs and another meekly standing against the wall away from the melee formed by the other seven bodies. Luke Preston was on the floor, his body crossways on one of the rioting inmates, his formidable legs in a scissor kick that was slowly asphyxiating the prisoner. The downed prisoner was a member of the Texas Syndicate, the TS tattoo readily apparent on the skin under the throat currently being crushed. His eyes were bulging, his skin slowly turning blue. 
Jansen crawled up behind Luke, ignoring all the other guards, and pulling out his Glock, placed the business end of the revolver on the side of his head. “Luke, let him go. Now.” Jansen’s voice was low, menacing. He guessed that Preston knew this creep and had figured him for the murder of his little brother, Devon...

~~~

These characters generate action and their actions normally result in problems and some type of criminal issue...but they also must experience the aftermath as well... And it can become overwhelming at times...

The searchlights illuminated the majestic bell tower, but high up and beyond the bell tower soared the crowning achievement of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. As they had gazed up at the over fifty-foot, illuminated stained glass window of the resurrected Christ, Rich had told Lindsey how awed he felt by the magnificence of the artist’s depiction. Rather than the weakened and pitiful representation of the Savior favored by artists of the last several hundred years, the Italian who had created this Christ had designed a hero, a warrior. A God-man whose humanity was perfected by the spectacular blood-red sacred heart residing in the massive and muscular torso from which power, strength and love seemed to flood the city of Houston...
Rich loved the window— had treasured it from the first few shots he had seen on television. He had even taken to driving downtown at night so that he could see the brilliant colors illuminated by the bright light within the church, and reflected through that crimson, sacred, heart. 
Each time Jansen viewed this Lord, he thought of the old Christian hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers.” This was a general he could follow into hell. Smiling through tears once again, Lindsey winged a simple prayer of thanks to this God who had, for reasons she would never understand, graced her with this man, Rich Jansen...

~~~

 I'm loving the whole series, mainly because I'm loving the characters and feel like I know them as ethical, moral people, and consequently care for them... The mixture of the excellent writing, together with the world of the pharmaceutical industry, and merged with the criminal element of various types, makes Wilder's books an awesome series with formidable characters that are unequaled in my experience.

In fact, the only group that comes somewhat close is on Scorpion, one of my favorite television series right now. As that group shows again and again, the price of genius...is indeed high...but, putting them together in a tv program...or in a book series by Lin Wilder results in exhilarating, unique experiences time after time... Surely, you can't afford to continue without checking these books out!

I recommend you start with the first, The Fragrance Shed by a Violet,  then Do You Solemnly Swear... All of them can be considered free-standing; however, the major draw for me has been the characters and by A Price for Genius, you will be meeting old friends as they struggle to find and rescue the two young scientists, captured only because they are both geniuses... My recommendation for the works of Lin Wilder must be as Must-Reads...


GABixlerReviews

Lin Wilder is a former Hospital Director and presently a self-employed writer who works from her home in northern Nevada. She finds peace and channels her creativity in the remote valley that offers her just the right amount of silence, stillness and solitude. She has written throughout her entire adult life but made the switch from non-fiction to fiction in 2006.

"I found, long ago, that the best way for me to understand something is to write about it.” Lin explains. Writing helps her to better comprehend even the most challenging subjects. Lin feels her line of work should be viewed like any other business, advising others, “In the beginning, expect to be in the red.” After years in the industry, she has learned the value of a good editor, finding that editing is far more than proofreading. "Writing is hard work and requires exceptionally thick skin. Once we decide to publish our work, we’re in the public domain where others can criticize, perhaps even in a hurtful way.” Wilder states.
Prior to her decision to switch to fiction, Lin Weeks Wilder had published over 40 articles and book chapters as well as a textbook. She has also written four self-help books. Lin's first novel, The Fragrance Shed by a Violet, was published in July of 2015. The second edition, The Fragrance Shed by a Violet: Murder in the Medical Center and the sequel, Do You Solemnly Swear are available to purchase on Amazon. When asked why she chose to create a second edition, Lin quotes Chesterton, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly" and explains that the multiple errors in the first edition begged to be fixed. The third in her series, A Price for Genius, was planned for a spring release but has been preempted by a non-fiction account of an "unplanned surprise" story of her return to faith: Finding the Narrow Road; A Love Story.
Her series of medical thrillers are situated in Houston, Texas with many references to the Texas Medical Center where Lin worked for over 23 years.
In her free time, Lin Wilder enjoys exercising, hiking, listening to beautiful music, gardening and last but certainly not least, reading. She is married to a former Marine and psychologist with 25 years of experience counseling ex- combat veterans. They reside in Nevada with their two dogs.

Here's a taste of the debut novel...