Lin Wilder's Amazing 4th in Series! Malthus Revisited!

“Any chance you two could spend another Christmas in Lausanne?” Rich and Lindsey blinked at the webcam computer image of Hank Reardon waiting for their answer. The two were shocked speechless. They’d been kidding around for the last four hours about all the kinky fun they planned to have, now that they were alone for the first time since June. They’d gotten up at three that morning to get LJ and Morgan to their nine a.m. flight to Houston for Christmas break. Now, they were drinking celebratory glasses of Cava in anticipation of an early bedtime. In contrast to their light mood, Hank’s was uncharacteristically solemn...

“Why are you laughing? What’s so funny?”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this. Again. For the third time in less than a year!” Lindsey picked up her champagne flute, drained it, and nodded a, “Yes, please” at the Swiss airlines steward who stood waiting with a refill. Turning to Rich, she held the now-full glass up in a mock toast. “Here’s to our quiet Christmas alone in Pismo Beach.” After a big swallow, she continued, a bit coldly, “Humor me, please. Exactly how did you decide that Hank shouldn’t say anymore? Who on earth would have tapped his phones or bugged his house? And why would they even consider doing that?”

Lindsey wasn’t happy about this unplanned trip to Lausanne,

and she wanted to make sure her husband knew it.

She’d gritted her teeth throughout the previous two days of

lining up Jodi Tamarack and a dozen Cal Poly grad students

to care for the Dobermans and the new batch of Agouti research mice that had finally arrived for the Longevive study.

Getting them had been far more complicated than either she

or Liisa Reardon had thought it would be.

To eliminate genetic variation among the mice they were studying, the scientists used what are known as agouti mice.

These mice had jumpstarted epigenetic research when both

the function and switchoff of the agouti gene was understood,

ending, once and for all, the myth that DNA is destiny.The agouti gene causes mice to be voracious eaters, born with abnormally yellow-colored fur instead of the usual brown. Agouti mice are prone to obesity, cancer, diabetes, and early death. Remarkably, the gene can be switched off simply by feeding pregnant mice foods rich in methyl donors, suchas strawberries, onions, and leafy green vegetables. The result is lean, brown mice. It was the agouti mice experiments thathad made the kind of epigenetic research Lindsey and Liisa were doing with Longevive possible. They had also formed the basis of Lindsey’s research with the Dobermans.

Because Lindsey would merely be duplicating Liisa’s research,

the two scientists had planned to breed at least two generations of control and research mice by mid-December. But Ariana, Liisa’s head tech, had promised their entire collection of Agouti mice to other ASL researchers, and the wait for the mice had put them behind. It wasn’t that the Longevive protocol was complicated. Quite the opposite. It merely involved separating the group of sixty-four animals into two groups, one control, the second experimental, then giving the drug to the experimental group only. They would then conduct seven simple physical measurements of both groups daily. It wasn’t that different from any Junior High science experiment, but Lindsey was nervous about it. It had been over two years since she’d conducted any animal research with mice—since before she’d been indicted.

Perhaps that was why she found herself resenting the hell out

of this interruption due to another crisis at Andrews, Sacks,

and Levine.

Glaring across at Rich in the hope of more verbal jousting to vent her extreme frustration, she saw that he was dead to the world. Good thing you didn’t hear a word I said, she thought. It’s not as if racing off to Switzerland is your idea of a fun way to spend Christmas, either. She sat back and collected herself. I hate you when you act like this, Lindsey McCall. She shook her head and smiled at her own over-reaction. The hovering Swiss steward misinterpreted the gesture and wordlessly asked if she’d like a third glass.

“No, I’ve had more than enough, thanks,” she whispered,not wanting to awaken her husband. Glancing at him, she wondered —not for the first time— just why this remarkable man had decided to marry her. Lindsey knew she was anything but easy, that there was a side to her nearly impossible to love. Both her mother and sister had detested the intellectual, unemotional aspect of her personality, but Rich seemed to take it in stride.

Lindsey knew that her shortcomings were also her strengths. It was her detachment that made her good at handling the life-threatening emergencies she faced in her job, and her exacting nature helped her understand the most complex science. But the cost of these characteristics had been devastating. This was probably why she liked that Kelly Clarkson song, “Dark Side,” and had even memorized most of the lyrics.

Humming under her breath, Lindsey thought rather than sang the words:
Will you love me?
Even with my dark side?
But she changed the first line to Can you love me?
Until Rich Jansen had come along, she’d pushed every man out of her life in short order. Rich simply wouldn’t allow it. Thank God.

~~~

MALTHUS REVISITED:*

The Cup of Wrath

4th in Lindsey McCall Medical Mystery Series

By Lin Wilder

I was thinking about author Lin Wilder as I finished her latest fantastic supernatural novel, that you really can't tell what an author is going to write about if you just see her picture. With Wilder's professional career behind her, she is writing exciting stories that delve deeply into the medical scientific world... And her personal love of dogs comes to play as Lindsey McCall is now at in her new job and working with dobermans! 

But just as her latest shipment of animals have come, she and her husband get a call to fly to Switzerland. Although it is Christmas, this time the trip is for helping to end a murderous scientist who is playing with...Mad Cow Disease...

...we planted one of our agents who is also a scientist in Braun’s
pharmaceutical company. Until four days ago, we were receiving daily updates from him. We’ve had no communication since last Thursday morning which can mean only one of two things: either Sebastian is dead, or he is being tortured and
soon will be.” His gaze narrowed but remained trained on Rich. “Just before he went dark, Sebastian sent evidence of a plan to weaponize prion disease.” Evan’s tone remained cool, as if everyone understood the implications.
Apparently, Rich was the only one in the room who didn’t, because all heads nodded at Lindsey’s horrified question, “You think they’ve figured out a way to use Creutzfeldt-Jakob—” glancing quickly at Rich she added, “mad cow disease—as a biological weapon?” Without waiting for confirmation, Lindsey continued, her tone dispassionate. 
“You have decided not to alert the CDC, the WHO, or any of the hundreds of other international agencies committed to the safety of humanity?
You’ve decided to keep the people who know about this to just
a handful.” Extending the fingers of her right hand, she stared,
then nodded her assent. “You’re right, of course. Making this
threat public would result in total chaos, anarchy eventually,
and...” her voice drifted off, the enormity of her words compressing her voice into a whisper.

~~~

Two delightful young girls take a somewhat leading role in this book. Lindsey (LJ) is Lindsey's biological daughter who has come to live with Lindsey as she starts college. Shortly after, she became fast friends with Morgan, who becomes one of the heroes of the story... Morgan described herself at one point, “Actually I have been diagnosed with several conditions, including autistic spectrum disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, autistic savant—those are the ones that come to mind now. But—” Morgan was already working with the team trying to stop a major disaster from happening when she supplied that response. The key, however, was that she had supernaturally been having dreams of what was happening to the trial patients being given the virus. She had also started speaking Mandarin and knew where and what was happening...She knew she had to be part of the group to stop this, no matter how dangerous...

Then there was King David who was sent by God to a former marine, turned assassin... David had first spoken to Joe Cairns at the age of six but now he was back and told Joe to prepare... He knew he might be heading to the biggest challenge he'd ever faced, but his messages were loud and clear, immediately responding that he would help and then working through how he could make it into the inside. Earlier an undercover agent had been sent into a pharmaceutical research company, to determine how and what was being planned, but his identity had been discovered. He was now held captive and it was up to Joe to discover where he was and help him escape...

Although the continuing characters from former books are all there, plus new ones needed to respond to a death threat that was so horrendous that it was hard to even consider, it was the supernatural aspect of this book that overshadows the part played by each of those characters. Each individual seems to know that this crisis is being led with the help of King David and while the adventure is especially high and exhilarating, especially when Lindsey breathes in the poison, there is still a surreal aspect that overlays the entire story. If you've ever tried to imagine what might happen when God takes control and establishes the plan of action, then this is a book that will make you feel as if you are watching His Hand, placing each individual exactly where they need to be at the time they get there, barely!

I love this latest book and can't imagine what the next book will cover. What I do know is that this latest book is the best of the series...so far... But I would like one more miracle... to see King David back in another book...still helping Joe...

Can't recommend this book enough! I haven't shared too much of the chain of events because it is so tightly woven and complex but if you are a lover of mystery, thrillers and medical-themed stories, don't miss reading Lin Wilder! Highly recommended!


GABixlerReviews

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. (above) This photo was taken back in 2009. And shows the two dogs, Ally the red Doberman, and Shadow, the German Shepherd mix. These two wonderful boys hiked with me each day as I wrestled with the first book, did combat with my insecurity and fears. Until one March evening in 2014, around nine in the evening, when Shadow and I watched our barely 7- year – old Ally boy drop dead from a lethal cardiac arrythmia. Max, the red Dobie male in the books looks remarkably like Ally. And Shadow looks- and acts- exactly like Christy and Ted Ross’s dog in Do You Solemnly Swear? A Nation of Law, The dark Side.

Funny how that happens.

Best to Start from Book 1

*In Essay on the Principle of Population,Malthus proposes the principle that human populations grow exponentially (i.e., doubling with each cycle) while food production grows at an arithmetic rate. This scenario of arithmetic food growth with simultaneous geometric human population growth predicted a future when humans would have no resources to survive on.