cover image Judgment Day

Judgment Day

Patrick Reinken. Simon & Schuster, $22.5 (380pp) ISBN 978-0-684-80762-1

In a fear-ridden age shadowed by the proliferation of menacing viruses, this deftly crafted though not inspired first novel by a young Minneapolis attorney conjures up one of our best worst nightmares. On the eve of FDA approval of human testing of Prohiva, a promising breakthrough in the quest to find an effective vaccine against HIV, the chief research scientist of Weber BioTech, the company that has developed Prohiva, takes a swan dive from his office window. Jon Patchett, a disillusioned associate in the politically correct Minneapolis law firm representing Weber BioTech, is charged with reviewing the company's file to confirm that the apparent suicide won't delay the approval process. When Patchett discovers that research notes are missing and finds an enigmatic fax referring to a ""Lot 17,"" he and his assistant become entangled in a Gordian knot of stock market manipulation and murder. The bloody trail leapfrogs from Minnesota to Las Vegas, spilling into Utah and Arizona as the action intensifies. Insights into the workings of the FDA and the SEC, a crash course in genetic engineering and stark descriptions of the barren Navajo high country unfold against a murky counterplot about a maniacal serial strangler. Welding thriller genres together is no mean feat, but, employing clever pacing and solid characterization, Reinken creates a nearly seamless medical/legal chiller that's one slick piece of work. (July)