Dr Swenson, works for Vogel, a large USA drug company, and is based in the Amazon rainforest researching a new drug that will end the fertility problems of western women. She has discovered a tribe where the women age in appearance but remain fertile all their lives. If this gene could be harnessed Vogel will reap huge profits but they have one major problem:
Dr Swenson is eccentric and difficult to pin down. She disappears into the jungle for months on end, rarely reads her mail, and feels she doesn’t have to account for her research to anyone including her employer. Vogel needs a progress report on her research and sends an affable young doctor, Anders Eckman, to Brazil to check on her progress. Swenson sees him as an irritant and distraction from her important work.
As his wife and family anxiously wait for months for his return home, a brief letter from Swenson advises that Anders died of a fever.
Vogel wants to send another employee, Dr Marina Singh to Brazil, to continue Ander’s mission and discover the circumstances of his death. Marina worked closely with her colleague, Anders, and also feels sorry for his grieving widow so she reluctantly agrees to go. Marina was also taught by the intimidating Dr Swenson years ago at university and hopes that will give her some leverage.
There are many questions to answer – Is Dr Swenson really developing a wonder drug for Vogel? How much more money will this endless research cost Vogel? Was Ander’s death suspicious? The story twists and turns and gradually becomes more sinister as Marina battles the heat, mosquitoes, fever and isolation, trying to solve the puzzle of Ander’s death and Dr Swenson’s hold over her and others.
Brilliantly written, this story grips the reader from the opening chapter to the surprising end.
Recommended by Janet
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