Deadfall

The police think suicide.

Dr. Davenport’s team in Portland, Oregon thinks otherwise.

On the day she died, Dr. Davenport presented a paper highlighting a medical breakthrough that would change the treatment of Alzheimer’s. The breakthrough would undercut the billion-dollar Big Pharma business model, taking money from the grant writers, researchers, doctors and huge pharmaceutical companies who have made their life’s work developing drugs that don’t work.

To Dr. Davenport’s team, that is motive for murder.

They turn to Detective Kate Sawyer, one of their own—a participant in their study who is battling her own genetic form of Alzheimer’s. With her lover, Detective Beck Hudson; Dr. Davenport’s right-hand man, Thea Janeway; and Thea’s romantic nemesis and respected denizen of the Dark Web, Carter Livingston, Kate gets pulled deeper and deeper into the secret places where those on the fringes of synthetic biology ply their trade…for good and for ill.

The killer threatens to kill another of Dr. Davenport’s study participants unless Kate backs off…and he’ll keep killing until she stops.

With lives in the balance, Kate can’t stop…not until the last man falls.

But who will be next?

AN INTERVIEW WITH DEBORAH COONTS

After making a name for yourself in another genre, why switch genres now?

My first series featuring Lucky O’Toole is a light, romantic mystery series. At the time, my life was pretty dark, so I enjoyed the laugh-out-loud snark of Lucky and her pals.

But, now life is a bit brighter and I find the darker side, my love of thrillers calling to me. I’ve always loved thrillers, especially psychological thrillers, medical thrillers, women in jeopardy chase books, that sort of thing. Fast-paced storylines with deep, well-rounded characters—I wanted to add my name to the list of writers who have delved deep into these waters.

You’re a lawyer, so why the medical tie-in?

I’ve always been a science geek. When I first went to college, medical school was my target. Alas, life got in the way, but it didn’t dim my interest in the field. And today, technology is honing a sharp edge in the medical field raising lots of possibilities for cures. But where there is a good use there is also a bad use—the yin and the yang. Nothing ever comes without a price. Great for storytelling.

PRAISE FOR THE SERIES

"Fantastic! Coonts combines her trademark strong characters and clever plotting with one of the freshest concepts in suspense--a heroine with early onset Alzheimer's who literally can't remember why everyone wants her dead. Buckle your seatbelt for a wild ride!" - Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A firecracker of a thriller--with an ingenious premise, non-stop suspense and terrific writing. But it's the heroine who makes this such a winner--a heart-breakingly damaged loner who's got 'soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture' written all over her." - Hank Phillippi Ryan, Anthony, Agatha, and Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author

"In this taut romantic thriller, no one is who they seem--least of all, Kate Sawyer…Coonts has a sure winner!" - Barbara Freethy, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"I love Kate Sawyer! Deborah Coonts has created an unforgettable character and thrust her into a fascinatingly unique and dangerous situation. I want more!!!" - Debra Webb, USA Today bestselling author