Genesis (A Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery Novel, Band 12) - Softcover

Cook, Robin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0525542175 ISBN 13: 9780525542179

Verlag: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2020

Inhaltsangabe

An ancestry database holds the key to catching a killer in this explosive medical thriller from New York Times-bestselling author Robin Cook.

When the body of social worker Kera Jacobsen shows up on Chief New York City Medical Examiner Laurie Montgomery's autopsy table, it appears she was the victim of a drug overdose. But for Laurie and her new pathology resident, the brilliant Dr. Aria Nichols, little things aren't adding up. Kera's family and friends swear she never touched drugs. Administrators from the hospital where Kera worked insist the case be shrouded in silence. And although Kera was ten weeks pregnant, nobody knows who the father was--or what he might now about Kera's final moments alive.

With Laurie temporarily sidelined by a medical emergency, impulsive Aria turns to a controversial new technique: collaborating with experts at a start-up ancestry website to trace the fetus's DNA in the hopes of identifying the mystery father. But when Kera's fellow social worker is murdered, it becomes clear that someone doesn't want Kera's secrets to come to light . . . and if Aria gets any nearer to the truth, she and Laurie might find themselves a killer's next targets.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Robin Cook, MD, is the author of more than 30 books and is credited with popularizing the medical thriller with his groundbreaking and wildly successful 1977 novel, Coma. He divides his time among Florida, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

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PROLOGUE
March 6th
11:15 pm 
 
It was a cold, raw, windy and heavily overcast March night on the lower east side of Manhattan, New York. Although the spring equinox was soon to arrive, winter had not given up. As evidence even a few wayward snowflakes swirled down out of the low cloud cover, which was churning like a witch’s brew. With the temperature hovering in the mid-thirties these microscopically intricate and strikingly beautiful crystalline structures were immediately metamorphosed into mere droplets of water the instant they touched any terrestrial surface. In sharp contrast to this wanton destruction of nature’s handiwork, the situation was the opposite inside a cozily decorated one-bedroom 4th floor walkup apartment on 23rd Street. Within the literal and figurative indoor warmth, a cascade of cellular events had begun that was ultimately the absolute opposite of the dissolution of the snowflakes. Here there was to be a progression of vastly increasing order and complexity initiated by the forcible ejection of more than a 100 million eager sperm into a vaginal vault.
            The individuals involved in this amorous event were blissfully unaware of the miraculous drama they had initiated nor of its ultimate dire consequences for both of them. Thoroughly intoxicated by the passion of the moment and forsaking contraception, they had given no thought to the possibility there would be an almost simultaneous release of a receptive ovum from the female’s right ovary. Nor did they consider how determined sperm are in fulfilling their singular desire to fuse with a receptive female equivalent.
            Two and a half hours later when the woman was contentedly fast asleep and the man likewise in his own apartment, the fastest-swimming sperm, following a perilous and Herculean marathon from the depths of the vagina to the internal end of the right fallopian tube, collided head-on with the passively descending ovum. Powered by an irresistible reflex, this winning sperm rapidly burrowed between the cloud of cumulus cells surrounding the ovum to hit up against the ovum’s tough covering. A moment later he injected his pronucleus into the ovum to allow his 23 chromosomes to pair with the ovum’s 23, forming the normal human cell complement of 46. The ovum had now become a zygote.
            Thus, on this nasty New York March 6th night, one of the most astounding miracles of the known universe had been initiated: human GENESIS. Although such episodes of fertilization currently occur in the staggering neighborhood of 350,000 times a day on a world-wide basis, which clouds peoples’ appreciation by its repetition, it begins a process of  truly wonderous, dumbfounding complexity. As a single cell that can barely be seen by the naked eye, the human zygote contains all the data and instructions in its microscopic DNA library necessary to form and operate a human body.  That means without any additional informational input the single-celled zygote it is capable of orchestrating the origin of some 37 trillion cells of two hundred different varieties as well as several billion extraordinarily specific, large-molecule proteins that must be formed according to exacting standards at just the right time, in just the right amount, and at just the right location. The human brain alone with its 100 billion cells and more than 100 trillion synaptic connections might be the most complex structure in the universe.
            By March 11th, five days after the lovemaking that initiated this particular ongoing miracle of human genesis, the rapidly developing conceptus reached the uterus to begin its implantation in the uterine wall. Soon it would make its presence known, proclaiming that a pregnancy had begun. From then on, all that was needed for the birth of a human infant in approximately nine months was basic nutrients, the removal of waste, and physical protection. Unfortunately, in a terribly tragic fashion these required needs were destined not to be maintained in this pregnancy even though everything else in the stunning process was right on track.
 
 
 
May 5th
10:05 pm
            Taking a shower was a Zen experience for 28-year-old social worker Kera Jacobsen, especially after a tense weekend. Being careful not to fall since her bathtub’s curved, porcelain coated bottom could be treacherously slippery, she stepped in, yanking the shower curtain closed in the process. She had already adjusted the water temperature to the near-scalding heat she preferred. After wetting her body thoroughly, she began to scrub herself with the help of a fragrant  gel and a long handle shower brush, washing away the stresses of the day and calming her general anxieties. She’d been experiencing more than her share of both lately.
            Kera had been in New York City for just under six months. Coming to the Big Apple had been a rather sudden decision. She’d grown up in Los Angeles, obtained her master’s degree at UCLA, and had held a position in social work at the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. Her specialty was working with children with complex needs and their families. It was demanding work and often emotionally draining although ultimately fulfilling. There was no doubt that her efforts made a big difference and were an important complement to the work of the doctors and nurses who were understandably focused on cure and alleviating immediate symptoms of the disease process rather than the bigger picture of how families and individuals coped. In this capacity she’d been content and professionally satisfied. What ended up rocking her world was the sudden and unexpected end the previous September of a long-term relationship with a medical student named Robert Barlow. Over the course of the two and a half years they had dated, they frequently spent the night at the other’s abode. With similar interests, including a shared liberal political orientation, they were never at a loss for conversation, which occasionally included discussions of future plans with the standing assumption it would be together. His intention was to take a surgical residency at one of the well-known academic medical centers, preferably there in LA or, if not, possibly San Francisco. As a particularly dedicated student, he was hopeful he’d have his choice. Kera had assumed that she would follow if he were to head up to San Fran. With her sterling credentials she was confident she could get a job at any academic medical center.
            But it wasn’t to be, and Kera still had no idea of exactly what had happened, although she had heard through the UCLA Medical Center grapevine that Robert had been seen frequently in the company of one of the surgical department’s first year female residents. Nonetheless and with zero warning whatsoever, Robert had informed her one hot, smoggy L.A. afternoon that their relationship was over.
Having suffered a big blow to her self-esteem, Kera felt the urgent need to fly the coop. Mutual friends kept asking what had happened between her and Robert, pretending to be sympathetic but actually loving the drama and gossip. Besides, there were just too many chances of inadvertently running into Robert in and around the medical center. On top of all that, Kera always had had a soft spot for New York City, coupled with being tired of the monotony of Los Angeles weather, its uptick of annual...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2020
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0525542175
• ISBN 13: 9780525542179
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 512
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: G.P. Putnam's Sons; https://www.penguin.com/putnam/; ; 1745 BROADWAY Attn: Madison Forsander; NEW YORK; NY; 10019; USA
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar