Fatal Reaction [Mass Market Paperback]

Gini Hartzmark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 1998

A DIFFERENT KIND OF DRUG WAR--BUT JUST AS DEADLY

For Chicago attorney Kate Millholland, navigating the male-dominated legal profession was a piece of cake. Tough minded and amazingly poised, Kate had seen it all. Or so she thought.

With its blood-splattered walls and overturned furniture, the scene looked like a slaughterhouse. Kate wondered: Who would savagely murder Danny Wohl in his own apartment?

Head of the legal department at Azor Pharmaceuticals, Danny was in the midst of pivotal negotiations with Tokyo investors. Now Kate dives into the billion-dollar deal mid stream. And she finds the water filled with career sharks, secret affairs, lethal chemicals, and one cold-blooded killer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a brief stint in hardcover with Bitter Business, Hartzmark and her attorney, Kate Milholland, return to mass market format with this latest mystery. Azor Pharmaceuticals, run by Milholland's boyfriend and client, Stephen Azorini, is going broke with its search for the miracle drug ZK-501, and a deal with the Tokyo-based Takisawa Corporation is its only hope to stay in business. Then Danny Wohl, Azorini's best friend and company lawyer, is murdered and Kate, as Wohl's reluctant replacement, finds herself embroiled in the politics of drug research and Japanese business culture as she helps the police search for Wohl's killer. While the entries in the Milholland series are always solid, this latest is exceptional: Hartzmark paints a fascinating picture of the world of drug research with characters who are believable, varied and likable (even the villains are the kind you love to hate). The intensity of the complex plot never wavers, and the ending explains just enough to satisfy without being too pat.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

One day, while prowling around looking for reading material (my commute is a long one and I'm always "hungry" for a good read), I asked one of our editors for a recommendation. She handed me my first Kate Millholland novel, which happened to be FATAL REACTION and asked me to let her know what I thought. Well, the ride only lasts and hour and ten minutes, but I wasn't about to put the book down when I got home and spent the evening finishing it. The next day, in response to the editor's request, I went in to her office and said, "Give me more!!!" I guess that was the answer she wanted. I read everything Gini writes and love it all, especially her relationship with the enigmatic and totally irresistible Stephen Azorini...yum!Tanya Thompson, Executive Assistant

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books (January 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804117438
• ISBN-13: 978-0804117432
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,291,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to her previous mysteries, May 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fatal Reaction (Mass Market Paperback)

Hartzmark's characters and settings are always interesting. This latest Kate Milholland mystery, however, has too much blood and gore as well as too much detail about pharmaceutical chemistry -- and not enough mystery.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The thinking woman's mystery, February 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fatal Reaction (Mass Market Paperback)

Azor Pharmaceuticals is pretty close to declaring bankruptcy. Desperate for a wonder drug to pull his company out of financial ruin, CEO Stephen Azorini turns to Takisawa Corporation and its miracle drug ZK-501. However, instead of completing the deal, Azor's chief negotiator, in-house attorney Danny Wohl, is savagely murdered in his Chicago apartment.

Stephen turns to his lover, attorney Kate Millholland, to complete the billion dollar deal with the Japanese. Kate, who come from a prominent Midwest family, wants to make it as a lawyer on her own. Azor is a client, so reluctantly Kate agrees to continue Danny's efforts to cut a deal with Takisawa. As she dives head first into the middle of the high financed negotiations, she also seeks to uncover the identify of a cold blooded killer.

The Millholland series has always been one of the best legal thrillers on the market today. The previous books (PRINCIPAL DEFENSE, FINAL OPTION and BITTER BUSINESS) are all fabulous tales that those fans of the sub-genre who have not read them, should as soon as possible. However, Gini Hartzmark's latest Millholland novel, FATAL REACTION, is by far the best of the lot. The complex story line always moves forward, even as it entertainingly provides insight into drug politics and Japanese business methods. Kate and the support cast (both the good and bad guys) feel genuine, leaving the reader rooting and hating the various players. Any one who has a FATAL REACTION to this thriller needs to switch genres.

Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars fast-paced, interesting with likable characters, July 17, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fatal Reaction (Mass Market Paperback)

As an avid reader of crime fiction I was pleasantly surprised as soon as I started to read this book. I felt quite at home with the narrator and thoroughly enjoyed the story-line. I have now ordered from the U.S. the other three books written by this author. (For some reason she is not well known in Australia).