The Protocol [Mass Market Paperback]

April Christofferson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2000

Jennifer Rockhill's plans for revenge fall into place the day she's hired as the corporate attorney for a Seattle biotech firm because it allows her to get tantalizingly close to Dr. Sherwood Fielding, the man who killed her husband.

Jennifer has to prove that Dr. Fielding funded his biotech firm by dealing in illegally obtained human organs - including her husband's -- for transplant into the bodies of people who could pay almost any price to extend their lives. But that's not the worst of Sherwood Fielding's trangressions against nature, as Jennifer soon finds out.

Working on the cutting edge of a lucrative field like genetics is risky - and Jennifer finds herself in a maelstrom of murder, industrial espionage, deceit and personal betrayal. Embroiled in a plot of unimaginable medical perversion, Jennifer must fight for the truth about the science being done at the firm. Especially as it leads her to the truth of how and why her husband died.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starring two complex and often fallible characters, this debut thriller is expertly paced and tautly woven. Michael Crichton-like in its scientific focus, the novel begins when beautiful, widowed attorney Jennifer Rockhill is hired as in-house counsel for BioGentech, a Seattle biotechnology company run by her nemesis, Dr. Sherwood Fielding. Though he doesn't know who she is, Jennifer suspects that Fielding, then a physician in Southern California, killed her husband, comatose after a car accident, in order to sell his kidneys on the black market. Since her daughter died in the same accident, Jennifer has nothing to lose. Her fledgling plans for revenge collide with the agenda of suave, manipulative Matthew Pace, an ex-CIA agent who now makes his living as a corporate spy. Jennifer and Matthew, both trying to discover the secret behind Fielding's "Project X," stumble together upon so many illegal genetic experiments and biological grotesqueries that they decide to join forces. Christofferson's narrative moves briskly, easily shifting from the heroes' perspective to Fielding's. Though too many new characters are introduced as the novel progressesAeven the climactic scene at the end unfolds to reveal a new villain, diminishing the force of Fielding's downfallAthe author compensates by developing a credible romance between Jennifer and Matthew, who at first seem unswervingly single-minded in their self-serving missions. Although it's not the metaphorical treatise on the dangers of genetic engineering that Christofferson might have intended, the novel offers a rapid pace, high body count and well-rounded characters that combine to make the story a suspenseful success. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Christofferson, a Seattle biotechnology attorney, enters the realm of medical fiction with the story of corporate attorney Jennifer Rockhill, recently hired by a biotechnology firm in Seattle. Consequently, the reader learns a good deal about the business of biotechnology as she recounts Rockhill's quest to avenge her husband's death, which she attributes to Dr. Sherwood Fielding, biotechnologist, physician, and founder of BioGentech. With former CIA agent Matthew Place, an interesting and daring accomplice, Rockhill follows the trail into a world of illegal organ procurement and, worse, human cloning. Fast-paced, suspenseful, and frightening, this work highlights the conflicts that can result from the overcommercialization of science as well as the dangers of uncontrolled scientific experimentation. It should definitely be read during the light of day. For substantial fiction collections.ALinda M.G. Katz, MCP Hahnemann Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (October 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812561880
• ISBN-13: 978-0812561883
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,236,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A weak medical thriller with many logical flaws., February 4, 2001

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Protocol (Hardcover)

"The Protocol" is a paint-by-numbers medical thriller, chock full of cliches. First there is your basic spunky heroine, Jennifer Rockhill, who is out to avenge her late husband's untimely demise at the hands of a malevolent and venal doctor. Then there is the inscrutable hunk, Matthew Pace, a former CIA operative who has become a cynical mercenary. That is, he is cynical until he meets Jennifer. He then becomes altruistic and sensitive. The plot deals with a breakthrough technique relating to cloning. This technique is worth big bucks, and many people are willing to kill to get their hands on this "protocol". Besides the killings, there are many mysterious events, especially people breaking into laboratories in the dead of night. Does our heroine achieve the satisfaction (i. e. revenge) that she so desperately wants? Will our spunky heroine and our sensitive hunk get married? Christofferson doesn't tie it all up in a neat package, but neither does she satisfactorily explain away the numerous plot holes, either. Skip this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "The Protocol" Lacked Fluidity, January 8, 2001

By 

S. Kelley (Cleveland,Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Protocol (Mass Market Paperback)

On a browse to get a book to take on an out of town trip with me and since my favorite authors have not have new releases, I saw and purchased this book on a feeling of unsuredness. I am an avid reader of mystery/thriller/medical thriller novels but found this book to consistantly fall short of my reader expectations.

The reader can immediately get into the plot from the beginning but the writing style would get the reader going then run dead stop into pages of descriptive mumbo jumbo. I like a fast paced, cohesive plot that takes you on a ride through every twist and turn. To have pages of descriptive pages interspersed throughout the book, never got this aforementioned pace going.

Although the plot of biotechs, cloning and medical research would provide fodder for a fast pace medical thriller, this reader found alot of the characters to have non-plausible things written for them. One would be hard pressed to get a high positioned job, as an attorney, without verification of creditionals and resume. Originally, I bought into the employment physical but then towards the end of the book, found it unrealistic to have the type of physical that was requred of Ms. Rockhill. Most employee physicals, even for insurance, rarely would become as personal or medically required.

The characters were made into these strong thriller type characters but then became unrealistic both in character and attributes.

I somehow managed to get past the endless abrupt descriptive stoppings and read the book in 3 days but at times, it was a struggle to continue reading to finish the book as opposed to just putting it down and not finishing it.

I was sadly disappointed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just OK..., April 25, 2000

By 

Mrs. Fitz "fitzeesmrs" (MA/NH Border, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Protocol (Hardcover)

While the biotechnology industry, industrial espionage and the human organ transplant field are perfect fodder for a thriller, I didn't feel this book lived up to it's possibilities.

First off, the heroine gets hired as THE corporate lawyer by a huge biotech firm. She lies on her resume about her background and experience. And NO ONE bothers to check her background and references? Yeah right.

If you can get past that, the book then becomes a pretty good(if somewhat by-the-formula)read.

Until I got to the end and found the ending totally unsatisfying. Without giving it away, I still had alot of questions as to what happened to whom at the end. Ms. Christofferson did not tie up her lose ends. Hate that!