Principal Investigation

Virologist Celeste Braun is an unusual and likable heroine--a dedicated scientist with a realistic attitude toward work and sex. Research scientists are hardly immune to backbiting and jealousy, but Simon Phillipson's personal foibles come accompanied by greed and his own nasty strain of the deadly Eke virus. It doesn't take long for Celeste and her colleagues at a large Japanese pharmaceutical company to figure out that at very least, Simon is threatening to make the current cure obsolete. The question is, what's the most he's willing to do with his threatening mutant? When Celeste teams up with old lover Harry Freeman and new prospect, lab assistant John Macmillan, to nail Phillipson, sex and science meld. Jordan, a Bay Area research scientist, offers meticulous, accessible, descriptions of how viruses and vaccines work (complete with diagrams) that meld neatly with endearingly lowbrow components (""Even in his inebriated state, the general realized the shit was hitting the fan""). Add local color from California, D.C., and Tokyo local color to make this a jolly read. (Nov.)