Quantum

Sabotage and family loyalty collide in this disappointing series launch from bestseller Cornwell (the Kay Scarpetta series). When Capt. Callisto “Calli” Chase, a NASA cybercrime expert, investigates a security breach and a suspicious death in the tunnels below the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., she has reason to worry that the trail will lead to her identical twin sister, Carme, a fighter pilot who went AWOL a few days earlier. The tension grows as Calli realizes the breach represents a serious threat to the space program, though undercut by extended crime scene descriptions that at times provide nitty-gritty specifics twice—in grams and pounds, kilometers and miles, Celsius and Fahrenheit. These factoids do little to propel the narrative forward to the abrupt cliffhanger ending. A bigger problem is wunderkind Calli. Her prodigious gifts enable her to dominate every conversation and handle cyanide, surveillance, and hazmat suits with equal aplomb. Flashbacks reveal critical incidents in Calli’s past, yet her character lacks the vulnerability of a flesh-and-blood human being. Scarpetta fans will have a hard time taking to Cornwell’s implausible new heroine. Agent: Jeremy Barber, United Talent Agency. (Oct.)