The Protocol

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 progresses--even the climactic scene at the end unfolds to reveal a new villain, diminishing the force of Fielding's downfall--the 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.)