Siler's third novel continues in the vein of Iced, a kind of light feminista mystery. Lucy Greene, living in the small Colorado town in which she grew up, knows that she is unhappy (despite the pool, the cars, the house), but is unable to break free of the suburban mold. After husband Carl's accidental death, she is mired in depression. A not-so-random break-in and the strange demands of Bioflux, Carl's biotech employers, lead Lucy to the burning question asked by so many amateur sleuths: "What if it wasn't an accident?" Aiding in her search for the truth are Kevin Burns, disgraced journalist and Lucy's old flame, and Darcy Williams, an ex-con protecting her junkie sister. This task force of three ferrets out a secret that (as the novel's version of Deep Throat says) is "bad shit. Deep and high. You're gonna make some powerful enemies if you're not careful." Bioflux is responsible in some way for several biological phenomena dating from 1970 (when U.S. germ warfare was officially banned), among them the neural tube disorders that killed Lucy's child, Gulf War syndrome and a strange and fatal illness that ravaged the Colorado prison system in the 1990s. Equipped with quirky characters, a quicksilver plot and chase scenes aplenty (especially when the government becomes involved), this novel makes up in spunk what it lacks in credibility. The biological weapons angle is patently unbelievable, as is the survival of this shaky triumvirate as they simultaneously challenge big business and government. In the real world they'd be dead in ditches or rotting in prison, but in Siler's dirty but redeemable universe, everyone ends up on higher ground. Agents, Nat Sobel and Judith Weber. Author tour. (Sept. 3)
