Killer Dust (An Em Hansen Mystery)

The reader from Lawrence, Kansas, should have been Sarah Andrew' editor both in Fault Line and Killer Dust. (Both plot lines are weak, and the collaboration of a more skillful editor would have been very helpful.)However, I enjoyed both books very much because I love the solid science and geology that enjoyably informs a nonscientist like myself, Ms Andrews' brilliant descriptions of the physical world, and her uncanny ability to remind me that thoughtful, caring, and intelligent human beings are forced to make difficult, sometimes dangerous, moral choices in a chaotic and ever changing world.In Killer Dust I was delighted by the fact that Ms Andrews' dared to be political! I found myself cheering when she took some well-deserved shots at the foolish and self-serving ways of America's leaders, both scientific and political.Finely, Em is Em-tough, impetuous, emotional, foolish, intelligent, loving, loyal, crazy, stubborn, insightful, tenacious, ethical, exasperating, and real. I'll keep reading Ms Andrews' books as long as Em Hansen leads the way.

All her life Lucy wanted to go into space and now at forty her goal is days away from happening. It's too bad she can't anticipate the pleasure for she fears for her life. An ex-lover stalks her and means to destroy her and her dream. In desperation Lucy calls up the one man who will be able to help her. He will be motivated by the secret that she kept from him these years.Forensic geologist Em Hansen is happier than she has been in quite a long time as she has finally made love with the new man in her life FBI Agent Jack Sampler. She's convinced he's the one she's been looking for all her life. The morning after, Jack receives a phone call that abruptly has him leaving without telling her where he is going. Through mutual friends, Em is able to track Jack to Florida where he has to stop Lucy's ex-lover from committing an act of terrorism against the space shuttle. Em finds herself in the middle of the action surrounded by terrorists with biological weapons of mass destruction.KILLER DUST stars Em Hansen who is connected to Jack who is linked to Lucy who is tied to the killer but there are no degrees to Kevin Bacon. How these links were formed and the actions taken because of these ties are just as important as the who-done-it. The heroine has some tough choices to make in future stories but in this one she plays a vital role in stopping terrorists before they can perpetrate another despicable act on American soil. Sarah Andrews keep getting better with every book she writes.Harriet Klausner