Whiplash

This was one of her better episodes. Highly recommend it. Read the book in a day and a half and then reread it.

I love the FBI series from Catherine Coulter and this one was no exception. This one however had a surprise (for me) ending as to who the culprit was. This just made all the better a read.

Catherine Coulter's new novel, WHIPLASH, features the return of FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock. This time, the husband-and-wife team investigates the seemingly unrelated murders of several people. Assisting them in their investigation is FBI Agent Bowie Richards, whose daughter, Georgie, is a dance student in Erin Pulaski's class. Erin is not only a dance teacher but also a private investigator who has been hired by an old family friend, Yale professor Dr. Edward Kender, to find out why the chemotherapy drug Culovort, which his father needs to treat colon cancer, is suddenly in short supply. Dr. Kender doesn't believe Schiffer Hartman Pharmaceutical's story that the supply has been cut off because of the drug company's miscalculations and misfortunes. After confronting Caskie Royal, the CEO of Schiffer Hartman's American operations, with questions about the shortage, Dr. Kender thinks there's more to the story. And there is. Using the Internet, Erin does some digging into the company's background and its supposed reasons for discontinuing the production of Culovort. There's nothing much to read besides what she's already been told. She needs solid proof that there is something else going on with the drug company, and she thinks she knows where to find it --- in Royal's office. She breaks in using a set of lock picks that her father (a master lock-picker) gave her, and is then able to gain access to his computer files by guessing his password. What she finds is enough to nail Royal and the company. But, of course, it's not that simple; it never is. She gets away with the files, but shortly after the break-in, a body is discovered in the vicinity of Royal's office. The corpse is that of Helmet Blauvelt, a German national who just happens to be an employee of Schiffer Hartman and has been sent from the German office to investigate the problem with the drug production at the American headquarters. Savich, Lacey and Richards are called upon to investigate the murder, and they wonder if the same person who broke into Royal's office killed Blauvelt. Initially they don't suspect Erin knows anything about the case, but it eventually comes to light that she is in over her head when it comes to dealing with the pharmaceutical company. I had never read any of Coulter's previous books that feature Savich and Sherlock, so I was unfamiliar with this duo and how they work together. But the author did a good job of filling in the background information so I felt they weren't "total strangers." The story incorporates suspense, mystery, paranormal activities (FBI agent Dillon Savich makes contact with ghosts), romance and humor in a winning combination that is fast-paced and difficult to put down.

In the beginning of this story, private investigator and part-time ballet instructor Erin Pulaski is breaking into the Schiffer Hartwin Parmaceutical company's CEO's office. All is going well so far. Her client who is a professor at Yale has a father with colon cancer and there's been a sudden shortage of an important chemotherapy accompanying drug, Culovort. The suddenness of this has Erin suspicious and since other avenues of trying to talk with the CEO have failed, she is risking her life and reputation. She is able to access his office and his computer and finds files on the Culovort shortage plan which she prints out. As they are printing, Erin hears two voices coming down the hall: a man and a woman and it sounds like the CEO Caskie Royal and he is with a co-worker. They sound a bit drunk and definitely disorderly. Luckily Erin has time to grab her print job, tuck it into her jacket and get into the executive bathroom where there is a window just large enough for her to get out. She is heard as she gets out but runs fast and is not seen by the CEO. In a second story, Sherlock and Savich are hidden outside of US Senator Hoffman's home keeping an eye on his bedroom window where he told them he has seen the spector of his deceased wife Nikki the last several nights. He believes she is trying to tell him something but he doesn't know what. Hoffman is a friend of Sherlock and Savich's boss, FBI section chief, Jimmy Maitland. Mr. Maitland is concerned some one might be playing a prank or something more sinister on the senator. Savich and Sherlock do see the ghost but she doesn't say anything at that point. Later Savich is visited by her and she warns him that David, Sen. Hoffman, is endanger and doesn't realize what is happening. Extra security is set up for the Senator and Savich also lets him know what he believes Nikki wants to warn him about. The author throws into the mix FBI Agent Bowie Richards whose seven-year-old daughter Georgie takes ballet lessons from Erin and his desire to have Erin help him out by babysitting Georgie a few days as his usual nanny is out sick. Agent Richards is involved in the break-in at Schiffer Hartwin and also that night a body is found in the park behind the pharmaceutical company and the corpse is quickly identified as an employee of the German main headquarters of Schiffer Hartwin. This is giving Erin fits as she knows she should confess to doing the break-in and what she found out. On top of that, Sherlock and Savich arrive to help out Bowie so even more FBI agent for Erin to worry about. Great excitement as the plot lines evolve and are resolved. Romance kept to a minimum - maybe a bit too much but still a great read.

Yale Professor Edward Kender has colon cancer in which the drug Culovort he receives as part of his treatment seems to be working when he is informed production by German firm Schiffer Hartwin is nonexistent. Stunned he assumes the pharmaceutical industry is playing death squad to drum up profits. He hires private investigator Erin Pulaski to make an inquiry into the firm. She breaks in and enters the head office of the American subsidiary in Stone Bridge, Connecticut in order to hack into the files of the local CEO Caskie Royal. She finds info on plans to stop the Cartwright Labs in Bartonville, Missouri from manufacturing the drug; as well as stopping it in Spain in favor of a French firm Labortoires Anconder's drug Eloxium. However, Royal and production manager Carla Alvarez arrive and discuss what they are doing with the firm and then have sex.. The next day she learns that the firm's troubleshooter was murdered near where she downloaded computer data that made no sense to her. Meanwhile, the FBI sends married couple Agents Sherlock and Savich to Stone Bridge to assist FBI agent Bowie Richards with the homicide. They begin to find troubles with the pharmaceutical company while Pulaski wonders what to do with her illegal download; Pulaski becomes their prime suspect. Savich also investigates the poisoning of a lobbyist whose real target may have been aimed at a US Senator. This is a great timely entry in the long running S & S FBI police procedural series due to the pharmaceutical connection as much as the freshness brought forth by Richards and more so by Erin who knows her B & E was stupid but felt strongly that they needed to expose true death squad bottom lines. Fast-paced from the onset, the second case takes somewhat of a back seat though it is well written and quite exciting too. Fans of the series will relish this strong entry while newcomers will find Whiplash a winner too. Harriet Klausner