Robert Gordon, chief of medicine at a major hospital, doesn’t have long to live. He wants Bekker to locate the daughter he gave up for adoption forty years earlier when he was a young widower still in medical school.
Gordon’s brother, the lawyer who handled the adoption, is hospitalized with Alzheimer’s and doesn’t remember a thing, but a detailed investigation of his records reveals a startling discovery: Gordon’s baby wasn’t adopted but sold to a childless New York couple. Mr. and Mrs. Gertz raised their daughter Sarah in a loving home until she moved to Washington, D.C., to work as a lobbyist. Then Sarah Gertz disappeared without a trace.
$16.99
Bekker heads to Washington and tracks the last days of Sarah Gertz’s life. She was last seen after a meeting with Senator Oliver Koch, now the leading candidate for the vice presidential nomination in the next election. Bekker also learns that Koch had an affair with Sarah and that she had become pregnant. After an assassin’s failed attempt on Bekker’s life, Bekker is convinced that Koch was behind Sarah’s vanishing act, as well as the attempt to kill him and his family, but he can’t prove it.
And without proof, a murderer could become the next vice president of the United States.
Rating
Book two in this series, The Power of Poison, which launches from The Queen of all Poisons, is even more intriguing and suspenseful than the first. It is another great read with frightening twists and turns of the plot lines, profound challenges in professional, parenting, romantic, and coming of age relationships, and fascinating development of key continuing and new characters. The intricacies of the plot in book two are even more dramatic and engaging. While the plot lines woven around poisons carry over, the central theme is fresh, surprising, and all too realistic or possible in today’s world. The mother-daughter, or more general parenting/adult children relationships might be the most engaging for some readers. How painful can it be to do the right thing for an adult child? Do most adult children these days have this extent of true love, dedication, and commitment for a badly injured parent? Family roots connect deeply, in surprising ways, across the main characters. At the same time, professional, romantic, and extended family relationships are all crucial to the suspense and mystery. Some readers will be drawn more to Lily and JP’s romantic-professional relationship that takes on new meanings in book two. Others may find Lily’s or Rose’s relationship with Dr. Kelley, Lily’s academic colleague, to be the most intriguing and engaging. My favorite to follow, Dr. Leigh, comes alive onto center stage from his lab in Hong Kong in clever and novel ways, especially in his multifaceted relationships with Lily. JP’s origins, connections, and love life with Lily all take on new dimensions, as Lily is drawn ever more away from the academic life and into an even high powered assassin for the CIA. The interconnections between highly skilled Russian operatives, a brilliant Chinese scientist, a defecting US doctor, and North Korea’s insidious drives all help make this a great read. Just like Lily’s self-challenge to “solve” the most complex puzzles, readers will want to read this thriller in the same week or two in order to help “solve the puzzles” of these brilliantly woven relationships, plot lines, and outcomes.
A strong female protagonist in an exciting international thriller that will keep you turning the pages with a dash of romance, lots of intrigue and a dynamite ending.
I’m a fan of the series of Dr. Lily Robinson. A great escape into the secret world of political assassination. The author gives great details about the power of poisons.. Great fun read!
After reading about Lily Robinson in The Queen of all Poisons I couldn’t wait for more. Well the wait was well worth it and after spending a rainy weekend with Lily in The Power of Poison, I was not disappointed. If you enjoy reading crime thrillers, as well as learning about different poisons and their effects, this is a book for you. Looking forward to the next book and seeing what Lilly gets up to next.
The book was much like a winding country road in a fast car. Never knowing what’s around the next bend. Even though I am a guy, regular guy, that is; the ending had me in tears, and with feelings of hope. Brilliant!!
i can’t wait for the movie. BJ Magnani has created a truly memorable title character in Dr Lily Robinson, a doctor by day dedicated to saving lives at her hospital, yet an assassin by night in her stilettos taking lives – of the truly bad people in the world. BJ Magnani’s first book was a page-turner and so is this one, with an expansion of the love interest in this one, which is good. Magnani’s writing is as “smart” and intelligent as Lily Robinson is herself. I love the way Magnani goes into such rich detail to provide the “how” the poisons that Lily creates get blended together from natural ingredients in her garden – a mix that puts the means for carrying out the assassinations beyond detection once the deed is done. I come back to the point about the movies, though, because the cast of characters fit right into the same cinematic mode with Lily. I’m going to place myself at the head of the line when Hollywood discovers Lily and we can all find her at the cineplex plying her craft to rid the world of heinous figures who would do us all harm.
Another engrossing & fascinating novel about Dr Lily Robinson -you won’t be able to put it down!
It was a great read. I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting. The plot was well crafted to showcase Lily Robinson, not only of her intriguing character and past history, but also her knowledge of poison. The author’s expertise in the exotic poisons adds so much to the intrigues. Highly recommended.
The Power of Poison picks up where The Queen of All Poisons ends. We learn more about Lily, her daughter, and her struggle to balance her two disparate worlds. Both novels derive from the original short story collection, Lily Robinson and The Art of Secret Poisoning. There are ample opportunities for the storyline to interface with the realities of today’s political threats and the values of science as a discipline. I enjoyed this book enormously, as I have all the Lily Robinson stories—tossing me about, lost in a different reality. I find the writing captivating, emotional, absorbing. And when all of the pieces of the story finally fit in place, as in a picture puzzle, what remains is simply beautiful. All of it brought me to tears.
The Power of Poison picks up where The Queen of All Poisons ends. We learn more about Lily, her daughter, and her struggle to balance her two disparate worlds. Both novels derive from the original short story collection, Lily Robinson and The Art of Secret Poisoning. There are ample opportunities for the storyline to interface with the realities of today’s political threats and the values of science as a discipline. I enjoyed this book enormously, as I have all the Lily Robinson stories—tossing me about, lost in a different reality. I find the writing captivating, emotional, absorbing. And when all of the pieces of the story finally fit in place, as in a picture puzzle, what remains is simply beautiful. All of it brought me to tears.
I loved how at the end of each chapter, it kept you hanging on to see what was going to happen next. I also liked learning more about the characters that I fell in love with from her first book to the second book. There are many surprises in this book. You finally learn more about Rose. You will need to see what happens with the relationship between JP and Dr. Robinson. It is well written, great story, and awesome characters. The end leaves you wanting more!!!
