Libido's Twist

Book excerpt: Jake Palmer, an independent healthcare investigator, is searching for something to fill the emptiness he's felt since leaving the U.S. Navy SEALs 10 years earlier. Neither his work as a lawyer nor his endless string of short-term relationships fill the void. When a former colleague at B&A Pharmaceuticals asks Palmer to investigate the deaths of physician researcher Ian Smythe and his nurse in southwest England - killed in a horrific car crash - he reluctantly accepts the assignment. He and clinical research auditor Fiona Collins become entangled in a web of murder, deceit and ambition centered on a drug that treats hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women that could make billions for the company. Their deepening investigation puts their lives in danger. After Collins is abducted from her home, Palmer must confront his demons and risk his life to rescue her and bring those responsible to justice, even if it means killing them. If he fails, thousands of patients' lives will be at risk, and he will lose the one thing for which he's been searching. Ron McManus' pharmaceutical research and development career spanned more than 25 years, including an expatriate assignment in England, where he and his wife worked and lived for several years. He is the former vice president of global R&D quality and regulatory compliance, directing an international group of auditors with responsibility for audit of the company's animal and human research. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, the author was director of program integrity at the North Carolina Medical Peer Review Foundation, where he established the state's first Medicaid fraud and abuse investigation unit. The former U.S. Navy lieutenant and his wife, Mildred, live in Virginia Beach, Virginia.