Dr. Alexandra Blake

Dr. Alexandra Blake has the job of a lifetime. As a cutting-edge geneticist at AFIP, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., Alex is charged with using her research into the genetics of viruses to find a vaccine against bioterrorism. The AFIP contains the pathology lab for the Department of Defense, manages the DOD blood bank, directs research like Alex's, and fosters the development of inventions to help the nation's armed forces.

When a John Doe with a bayonet wound in his chest is discovered in a Washington, D.C., dumpster, geneticist Dr. Alexandra Blake of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology is pulled away from her bioterrorism work to aid in the investigation. Just a little digging reveals a corpse that's not at all that of the homeless robbery victim it was set up to resemble, and Alex and her colleagues find themselves wrapped up in a complicated mystery of high-stakes international financial intrigue.

One bizarre death is just that - a death. Two? Could be a coincidence. But in Lori Andrews's latest thriller, geneticist Dr. Alexandra Blake discovers something much more dangerous than a killer - an epidemic. Taking a break from decoding the genetic sequence of a tropical disease, Alex takes on an investigation into the gruesome and unexplained death of a DEA agent on a mob stakeout in New Mexico. Within hours, she uncovers similar deaths throughout the Southwest.