The Queen of All Poisons and The Power of Poison by BJ Magnani



The Queen of All Poisons

A Boston physician becomes an assassin for the U.S. government in this medical suspense thriller by an award-winning pathologist (Book 1 in the Dr. Lily Robinson trilogy.)

Dr. Lily Robinson is a brilliant physician with an encyclopedic knowledge of all toxins and poisons, and a penchant for wearing stilettos. In an unforeseeable twist in her life, the United States Government appeals to her patriotism--and her knowledge of how to kill without bloodshed, to rid the world of threats to our nation. Emotionally blunted and flawed, she struggles to move between assassin and healer, yet still able to fulfill her competing objectives. Now asked to assassinate a terrorist threatening New York City, she quickly realizes the Russians have already released a deadly toxin in a surprisingly innocuous medium.

 

Excerpt

About a month ago, the Agency asked me to assassinate a terrorist infiltrator quickly and quietly in New York City. I waited for him at a coffee shop he frequented. It always amazes me how we are such creatures of habit. Routines—we eat the same breakfast, walk or drive the same way home, and visit our same favorite little café, every day. Even the terrorists. My target took two sugars with his French dark roast—the waitress brought him the two packets when she served him. They don’t leave the sugar bowls at the tables anymore in this neighborhood.

She poured the coffee while standing behind the counter, and when she turned back to put the pot on the burner, I swapped out the packets. Coffee, delivered with steam rising from the brim, waited patiently as he tore open the sugars, dumped the contents into the abyss, and stirred the dark mixture with a cheap spoon. After drinking only half a cup he began to gasp for air and had difficulty breathing. He turned blue and slid off his chair, seizing as he hit the ground. Several people jumped up in alarm, including me. “Call 911!” While everyone surrounded the man on the floor, I picked up the empty sugar packets from the table and used my napkin to replace them with ones I had used.

I killed him with cyanide.

Not exotic, I know, but reliable on short notice. Most people think they can smell the bitter almond scent, but only a small percentage of the population can reliably detect any odor. Luckily, I’ve got that gene. Potassium cyanide crystals can’t be distinguished from common sugar crystals. White crystals look like, well, all other white crystals. I always carry packets of sugar—and even packets of artificial sweetener—laced with enough potassium cyanide to produce death within minutes. Once you ingest the poison, the acid in your stomach converts it to hydrogen cyanide, and death will soon follow. Within minutes it delivers a knockout punch to the powerhouses of your body via the respiratory electron transport chain—the mitochondrial workhorses of your cells that generate ATP, which gives you the energy you need to live. Cyanide blocks all that, and without oxygen your cells die of chemical asphyxiation.

I exited the café during the commotion, having already paid for my cup of coffee. Another fatal blow, just between beats. With the collar turned up on my coat, I inhaled the wind and felt the oxygen fill my lungs, as my own mitochondria powered my disappearance into the crowded street.

 

The Power of Poison

In this thrilling sequel to The Queen of All Poisons, Dr. Lily Robinson, driven by guilt over her daughter's death, returns with a mission to save the U.S. from a devastating missile attack. (Book 2 in the Dr. Lily Robinson trilogy.)

More than 20 years ago, Dr. Lily Robinson--the brilliant pathologist and toxicologist--was a member of a scientific expedition in Colombia, South America, that ended in the death of her colleagues and, presumably, her little girl. Unaware of the true circumstances of her tragedy, her memory blocked in self-preservation, Dr. Robinson's despair made her fair game for recruitment by a secret government agency whose objective is to eliminate threats to a free and peaceful world. Her guiding mantra, "the good of the many outweighs the good of the one," allowed her to rationalize, and to lead, a double life--a physician in one world, and a covert assassin in another.

Now, Dr. Robinson is asked to assassinate a high-level Chinese missile scientist who is on course to sell his novel technology to the North Korean government. Unbeknownst to Lily, Grigory Markovic, a Russian terrorist Lily has encountered in the past, is also planning an arms deal with the North Koreans--warheads filled with deadly poison.

The Power of Poison is a tale of espionage, love, relationships, and loyalty, all meeting at the "intersection of obligation and conscience." And whether it's Boston, France, Seoul, or Hong Kong, as always, Dr. Lily Robinson is "dressed to kill."

Amazon ~~ Barnes and Noble ~~ IndieBound

About the Author

Barbarajean (BJ) Magnani, PhD, MD, FCAP, is internationally recognized for her expertise in clinical chemistry and toxicology, has been named a “Top Doctor” in Boston magazine and was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Laboratory Medicine Professionals in the World by The Pathologist. She received her Master’s and PhD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed her residency in Clinical Pathology at Tufts-New England Medical Center. Dr. Magnani—former Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA—is currently Professor of Anatomic and Clinical Pathology/Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine; and serves as the Chair of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Toxicology Committee. She is the author of Lily Robinson and the Art of Secret Poisoning (nVision Press) and the Dr. Lily Robinson novels (Encircle Publications)—as well as an editor of The Clinical Toxicology Laboratory: Contemporary Practice of Poisoning Evaluation, 2nd edition (AACC Press) and Clinical Toxicology Testing: A Guide for Laboratory Professionals, 2nd edition (CAP Press).

Website ~~ Facebook ~~ Twitter ~~ Goodreads

4 comments:

  1. These books sound exciting. Interesting concept.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lily is the kind of complicated character I love to read about! Congratulations on a great concept for a series.

    ReplyDelete