A doctor must aid a handful of
people with life-changing abilities, all of whom are targets for assassination,
in Field’s debut thriller.

Dr. Will Dunbar is relaxing in the
Bahamas when he gets a message from West Point pal Col. Ross Chapman. Ross
convinces the doc that D.C. needs him—it’s a matter of national security. In
Washington, Will meets a panel of individuals, from the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff to the CIA Director. It seems a secret society is in trouble. The
group, the Inherited Memory Society, comprises people with a memory-boosting genetic
mutation responsible for a massive spike in human advancement in the last
couple centuries. Someone recently attacked secured facilities to kill IMS
members and destroy their cell samples. Since Will, a reproductive
endocrinologist, discovered ubiquitin’s role in miscarriages (a protein tied to
the mutation), he may be able to help “restore” the IMS population. Later, at a
Florida safe house, Will and IMS physicist Victoria Van Buren narrowly avoid an
assassination attempt. Field’s enthralling premise showcases a special trait
(the IM in IMS) that’s both fascinating and believable. This necessitates an
exposition-heavy plot, which, though never tedious, limits action scenes and
accelerates Will and Victoria’s inevitable romance. The thriller abounds with exacting
prose: a jet sucking “cool morning air into its red-hot compressors where the
molecules of oxygen were compressed tightly, then saturated with a high-octane
fuel.” And the adrenalized final act imperils Will, Victoria, and even Will’s
Bahamian buddy, Tiny, while Field gives the narrative several real-world ties
with clever references to historical figures and monuments.

Methodically maps out its concept;
an admirable start to a series rife with potential.