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Chicago is the main locale for this intricate foray into hidden agendas, double-dealing, desperate measures, and more. Corporate executives are doing their best to hide skullduggery from an investigative reporter bent on bringing the truth to light. A hit man is planning to silence more than his mark. One man stumbles into the middle of it all, and his life, plus that of his lover, are both in danger of being snuffed out.
Sutherland is a real estate developer who seems to attract trouble like Elvis attracts impersonators. Kelly, his mate, is a lawyer for a drug company involved in shady practices. Their friend, Sam, is a newsman preparing to spill the beans on the company, but then he’s murdered. Sutherland vows to avenge Sam while Kelly begins her own maneuvers to uncover the firm’s secret and exceedingly sordid experiments. Can Kelly expose the truth without becoming a casualty? Can Sutherland avenge his friend’s murder without becoming a ruthless killer himself? Can that hitman pop the one he’s being paid to pop as well as the payers?
Author McIntosh weaves a complex tale of machinations that embroil conspirators, whistleblowers, journalists, and even government officials. He insightfully depicts the toll that fear takes on attitudes and behaviors while melding his characters into archetypal reflections of good and evil. His copious detail of the ins and outs of medical malfeasance and unethical practices bring home the frightening potential of what’s at stake when bioscience goes bad. Yet he still keeps storytelling front and center as his hero and heroine encounter one challenge after another. McIntosh has delivered a brainy thriller without forgetting that the best ones are fueled both by adversity and adrenaline.
McIntosh's The Lagarto Stone was the 2007 Eric Hoffer Book Award Commercial Fiction Category Winner.