Shocked and humiliated by a medical malpractice lawsuit, physician Craig Bowman receives help from his estranged brother-in-law, medical examiner Jack Stapleton, who discovers trouble after exhuming the body of Craig's alleged victim.

A series of unexplained deaths in foreign hospitals sends Jennifer Hernandez, an idealistic UCLA medical student, on a desperate search for answers about her grandmother's sudden death. With the discovery of other unexplained deaths followed by hasty cremations, Jennifer reaches out to her mentor, New York City medical examiner Dr. Laurie Montgomery, who has her own deep connection to Jennifer's grandmother.

When his newborn son by his second wife is diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, New York City forensic pathologist Jack Stapleton seeks to find a cure for his son while at the same time being drawn into a battle between the archbishop of New York and an archeologist--a battle involving what some people believe to be the skeletal remains the Virgin Mary.

"...New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, where she's been employed for more than two decades. Worried about whether she still has what it takes after so much time away, Laurie finds her first case back to be a dangerous puzzler of the highest order, involving organized crime and two start-up biotech companies caught in a zero sum game...." --inside front cover.

Behind the prim gates of the Greenwich, Connecticut, McMansions, Wall Street whizzes turn their attentions from mortgages to another possible profit source: the $25 trillion life-insurance industry. By securitizing the policies of the old and sick, they hope to make another financial killing. At the same time, Natalie Savondnik and Ronald Goodall-two exceptional yet aloof medical residents-are working closely with their medical center's premier scientist...