I have to admit, I struggled with getting into this book, but I am quite glad I persevered! It picks up a lot in the second half.
From Amazon.com: (I am sorry, but I am lazy, and I also don't feel as though I am good at writing book summaries!)
Dr. Marina Singh, a research scientist with a Minnesota pharmaceutical company, is sent to Brazil to track down her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, who seems to have all but disappeared in the Amazon while working on what is destined to be an extremely valuable new drug, the development of which has already cost the company a fortune. Nothing about Marina's assignment is easy: not only does no one know where Dr. Swenson is, but the last person who was sent to find her, Marina's research partner Anders Eckman, died before he could complete his mission. Plagued by trepidation, Marina embarks on an odyssey into the insect-infested jungle in hopes of finding her former mentor as well as answers to several troubling questions about her friend's death, the state of her company's future, and her own past.
Once found, Dr. Swenson, now in her seventies, is as ruthless and uncompromising as she ever was back in the days of Grand Rounds at Johns Hopkins. With a combination of science and subterfuge, she dominates her research team and the natives she is studying with the force of an imperial ruler. But while she is as threatening as anything the jungle has to offer, the greatest sacrifices to be made are the ones Dr. Swenson asks of herself, and will ultimately ask of Marina, who finds she may still be unable to live up to her teacher's expectations.
Lots of adventure, emotional loss, complicated romances - this book has everything.
2 comments:
Yup, that was my suggestion. It was my Christmas holiday read. I quite enjoyed it. And then I read another FANTASTIC book. I am putting it on my "TopTen Ever" list. It's called "Requiem" by Frances Itani. She has also written "Deafening" and "Remembering the Bones". It was one of those books where I just kept reading til it was done and then mourned the loss of it being finished! As you can tell, I really liked it....
Julie
I had this home from the library and started it, but couldn't finish it before it was due at the library and I couldn't renew it! And damn it if I'm going to pay a fine!! I will try and get this out again soon.
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