Patricia Cornwell's long-running 'Kay Scarpetta' series is about a talented medical examiner who helps catch sadistic killers. Kay works with a thorny detective; has a brilliant niece; and experiences angst about her man.
Cornwell's new book Quantum goes in a different direction, but has a similar vibe. The main character - Air Force Captain Calli Chase - is a talented scientist and NASA security expert who's trying to catch a possible saboteur. Calli works with a phobic detective; has a brilliant sister; and experiences angst about a man.
*****
Calli and her identical twin sister Carme are geniuses who whizzed through school and began college at the age of fifteen. Both girls have an interest in aerospace science and aspire to be astronauts.
Right now Calli - who works for NASA as a pilot, physicist, and cop - is concerned about a piece of hardware about to be installed on the International Space Station (ISS). In nine hours, astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer will deploy a Low Earth Atmospheric Reader (LEAR) that was developed by a group of Iowa high school students.
To witness the event, the students and their teacher have come to NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, where they'll watch the live feed and celebrate with the scientists.
Except the astronauts AREN'T REALLY installing the LEAR. Known only to Calli and a few other people, the astronauts are deploying a top secret quantum device that will place the United States at the apex of quantum computing, far ahead of other nations.
At about the same time as the installation of the quantum device, a rocket is being launched to the ISS. The rocket contains routine space station supplies as well as Christmas goodies for the astronauts.
In the midst of all these NASA activities, Calli's Spidey sense has been alerted by several alarming events.
- A couple of months ago an aeronautical engineer named Noah Bishop, who works for a NASA contractor called Pandora Space Systems, went missing. Moreover, his disappearance followed a public altercation with Calli's sister Carme, who told Noah off outside a Houston bar on Halloween night.
- Then yesterday, on the eve of the quantum device's deployment, an aerospace engineer named Vera Young - who ALSO works for Pandora Space Systems - reported her security badge stolen. The badge allows access to all parts of NASA, and a freak security alert leads Calli to believe that someone used the badge to access an off-limits tunnel at Langley.
- Afterwards, Vera Young was found dead - an apparent suicide. Calli and her claustrophobic detective friend Fran Lacey investigate Young's death and discover clues that points to murder. Furthermore, evidence demonstrates that someone tampered with the crime scene.
These occurrences, and the fact that Carme Chase has gone 'off grid' and can't be located, make Calli VERY uneasy. She fears that someone is trying to disrupt the deployment of the quantum device. In addition, she's afraid that Carme - a technology whiz and cyperspace expert who's always been something of a rebellious brat - might have gotten herself into some shady business.....perhaps even murder! 😨
Interspersed with this narrative are flashbacks to scenes where Calli and Carme are six-year-old children, and Carme has a frightening experience with a 'friend of the family.'
Calli blames herself for this incident, and it affects the sisters' relationship going forward. It may also explain some of Carme's bad behavior. Furthermore, we get hints that Calli has feelings for Carme's boyfriend, who may - on occasion - have mistaken one sister for the other.
As the story unfolds, Calli is anxious about the quantum device, worried about Carme, and disturbed by the secretiveness of her former boss and mentor. As it turns out, Calli has good reason to worry.
There's plenty of excitement as the story builds to a climax -after which the book ends on a HUGE CLIFFHANGER, which I didn't expect.
I learned afterwards that Cornwell planned Quantum as a two-book series, so readers who want to know the whole story will have to read both novels.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I'm glad that Cornwell is going in a new direction, and I like the space science/astronaut angle. However, Quantum has a thin plot with a lot of padding that's both unnecessary and tedious.
Leading up to the installation of the quantum device, for example, Calli counts down the nine hours to deployment while she frets about things that are bothering her, as detailed above.
Thus part of the book reads something like this (I'm paraphrasing). Time to deployment: 8 hours, 58 minutes, 4 seconds - Calli takes a shower and worries; 8 hours, 42 minutes, 30 seconds - Calli gets dressed and worries; 8 hours, 16 minutes, 19 seconds - Calli collects her backpack and worries; 8 hours, 6 minutes, 51 seconds - Calli gets into her SUV and worries; 7 hours, 55 minutes, 34 seconds - Calli drives to Langley and worries.....and so on.
In any case, I plan to give Cornwell a chance to develop this series, and I'll read the second book when it comes out. So stay tuned and give this book a shot if it sounds intriguing.
Rating: 3 stars
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