ADVERTISEMENT
Taking on Lucinda
Frank Martorana, author
Hollywood starlet Aubrey Fairbanks and her entourage of activists descend on the picturesque upstate New York village of Jefferson to protest animal testing at the cosmetic company that is Jefferson’s lifeblood. Kent Stephenson is the town’s veterinarian and a lifelong resident. He is licking his wounds after a vicious divorce that took away his daughter and hiding from the world in his profession surrounded by animals that love unconditionally. But his brother, the police chief, has other plans for Kent and recruits him to defend their town. What seems to be a simple matter of negotiation soon escalates to arson, then murder. More strangers arrive in town and Kent’s animal patients begin disappearing. Kent and Aubrey’s relationship turns from blood enemies to respect and commitment as they risk their lives to protect Jefferson, find the murderers, and crush a cult that thrives on all that animal lovers despise
Reviews
In Martorana’s promising debut and series launch, veterinarian Kent Stephenson, who lives in Jefferson, N.Y., is shocked to learn that Aaron Whitmore, the upstate village’s former police chief, has been found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Kent can’t believe that Aaron committed suicide. Shortly before he died, Aaron, who became a journalist after leaving the force, told his mother he was working on a story that he feared would hurt her. Meanwhile, Kent joins forces with his brother, Merrill, who succeeded Aaron as police chief, to solve an arson case after a fire guts the research wing of Copithorn, a local company that tests cosmetics on animals. Copithorn was the recent target of a group of animal rights protesters headed by sexy celebrity Aubrey Fairbanks (“Testosterone gushed like toilets flushing, pouring into the bloodstream of every man in the place, when Audrey stepped into Kolbie’s Tavern”). The memorable characters and plotting will appeal to Paul Doiron fans. (BookLife)
