Sexism, Secrets and Science: Cat Zero by Jennifer Rohn
Scientist Artie Marshall is perpetually underfunded, relegated to a damp basement, and besieged on all sides by sexist colleagues. Added to that, she is immersed in a messy divorce. But sheâs never been happier, studying an obscure cat virus that nobody else in the world seems to have heard of â" or cares about.
Everything changes when local cats start dropping dead and Artieâs arcane little research problem becomes worryingly relevant. Matters get worse when people start getting infected too.
Working with her right-hand man Mark, her vet friends and her street-smart technician, Artie races to get to the bottom of the ballooning epidemic. Unexpected assistance arrives in the form of two basement-dwelling mathematicians â" a sociopathic recluse and his scary, otherworldly savant mentor. When their mathematical models suggest that the cat plague might actually be more sinister than it first appears, Artie gets drawn into a web of secrets and lies that threatens to blow apart her lab family, undermine her sanity â" and endanger her own life.
Industry Reviews
Cat Zero is that rare beast, a racy novel with a sound scientific background. Postdocs will love it. Ph.D.s will gasp. And the general reader will enjoy a smart romantic thriller in which an intelligent, independent and, yes, beautiful, researcher confronts her demons while fighting to succeed in a male-dominated world. Will she find love along the way? Read it to find outaI did, and loved it! -- author of Man Booker Prize-shortlisted The Glass Room, Trapeze, The Fall and Mendel's Dwarf -- Simon Mawer
Absolutely gripping. A fast-paced story that opens the lid on the secret world of the laboratory and shows us what scientists are really likeaas human and fallible as the rest of us. -- author of The Falling Sky and The Need for Better Regulation of Outer Space -- Pippa Goldschmidt
A potent mix of science, thrills and romancea| Fans of Michael Crichton will love it. -- author of number-one bestsellers The Magpies and Because She Loves Me -- Mark Edwards