Reincarnation is the fifth novel in the CIA series that continues the story of
former CIA clandestine operator Woody Stressel and the beautiful KGB
agent Ava Volkov. With CIA help, the two protagonists have once again been
reincarnated, this time as young medical doctors in training. Six years have
elapsed since the now-married couple escaped from Mexico and a planned
horrible death by members of a Chicago mafia. The woman, Kinzie Reichert, is a
pediatric oncology fellow, and her husband, Ben Reichert, is a general surgery
resident. Their goal to live quietly and anonymously is disrupted when the
couple's young daughter is attacked by a rude, ten-year-old bully at the park.
This forces Kinzie to resort to her KGB training to disable the boy's threatening
father with a well-placed kick to his anatomical nether regions and a followup
head smash. The father, Gregor Ivanovich, is a powerful Russian criminal
lawyer and vows deadly vengeance.
As the story evolves, a number of unexpected deaths of wealthy people occur,
with surprisingly rapid autopsies by the medical examiner. His denier raises
questions about the fraudulent death reports and becomes the victim of a
mysterious fall from the tenth floor of the hospital tower. Ben and Kinzie befriend
a nerdy MD/PhD pathologist who is working with a new Russian compound that
initially seems to cure childhood leukemia, but causes rupture of the ascending
aorta four weeks later with a horrible and painful death. The three new friends
are suspicious that the dead people may have been surreptitiously fed the
compound as part of an ingenious murder-for-hire operation involving the
medical examiner, as well as the Russian lawyer.
The plot becomes ever more compelling when Ben and Kinzie meet an old friend
at a wake at a shady funeral home on the outskirts of town. This old friend
brings added fire power to help protect the doctors from hired killers. Interest
mounts as unusual new characters appear and become caught up in the web of
dangerous intrigue. The denouement of the story is utterly unpredictable and
will leave readers guessing until the final chapter.
