In this the second installment of his Roma series, author Gabriel Valjan takes secret government analyst Alabaster Black from Rome to Boston to investigate Nasonia Pharmaceutical and its CEO, Cyril Sargent for Rendition, the covert government agency she works for.
Nasonia uses advanced molecular biology and genetic sequencing technology to target human diseases. Sargent, who's demonstrated lack of transparency in his dealings and unorthodox strategies in the past and who's named his new controversial venture after a group of wasps, claims that his company is in no way perverting the natural order of things or doing anything unethical. He also claims that his research with wasps might lead to developing a methyl toolkit to use against cancer.
Thus, it is up to Alabaster to figure out what's really going on and, because of her unnatural pattern recognition ability, she she soon gets hired by Sargent.
While this is going on, Alabaster is still being haunted by her last adventure in Rome in the form of a Bulgarian hit man set on killing her after a price has been put on her head. Old friends and a love interest from book I join in, adding further tension to the story as they uncover a twisted conspiracy.
I really enjoyed reading Wasp's Nest. In fact, I liked this book better than the first one. Somehow, I was able to feel closer to Alabaster: she's smart, bold and fearless yet has a soft side that is at times humorous. But mainly, I think it was the whole idea about DNA and wasps that did it for me. The information was fascinating. As Valjan did with Rome in his first book, Boston is fleshed out in vivid detail in this one, to the point where the setting becomes almost like a character. Also, as in the first book, the author goes into detail bringing Italian food to life--to the point where the reader has no other option but to love it. In short, an interesting, entertaining read. Recommended.
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