Poison Pill

After years of struggle, Emma Conway is living the dream—a happy second marriage and a great career. She is the driving force behind Acordinol, a hugely successful painkiller that has pharmaceutical giant Percival & Baxter riding high.

But her dream becomes a nightmare when a Wall Street raider threatens her company with a hostile takeover. Worse, the raider is no ordinary cutthroat; it's her ex-husband Josh Katz, father of their sixteen-year-old son. P&B goes for a "poison pill" defense. But when a mysteriously tainted batch of Acordinol starts killing people, including P&B's CEO, Emma is put in command just as the price of the firm's once blue-chip stock goes into free fall.

As Emma struggles to win at her ex's dangerous game, she discovers that nothing is as it appears; she faces secrets hidden within secrets. The big one is that Josh's ploy is backed by a Russian oligarch whose half-billion-dollar loan rescued Josh after the subprime collapse. The Russian wants the holy grail of pharmaceuticals—the first Viagra for women.

At the same time, a secret romance between Emma's son and the oligarch's estranged daughter puts the young people in the crosshairs.