Elixir

June 8, 2020
Boston pediatric oncologist Frank Garfield, the hero of this implausible medical thriller from Atkins (Ashes, Ashes), believes his experiments with bits of protein on the ends of DNA strands show promise for eliminating cancerous tumors. His publications have brought him to the attention of Leona Lang and her son, Dalton, the evil leaders of UNICO Pharmaceuticals, who want to recruit him and profit from his discoveries. Dalton, who hopes to unseat his mother, electronically eavesdrops on Frank’s conversation with Frank’s mentor, Jackson Atlas. Jackson warns that Frank’s treatment could be weaponized by unscrupulous corporations, and also reveals he had an affair with Leona decades earlier. Dalton’s subsequent murder of Jackson brings Frank into contact with a potential love interest in the form of the hunky homicide detective assigned to the case. The overly busy plot gets more so after Atkins tosses in a threat related to Frank’s troubled childhood. Awkward prose (“Like a white-coated rat led to cheese, he headed towards the elevators”) doesn’t help. Michael Crichton this isn’t. Agent: Al Zuckerman, Writers House.

June 15, 2020
A researcher on the brink of a breakthrough begins work at a big pharma firm only to discover that his fears about the company's morals are totally founded. Medical researcher and physician Frank Garfield is onto something. His work with telomeres shows promise in extending life beyond its normal bounds, though only his rats have reaped the benefits thus far. His research could benefit the child cancer patients he sees at Boston's St Mary's Children's Hospital, but his mentor, Jackson Atlas, is concerned that the technology could be exploited by bad actors as a genetic Botox. But when Atlas is shot dead in his home, he can't protect Frank from the forces he designated the "pimps and whores" of the epigenetic world, and soon Leona Lang and her son, Dalton, corner Frank into working for UNICO Pharmaceuticals. Frank's a good guy through and through, and the promise of a fast turnaround time for his child cancer patients convinces him to continue his work out of the company's Litchfield lab, but he's skeptical about what the Langs really want. Detective Sean Brody, who's assigned to the Atlas murder, feels an immediate connection to Frank, and they start dating once Frank is cleared of Atlas' murder, though Sean doesn't like the idea that the guy he's seeing is doing shady research for a private company with too much money. When Dalton promises Frank he'll do anything it takes to get his cooperation, the anything is such a clear echo of Atlas' warning about pimps and whores that it puts Frank on high alert. As the drug trials show promise, the Langs each develop secret plans to get the magic drug recipe for themselves, resulting in a fast-paced backstab-a-thon targeting Frank and all those closest to him. The sort of page-turner whose over-the-top plot and self-awareness make it all the more fun.

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