Lethal Factor by Gabrielle Lord

Publisher's Synopsis

Forensic examiner Jack McCain (last seen in Death Delights) takes on two baffling new cases - a horrifying anthrax murder and the brutal, ritualistic killing of a nun.

Does the anthrax killing signify a frightening new wave of terrorism? And what is the meaning of the cryptic symbol gouged into the murdered nun's flesh?

With his daughter in serious danger and his ex-wife giving him serious trouble, Jack tries to make sense of these questions and discover the identity of the anthrax assassin.

Meanwhile the mounting danger moves frighteningly close to home. Soon Jack realises the evil forces he is facing and lethal factor, anthrax's deadly protein, becomes a threat to his own life in a way he never imagined.

My Review 

The complicated life of Jack McCain was introduced to us by Gabrielle Lord in the Ned Kelly Award winning novel Death Delights. He returns here in Lethal Factor, a completely absorbing thriller that takes us into the chillingly terrifying world of biological terrorism, a scenario that has become all too real in recent years. The title of the book is, in fact, a reference to the one of the three proteins that make up the deadly toxin that is secreted by the anthrax bacteria, these three proteins being: protective antigen; oedema factor; and, lethal factor.

Jack McCain is a senior analyst with Criminalistics at Forensic Services of the Australian Federal Police. But he's also a former New South Wales police detective and it's this experience plus a still close working relationship with former partner Detective Bob Edwards that sees him doing just as much police investigation work as he does forensic research.

In a three-pronged storyline, McCain is investigating a series of deaths caused by anthrax, a brutal bashing murder of a nun in her convent room and an attacker at a university campus who pulls his female victim's panties down around their ankles before stealing their handbags. His forensic department is working full-time as they process evidence taken from each of the crime scenes and McCain is moved to personally handle as much of the work himself, particularly in the case of the anthrax.

As if he didn't have enough on his plate his personal life is put on high alert when he learns that Marty Cash, an ex-crooked cop and current extortion artist has made a remarkable recovery from injuries sustained in the course of the previous book. He's now looking for the money that Jack and his daughter Jacinta have stashed away and is threatening to kidnap Jacinta in order to get it back.

As you can imagine there is always something happening in this edge of your seat thriller as the focus moves effortlessly from case to case. The tone borders on frantic as it is told from McCain's first person perspective and you get a perfect sense of the mounting pressure that is placed on him, his fears and frustrations that swing with alarming frequency. Dividing his time between Sydney and Canberra, McCain embarks on a frantic bid to track down the origin of what could become a devastating biological attack on Australia. Most alarming to him is that the victims are from his own field of expertise - scientists. The nagging possibility that he himself could be in the anthrax firing line cannot be ignored, heightening the tension even more.

Having introduced us to the complicated life of Jack McCain in Death Delights, Gabrielle Lord has followed up with a solid thriller that focuses more on plot and the forensic work around which it is centred rather than the characters. Her attention to detail when describing the forensic work performed by McCain cannot be faulted with a fine balance struck between technical and lay man's jargon that makes it both informative and very interesting.

Saying that the story is more plot-based doesn't mean that the development of the characters is ignored though. The strong relationships established in the first book are carried forward here and then added to with return appearances by Jacinta and Greg, McCain's children, and Charlie his brother creating an even stronger sense of a family bond surrounding him. No matter how large or small the role, Lord manages to bring each character to life with startling clarity.

The popularity of thrillers dealing with forensic science has been proven by the success of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series and Kathy Reichs' Tempe Brennan, not to mention on TV with the various CSI series. You can add another series right at the top of that pile with Gabrielle Lord's outstanding Jack McCain books, with the fact that she is barely heard of outside of Australia a crime in itself.