Interference

Although I was unfamiliar with author Brad Parks, he has written a dozen books and won the prestigious Nero and Shamus awards. This was a book I had a hard time putting down. In spite of being baffled by the quantum mechanics that are the plotline thread here, I was willingly led down a couple of red herring paths, only to be surprised at the ending. From the book jacket: "When her husband, a quantum physicist, goes missing in the midst of a strange, violent seizure, Brigid Bronik discovers that his research had gained unwanted attention and wonders if the very same physics that endangered him could actually be used to save his life."

Reviews are positive including from Library Journal, which calls this a "tightly bound thriller" and provides this summary, "...Matthew Bronik, a renowned Dartmouth physicist with a specialty in quantum mechanics, has been suffering from mysterious seizures. His groundbreaking research has drawn the attention of many, including foreign governments and a young millionaire entrepreneur who sees the work as the next step in humanity itself. But when Matthew disappears on the way to the hospital after another seizure, Brigid, his librarian wife, battles sinister forces to track him down. She enlists the help of Matthew's Dartmouth assistant, Sheera, herself entangled with the research, and a gruff local police detective to help provide answers and to bring him home...Parks, better known for character-driven mysteries, ventures into Michael Crichton and Blake Crouch territory with a procedural thriller with an sf edge and a ton of heart that leads to an explosive (and emotional) finale." Publishers Weekly similarly lauds Parks' "intelligent, fast-paced thriller" and concludes "Readers will fully engage with the well-drawn characters as Parks convincingly reveals the science that buttresses the suspenseful plot." Kirkus promises "Parks’ suspenseful novel will beguile, entrance, and fool the sharpest readers." Finally, the New York Journal of Books offers this thought, "Most of that stuff about quantum physics and particles is really about the emotional connections between human beings. It all leads to a finale that’s both thrilling and heartfelt, and a good reason to trust the science of Parks’ fine storytelling." I encourage you to read their entire review for a really good summary.