God's Adamantine Fate

About the Book

Gods Adamantine Fate has at its core a medical mystery: did a wonder drug kill two boys and is it now killing Jerry Inman?  All three boys live in a small town in New Jersey and all have been diagnosed with a rare liver cancer.  The drug manufacturer has a plant located nearby and, it turns out, had a chemical spill into a nearby creek.  The answer to the riddle of the boys illness seems obvious, lacking only the final proof, but that proof and the real answer that goes with it turn out to be both elusive and unexpected.  The mystery brings together two very different people, one a physician whose first love is his work, the other a talk-show host with a reputation for eccentricity.  To solve the case they must deal not only with the byzantine health care and pharmaceutical industry, but also with a love affair neither believed possible.  Their actions enmesh an ever widening circle of individuals, some of whom see the situation as an opportunity to be exploited for their own ends.  Ultimately, both the intended and unintended consequences of their actions demolish a major corporation, several careers and the drug while giving them an answer they did not expect.  Sometimes, people are wrong for all the right reasons.

Gods Adamantine Fate originally appeared two years before A Civil Action, the non-fiction account of a cancer cluster and its relation to chemical dumping.  Colin Alexander pursued his oncology training in a city near the site of those events.  This book will be of interest to anyone interested in the drugs they take or the politics that surround modern health care.  It will also be of interest to those who love a good puzzle.

Colin Alexander is the pseudonym of a physician, originally trained as a pediatric oncologist, who leads medical research teams in the pharmaceutical industry.  He brings an insiders eye, and a dose of cynicism, to the subjects of his book.  In addition to scientific publications, he is the author of the biotech industrial espionage novel, Lady of ice and Fire.  He now resides in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

...this lean and solid thriller mixes an insiders knowledge of the medical profession with a number of refreshing plot twists...Alexander juggles all these subplots like an expert; the action has the random feel of real events, and the characters respond like real people.

Publishers Weekly

...this book is neatly done.  The author keeps at least three plots and themes intertwined, yet clear to the reader, who is simultaneously involved with crises in medicine, big business, and romance ...

Lincoln Star Journal

The plot advances on three levels -- as a medical detective piece, as a graphic account of some business practices, and as a modern romance.  Even the ending fits in this broadly appealing novel.

Booklist

This ambitious first novel (written by a real oncologist) rings true ...

Library Journal

About the Author

Colin Alexander is the pseudonym of a physician, originally trained as a pediatric oncologist, who leads medical research teams in the pharmaceutical industry.  He brings an insider’s eye, and a dose of cynicism, to the subjects of his book.  In addition to scientific publications, he is the author of the biotech industrial espionage novel, Lady of ice and Fire.  He now resides in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.