Shot

Driven to find out the truth about her husband's death, headstrong Lucy Greene stumbles onto dangerous secrets about a government sponsored biological warfare program that has maimed her past and threatens her future.

From the outside, Carl and Lucy Greene seemed to be living the good life: they had a huge suburban mansion paid for by Carl's biotech job, and Lucy had the leisure to pursue her painting. But cracks in the facade-a child born with severe birth defects who only lived a few hours, and the couple's subsequent estrangement-had already put strains on their marriage. And then, during a business trip to the West Coast, Carl abruptly dies.

The story is that he had a car accident. But why did Carl contact their old friend, Kevin, a recently discredited TV journalist, just a few days before he died, with promises of a big story? Why does an intruder break into Carl's home office after the funeral? And what does any of this have to do with a rash of prison TB, their baby's encephalocele, or Lucy's brother's post-Gulf War illness?

Lucy wants some answers, and before she knows it she's careening across western landscape with a hired killer on her trail, waned that she's messing with some very big players. With the help of Kevin, who's also an old boyfriend, and an ex-con named Darcy, Lucy searches for the truth even as she seeks to put her own troubled past to rest. In helping her, Kevin wants to resuscitate his career, and Darcy wants to protect her junkie sister, who's still on the inside. But with her loved ones dead and a Glock for a new best friend, Lucy is the one who will do whatever it takes to uncover the real story behind her husband's death.

The critically acclaimed author of Easy Money and Iced, Jenny Siler has worked as a forklift driver, furniture mover, sketch model, and bartender. She lives in Missoula, Montana.