Unnatural
by Deven Greene

Dr. Erica Rosen is perplexed when she sees a young Chinese girl with blue eyes in her San Francisco pediatrics clinic. The girl’s mother, Ting, is secretive, and Erica suspects she has entered the country illegally. Later, Erica encounters Ting’s son and discovers he has an unusual mutation. Erica learns that Ting’s children underwent embryonic stem cell gene editing as part of a secret Chinese government-run program. 

The Chinese government wants to murder Ting’s son to prevent others from learning about his unusual mutation and the secret gene-editing program. At Ting’s urging, Erica heads to China to expose the program and rescue the infant Ting was forced to leave behind, all while attempting to evade the watchful eye of the Chinese government.

5 out of 5

This was a great medical thriller. It has intrigue, edge-of-your seat moments, and medical/genetic advancements that, if they’re not already possible, are probably in the not-so-far-off future. Greene made it seem so realistic that I had chills running down my spine just thinking about it. Erica is a great heroine, and she has such a big heart, it’s hard not to like her. My heart really went out to Ting and her situation, and I love that Erica was so determined to help her, even with the mounting danger around them. If you enjoy medical thrillers, you’ll quickly find yourself wrapped up in this one.

Ting was yelling, “Call police! Call police!” She had pulled a gun out from I-don’t-know-where and was pointing it at a young Asian man in surgical greens standing by the nursing station, hands raised. He remained calm, laser-focused on Ting.

Brad ran over to me. “That lady’s nuts. She pulled that gun from behind her back. Must have had it inside her pants. Can you talk to her? She obviously likes you best.”

My medical education was sorely lacking when it came to handling patient family members with guns. I slowly approached Ting, holding my right arm up, as if it would stop a bullet coming my way. “Ting,” I said softly. “Please put the gun away. Let’s talk about this. You don’t want to hurt anyone, do you?”

“He come to kill my son! He come to kill Kang!”

Despite her excited state, she held the gun steady, aimed at the man with raised arms. Ill-equipped to be a hostage negotiator, I turned to Brad and asked him to call the police. “Already done,” he whispered. “Try to stall for time until they get here.”

“There’s probably some mistake,” I said to Ting.

“No mistake. Look. See, name tag have different face.

“No one can look as long as you have a gun pointed at him.”

“Someone look. I no shoot.”

The staff looked from one to the other. Finally, Brad spoke up. “Okay, I’ll check. But you’d better not shoot me,” he said, looking at Ting.

Brad walked slowly toward the man in question. “Now I’m just going to look at the identification badge.” Brad’s voice was loud and deliberate as he bent forward, his right arm reaching towards the nametag.

With lightning speed, the Asian man reached into his pocket with his left hand and produced a knife with a four-inch blade. Using his right hand, he grabbed Brad’s outstretched arm, twirled him around and bent his arm at the elbow, pulling it up by the wrist behind his back. When the motion had stopped, the blade tip of the knife in the assailant’s left hand was positioned at Brad’s carotid artery. Brad remained silent, straining to look down at the knife near his neck, less than a quarter inch away from ending his life.

Amazon | Black Rose Writing | Goodreads

Deven Greene is giving away autographed copies of the whole Erica Rosen MD Trilogy to one lucky person!

Terms & Conditions:

  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive the set of books
  • This giveaway ends midnight December 30.
  • Winner will be contacted via email on December 31.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

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Fiction writer Deven Greene lives in the San Francisco Bay area. Ever since childhood, Deven has been interested in science.  After receiving a doctorate in biochemistry, she went to medical school and trained as a pathologist. She worked for several decades in that field before starting to write fiction. Deven incorporates elements of medicine or science in most of her writing. She has published several short stories. Her debut novel, Unnatural, is the first book of the Erica Rosen MD Trilogy, and was released in January 2021. Unwitting, released in October 2021, is the second Erica Rosen MD novel. Unforeseen is the final book in the Trilogy.

Visit her website at www.devengreene.com or connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.