Forever: A Medical Thriller received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Geoffrey M. Cooper.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Forever: A Medical Thriller was published on May 15, 2020.
What’s the book’s first line?
My stomach tightened as I got off the elevator on the fourteenth floor of the Harvard Institute for Genomic Engineering.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
This is the second Brad Parker and Karen Richmond medical thriller. Brad is enjoying a sabbatical in one of Harvard’s leading genomic engineering labs, focused on altering the human genome to meet challenges like treating cancer and increasing longevity. Then he’s interrupted by a surprise request from the FBI. Can he help them track down a Chinese spy who’s stealing the lab’s secrets? Becoming engaged in another case of criminal conspiracy is the last thing Brad wants to do—but the urging of his partner Karen, now an FBI agent herself, he agrees. The ensuing hunt takes Brad and Karen down a trail of treachery and murder that leads from Boston to the coast of southern Maine, where a killer lies in wait.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
Most people think of scientific research as rather dry—simply a matter of gathering facts. A career in cancer research and academic administration taught me that nothing could be further from the truth. Scientists are just as human as people in any other profession, with all too many driven by greed and ambition, rather than by an objective search for the truth. Fraud, sexual harassment and theft of intellectual property are all too common, and are the issues that I explore in my novels. Forever deals with academic espionage, which is a major contemporary problem.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Two reasons, I think. One, to gain insight into the realities and politics of research. And two, to enjoy a fast-paced mystery/thriller.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Brad is modeled after several scientists I’ve known. He’s smart, honest, and driven by a natural sense of skepticism—but he can also be gullible and make mistakes.
If they made your book into a movie, who would you like to see play the main character(s)?
I’d like to see Tom Selleck as Brad Parker and Sigourney Weaver as Karen Richmond.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I’ve always wanted to write fiction and started when I retired from full-time academics four years ago.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
No, Forever is my third medical thriller. The first, The Prize, is based on a case of fraud driven by ambition for a Nobel Prize. The second, Nondisclosure (an IndieReader Discovery Award winner) deals with sexual harassment and is the first Brad Parker and Karen Richmond book.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
Since retiring from full-time research and administration, writing is it. But too much fun to really call it work!