Five characters lift the veil on the world of science and research. A university department chair struggles to find time for family, an assistant professor strives for tenure, a post-doctoral researcher hunts for a job, a Congressman fights for funding, and a pharma CEO tries to hold it all together while searching for a cure. A must-read for anyone thinking of a graduate degree or a career in academia.
Excerpt:
Terry was seven years Marne’s junior and a post-doctoral student in her lab at the University of Wisconsin. Postdocs are those poor souls that complete their PhD’s but still need to spend three to four years in the wilderness before they qualify—in the minds of industry and academia, at least—for an actual job in an actual lab. Terry liked telling women at the bars that he was a scientist and, if they were so inclined, could even call him “Doctor.” They never understood the difference between an MD and a PhD anyway and Terry was never quick to educate them. His shoulder-length black hair, bright blue eyes, and permanent five o’clock shadow ensured he never had to be alone on a Saturday night, though lately his laboratory rats took up more and more free time and dating costs money that he didn’t have.
Terry completed his PhD at age thirty and was shocked to learn a dump truck full of money was not backing up to his efficiency apartment. He, like most of his contemporaries in their early twenties at the time, graduated from college lacking any career direction whatsoever and decided grad school was a good place to hide from reality while he figured out what to do with his life. He bounced around Europe for a while and, after six years of research, completed his PhD and decided a life of academia suited him quite nicely (commercial researchers at Merck and Pfizer generally don’t wear cargo shorts to the office and bang their assistants, as far as he was able to determine after conducting exhaustive research). Terry split the rent in his meager quarters with a hipster named Bonkers who was an aspiring club DJ, which was a vocation that, against all reason, commanded a salary greater than his. Instead of spending his days jetting around the world giving lectures on neurological impairment and offering his advice on Nobel candidates to King Gustav, Terry was stuck making $19 an hour for research that perhaps fifty people in the entire world could do, which was something they conveniently didn’t tell undergrads looking for a career in laboratory research. And where Marne Baxter had business cards and a parking space and everything, Terry had three overdrafts in the last nine days and would be out of a job if Marne didn’t come through with her NIH grant application. “Publish or Perish” was a way of life for academic researchers, but Terry’s seven first-author published papers paled in comparison to Marne’s fifteen. First authorship was the only measuring stick in their universe, meaning Terry was stuck for at least another year while he beefed up his resume. His fate was in Marne’s hands and, by extension, the NIH’s. Regardless, Terry was certain he would get a few more first-authorships out of his latest project and he even had a line on a position next fall at a lab at the University of Oregon in Eugene, which was totally his speed. If he could hang on one more year.
About the Author:
J. Thomas Ganzer is an attorney practicing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has experience in both civil and criminal matters in private practice and at the Wisconsin Department of Justice. He currently practices civil litigation for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Armed with a diverse career, J. Thomas offers his readers a unique perspective on the traditional legal thriller, focusing on the odd characters and constant one-upmanship that lawyers, clerks, and judges know all too well.
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Be sure to check out other titles by this great author:
Got some spare time while sitting on the train? Need a little escape over the lunch break? Want to scare the hell out of yourself in the time it takes to enjoy a nice glass of wine? From the wonderfully twisted mind of suspense author J. Thomas Ganzer, Ten Minutes To Kill will make you think twice about that bump in the night
Joe Haise is a bland, bow tie-wearing Assistant US Attorney in Chicago handling low-level fraud for the federal government. His stable job and marriage provide him a predicable - perhaps even boring - life. But one evening he scoops up his wife Tina's phone by mistake and reads a cryptic text from an unknown number. Joe's world descends into chaos when he pieces together several random events and discovers Tina is moonlighting as a high-priced escort for Chicago's jet set. In his fervor to uncover the seedy details of her secret life, Joe must confront a dark secret of his own. What could one do, a federal prosecutor no less, if one had no conscience?
Available from Amazon
Available from Amazon
Assistant US Attorney Joe Haise is off-balance. The bodies were so carefully concealed, the evidence meticulously destroyed, and the king was protected. A homicidal federal prosecutor can be forgiven for feeling above the law. But all of it is coming undone at the hands of his one-time protégé, Jackie Dekker. She knows precisely what he is, and she’s done running. Move and counter, thrust and parry, the two warily begin the final match. Murder is such a wonderful game.
Available from Amazon
Jackie Dekker is a young idealistic Federal Prosecutor in Chicago. Her career is on a hot streak until she discovers her boss, the esteemed Joe Haise, murdered his wife. Her world begins to fall apart. Will anyone believe her? Is she even right? And when her boss learns she has uncovered his secret, what will he do? When you know the law, you know how to break it. When Jackie dances with the Devil and the music stops, she must decide which one will be left dancing.
Available from Amazon
Assistant US Attorney Joe Haise is off-balance. The bodies were so carefully concealed, the evidence meticulously destroyed, and the king was protected. A homicidal federal prosecutor can be forgiven for feeling above the law. But all of it is coming undone at the hands of his one-time protégé, Jackie Dekker. She knows precisely what he is, and she’s done running. Move and counter, thrust and parry, the two warily begin the final match. Murder is such a wonderful game.
