When scientist Anders Eckman disappears in Brazil, his lonely colleague Dr Marina Singh realises too late that she has always loved him, although she’s actually sleeping with her boss, Mr Fox (never trust a fictional character with that name). A crisply enigmatic note arrives from Dr Annick Swenson describing Anders’s death and last days at the remote research station where he was checking up on the progress of a wonder drug, the development of which has been lavishly funded by the Vogel Corporation. Marina encountered Swenson briefly in her student days and knows how terrifyingly single-minded she is – but would she really commit murder to protect her unorthodox activities deep in the jungle? 

The corporation has been letting Swenson get away with figurative murder for years. She has steadfastly refused to provide data, or even divulge her whereabouts. Vogel’s patience, if not its money, is running out. Marina finds that Swenson’s Manaus flat is inhabited by a pair of airhead Australians,