In post World War II France, Rosalind Franklin enters a new position at a lab that welcomes her as an equal, an opportunity she didn't have in England.  Rosalind loves the camaraderie of the Laboratoire Central des Services Chimiques de l'État and becomes one of the top researchers in  X-ray crystallography.  Rosalind decides to leave France and join King's College London where she is given a new research topic to use her expertise in X-Ray crystallography for- DNA.  Rosalind is unwittingly thrown into the race to figure out the properties and form of DNA.  Rosalind finds competition within her own lab as her colleague Maurice Wilkins conspires against her and collaborates with Watson and Crick who are not even supposed to be working on DNA.  Despite the difficult conditions, Rosalind pushes through until the hidden details of DNA reveal themselves to her.  


As a female scientist I have always revered the female pioneers who paved the way and made it possible for me to enter my field.  While Her Hidden Genius is a work of fiction, it has obviously been meticulously researched and includes many facts of Rosalind's life while researching DNA.   Rosalind had an incredibly difficult path to forge.  Despite her family being wealthy, Rosalind was a Jewish woman in post World War II Europe entering the field of scientific research.  Immediately, Rosalind's passion for the science, details and finding the truth shone through.  I was immersed in Rosalind's time in the lab and the atmosphere of the science labs at the time.   The writing did a wonderful job of explaining the science of Rosalind's projects while showing the human side of the science as well.  I enjoyed reading about the camaraderie in the lab as well as the competition.  I was enraged as Rosalind questioned her brusqueness of her tone and words to the men around her while those men were quite literally stealing her data.  Rosalind amazed me with her ability to move forward and fight for her science as well as her grace and acceptance that Watson and Crick published their results first based on her research.  While Rosalind might have been forgotten for a time and seen through the eyes of her male researchers, Her Hidden Genius is a step in giving Rosalind Franklin the recognition she deserves.
 


This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​Jewel Lightfoot is a Texas Ranger who can't let a good mystery pass him by.  In the fall of 1908, Jewel receives a case from the commissioner of insurance that he can't let go.  The whole Peterson family has been gruesomely murdered on their farm except for their five year old daughter, Lyssa, who tells a story more like a fairy tale.  Jewel is now tracking a group of Mayans who are potentially carrying a strange piece of cargo across the Texas desert in hopes of returning to Mexico and restoring their people to power.  Jewel enlists the help of an old silver miner, Ernesto and his grandson, Antonia who tell Jewel of an ancient Mayan god who was laid to rest in the hills nearby.  However, this god isn't going to restore the Mayans to power as the team of bandits hope, it is the Mayan god of darkness whose sole purpose is destruction and death.  Jewel must figure out how to kill a god while thwarting a group of Germans who want to stir up trouble between Mexico and the States.  Jewel has always said he was hard to kill, but the god of darkness may have other plans for him.

In the Land of Dead Horses is a fast-paced Western paranormal historical  murder mystery.  Right from the start, the expedition to unearth the Mayan god pulled me in. Jewel's character was a perfect blend of hardened Texas Ranger and wizened old soul making him a complex person that I cared about.  The combination of a Western mixed with Mayan mythology and the effects of colonialism in Mexico created a unique story with action at every twist and turn.  I actually do wish a little more of the story could have been told from the Mayan gods point of view as he woke up and I could have learned more of his history and importance to the Mayans. The addition of the meddling Germans along with an old foe of Jewel's determined to kill him added to the suspense.  Filled with gore, mystery, ancient gods and a surprising amount of heart, In The Land of Dead Horses is a wonderful read.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.