What is your name?
Ting Chen
What do you look like?
I am a Chinese woman of average height, in my early thirties. I have short, straight, black hair and brown eyes. I am thin and muscular, as I was a world-class athlete in years past. I don’t know if I am pretty. I suppose I am, because I gained the attention of a very accomplished, yet evil man. My looks are not important to me. I have more pressing things to think about.
Where are you today and what are you doing?
I am in my small, run-down apartment in San Francisco Chinatown. I live from day-to-day, trying to survive and keep my two children who are with me safe.
You come face to face with your worse enemy. How do you react?
I have already come face to face with him. Despite the danger, I rejected him and am now paying the price. I hope I never have to see him again. If I do, I will reject him again.
You keep a photo album of memories from your lifetime. If you could only keep one photo, which one would that be?
I would want a picture of my parents to remind me of my happy childhood before I left home.
A police officer stops you for a minor violation. What violation is that and how do you react?
Ever since entering this country illegally, I have obeyed the law. I don’t know how to drive, so I would never get a traffic ticket. If I ever broke a law, it would be by accident. I would be very frightened if questioned by a police officer. My illegal status would be discovered, and I would be sent back to China with the two children I escaped with. As I am considered an enemy and a traitor, I would serve a long sentence in a prison camp if I weren’t executed.
What is your favorite piece of clothing?
I only have two pairs of pants and three shirts. I have no favorites.
Do you have any phobias? What are they and how intense are they? How have they impacted your life?
I have no phobias. I am only afraid of real things, things I must run from.
Open your wallet, purse, or briefcase. What do you find?
In my small purse I have a cell phone and a small amount of cash. Nothing of value, other than my gun, of course. No credit cards or identification. I am very poor.
How do you feel about mortality?
I would happily die for my children.
What scares you?
I worry about the future health of my children, who are the products of embryonic stem cell gene editing. On top of that, I worry about the son I have with me because the Chinese government wants to murder him.
How would your parents describe you?
My parents are dead. When they were alive, they were proud I was such a fast runner. We were poor, but I was happy before I left. I hope that is how they remembered me before their deaths.
What’s the last thing you do before you go to bed at night?
I check my children.
Who is your best friend?
In this country, that would be Ebba. I knew her in China, and she is the only person here that I trust completely. She helps me whenever she can. She tries to give me money, but I won’t take it.
Who is your worse enemy?
Peng Yang, the father of my children.
Are you faith-oriented?
I have no faith.
Are you married or in a relationship?
No. I have never been married. I do not have time for a relationship.
Do you have children?
I have a boy and a girl with me. I was forced to leave my infant son in China and hope to get him back someday.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An Olympic champion. If I had not been injured in an accident, I might have been a world champion.
If there was one thing you could change about yourself, what would that be?
I would not want to have any athletic ability. That gift has
ruined my life.
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.
PRAISE
A compelling and richly woven story, perfect for those looking for their new favorite thriller!
The UC San Francisco pediatric clinic is a lively and bustling facility where every sort of injury and infirmity has been seen, diagnosed and treated. That is, until the day a Chinese migrant named Ting brings her daughter in for an evaluation. The striking girl is truly an anomaly, bearing genetically impossible bright blue eyes. Dr. Erica Rosen presses Ting for information, but Ting is paranoid, evasive and overly protective of her family’s privacy. Things become more puzzling when Ting ends up in the ER with a wounded young son and insists that someone is trying to kill the boy. Shocking test results, a second attempt on the boy’s life and a missing phlebotomist are just the beginning of a riveting tale of government conspiracy, medical mystery and dangerous close-calls.
Unnatural is a flawlessly written medical thriller that focuses on a Chinese mother who will sacrifice everything to save her children. Erica is a bold protagonist who follows her instincts to some amazing discoveries. The narrative is driven by intelligent dialogue and a clever, yet heinous, plot. The cultural aspects between Ting and Erica feel authentic and the technical medical language is just complicated enough to feel genuine without becoming difficult to read. Deven Greene has created a truly gripping international thriller with just the right amount of humanity and compassion. Unnatural, the first in the Erica Rosen MD Trilogy, is a compelling and richly woven story, perfect for those looking for a new favorite thriller!
–Indies Today
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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 working as a biochemist, she went back to school and became a pathologist. When writing fiction, the author usually incorporates elements of medicine or science. Deven has penned several short stories. Unnatural is the first novel the author has published.
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