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	C.E. Japhe C.E. Japhe is an horror/mystery writer and avid reader, currently living in the panhandle of West Virginia. In addition to formerly serving as an editorial reviewer for FMAM, she is a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA).

13 DAYS: THE PYTHAGORAS CONSPIRACY
L.A. Starks
Brown Books, $15.95, 368 pp.
ISBN: 1-933285-45-1

Lynn Dayton, Executive VP of US Refining for a large energy company, has her work cut out for her. She has just talked her company into buying a troubled refinery in the Houston Ship Channel. An apparent accident releases a dangerous gas into the refinery, killing three employees, and threatening the future of both the refinery and her job. But was it an accident? As Lynn's staff and the government investigate, and as other Ship Channel refineries experience mysterious "accidents," it is increasingly obvious there is a conspiracy at work. Who is behind it, and what are their motives?

Having worked in the energy industry for most of the last 30 years, and having lived in Houston for 8 of the last 14 years, I couldn't wait to read 13 DAYS: THE PYTHAGORAS CONSPIRACY. Sorry to say it was a huge disappointment.

The author's chemical engineering background is obvious in her accurate explanations of refining terms, descriptions of the refining process, and explanations of the hazardous chemicals involved in the refining process. Unfortunately, her character development is not so descriptive. Despite the appallingly (to a racquetball player, anyway) inaccurate description of a racquetball game between Lynn and one of her colleagues, the game offered the author a perfect opening to show us something about Lynn's character. The author could have shown us something about Lynn's competitive nature, about how she was able to succeed in an industry that is still extremely male-dominated, but the author fails to do so.

There are some definite positives about 13 DAYS: a strong (at least we have to infer that she is), unconventional heroine, very topical subject matter, a conspiracy plot involving someone other than your stereotypical Middle Eastern terrorists. The subplots, however, are too numerous and scattered for this promising novel to ultimately make much sense.

C.E. Japhe

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