Most of us can’t remember a time when antibiotics weren’t readily available with a prescription. We can’t imagine a time when a simple scratch could quickly turn into a deadly poison in the blood, or pneumonia could be fatal. However, in 1941 it was an all too common occurrence for many people, including Claire Shipley who lost her 3-year-old daughter to blood poisoning from a scrape on her knee. As a photojournalist for Life Magazine, she’s sent to cover a story about an experimental drug called penicillin. The drug has the potential to save lives but is still in the trial stages and the developers don’t have the ability to produce the drug in mass quantities. In fact, they have barely enough to keep one man alive.

James (Jamie) Stanton is the doctor in charge of the trial. He’s devoted much of his life to finding a way to develop a form of penicillin that will work for every patient and produce enough so it will make a difference. While covering the story for Life Magazine, Claire finds in Jamie a man of compassion who can dampen the loneliness that circles her life.  And he finds a strong, smart, beautiful woman who can help him live outside the walls of death and disease. But the relationship is tested. As America enters WWII, the government must have mass quantities of viable penicillin for the soldiers on the battlefield. With the government making penicillin a top priority they mandate that the pharmaceutical companies create and mass produce the drug as part of their war effort. However, the companies see huge profits with the drug and they're not about to let money slip away regardless of the greater good.

Claire is ‘enlisted’ by the government to secretly get as much information about what the pharmaceutical companies are doing, while Jamie must travel overseas to supervise the human trials on the battlefield.

A Fierce Radiance is a romantic, mystery thriller set against the back drop of WWII. Author Lauren Belfer has done a remarkable job of giving you the history of penicillin, as well as a look at New York City in the early 40s. The city comes alive and you almost feel as if you’re walking down the street with the characters.
 
I can’t remember a time without antibiotics. However, I do remember a time without cell phones or ATM machines. What has changed in the last few years for you?

Maria Lokken is an avid romance reader and an award winning television producer.