"This is a strong bet for thriller fans." --Library Journal
"Starts fast and never lets go. ...it reads fresh and exciting. Mr. Fishman's pacing is flawless and the narrative superbly entertaining. The writing style is intelligent and the action sequences are beautifully executed." --Man of la Book blog
"The novel starts strong and never lets up. Author J.E. Fishman has an excellent sense of pacing, and while the expected genre conventions are met, Primacy feels fresh and often unexpected..." --Sciencethrillers
"a magnificent job"..."This debut novel is a marriage of medical thriller, along the lines of Robin Cook, to fear on a scale you have never experienced, as typically brought to readers by Michael Crichton." --Suspense Magazine
An "appealing debut thriller... Those with an interest in animal rights will be particularly enthralled." -- Publishers Weekly
A New Species of Suspense
Tens of thousands of monkeys and apes suffer in animal testing labs. If just one of them could speak, what might it say and whose interests would it threaten?
Researcher Liane Vinson thinks she can handle her promotion to the primate lab at Pentalon, the world's biggest and most secretive animal testing facility. Going along to get along, she'll ignore both the vitriol of animal rights protestors outside the front gates and the cold calculus that her bosses use to distance themselves from their subjects behind closed doors. But when Liane discovers that one of her favorite apes, a young bonobo called Bea, has shockingly developed the ability to speak, all her doubts awaken--doubts about right and wrong, about following the rules, and about sacrificing individuals to the supposedly greater good.
She'd spare this unique being the knife if she could, but only Axel Flickinger, Pentalon's cold-hearted CEO, holds the power of life and death within the closely monitored laboratory. If there's any chance of rescuing Bea, Liane will need to involve her neighbor, Mickey Ferrone, a rough-hewn veterinarian with his own grievances. Soon, at risk of life and limb, Liana and Mickey must challenge forces almost beyond their comprehension: a malevolent corporation, a venal federal government, an animal rights movement that's lost its way--and all of our assumptions about man's primacy in nature.
If you love animals, this novel will hold you on the edge of your favorite reading chair.
J.E. Fishman is the Amazon-bestselling author of three nonfiction books and eight novels, including the Bomb Squad NYC series of police thrillers, the animal rights thriller Primacy, the financial thriller The Dark Pool, the wisecracking mystery Cadaver Blues, and, under the pen name Dana I. Wolff, the horror tale The Prisoner of Hell Gate. His latest book is the speculative novel We Once Were Giants.
A lifelong environmentalist, Fishman holds a Master of Environmental Studies degree and writes a Substack newsletter called Backyard Stewardship.
