Silver Girl (Embryo: A Raney & Levine Thriller Book 5) by J.A. Schneider starts with the killing of Jody, an actress who is friends with Jill Raney & David Levine. Another actress is also murdered.

"'People would tell Jody she was gifted,' Jill sighed, now seeing Jody being funny about her unhappiness. 'But she'd hoot & say, "Some gifts aren't really gifts. Can I return this fame thing?"

Jill & David's relationship continues to develop. She wondered about how good she felt when she was around him. "Can one person be like a tranquilizer to another? David was. She could breathe again tucked into his warmth, his patient, careful listening as she spewed her rage, her sorrow, talked a mile a minute about her morgue visit & the cops frustration.

'They're nowhere. Have nothing on anybody! They have no case!'"

I gave this intense suspense-filled thriller five stars.

I loved this series & can hardly wait for Book 6. ( )

Another edge-of-the-seat ride with this Doctor/Detective pair. This time a friend is murdered and they get very involved in the crime work. All I can say is - thank goodness their Hospital has 24/7 child care facilities!!! ( )

The first book in J.A. Schneider’s Embryo series, Embryo, gives the impression that the series is a futuristic medical thriller as the embryo in this novel is the first human fetus that is brought to full term outside the mother’s uterus and there is also some indication that there maybe some genetic enhancements as well. However, as the series progresses, it is quite clear that this is indeed not a futuristic medical thriller but is very much a crime thriller with two OB/GYN physicians and married couple, Dr. Jill Raney and Dr. David Levine, acting as detectives. In recent novels, the embryo which is now a child named Jesse and is the adopted child of Raney and Levine acts as a background character and is not really the focus of the series.

The latest edition, Silver Girl, continues the crime thriller theme, though I would say that it is more like a whodunit mystery than a thriller. The story begins with Jody Merrill, an actress in a popular TV comedy cop show, being murdered. Merrill, who has a severe allergic reaction to penicillin, is poisoned with the antibiotic. As she is dying from the allergic reaction she is rushed to the hospital where her friends Drs. Jill Raney and David Levine are waiting. Merrill’s death triggers Raney and Levine to switch from doctors delivering babies mode to crime fighting sleuths and the rest of the novel focuses on Raney and Levine trying to figure out who is the murderer.

I have no problem with doctors being detectives as many good series have this feature but in those series, the doctors usually have some kind of connection with law enforcement such as a psychiatrist or medical examiner, but OB/GYNs? Really? Really?! OB/GYNs are not what I consider the crime sleuthing types unless the crimes are more related to their occupation, such as a serial rapist. I also have an objection to doctors carrying guns. Many may argue that doctors should be able to carry guns to protect themselves but that seems to go against their motto ‘do no harm’. Yet, in this series David Levine walks around with a gun strapped to his leg. I don’t know about you but I would be a little unnerved if I knew that my doctor was carrying around a loaded pistol. Heaven forbid I forget to pay my bill on time.

Silver Girl is a fairly straight forward whodunit and for those who are into a mystery that doesn’t have too much gore, bad language, and graphic sexual content, then I would say this would be a good story for you. I think that this would make for a good young adult novel as the plot is not overly complex but yet entertaining. This is very much a standalone book and you don’t really need to read the rest of the series to enjoy it.

If you are interested in learning more about the Embryo series, check out my review of the series on by blog A-Thrill-A-Week (http://athrillaweek.com/j-a-schneiders-embryo-series/) ( )

Drs Raney and Levine are in the fray again. This time one of their friends has mistakenly ingested penicillin and another friend is missing, or is danger afoot?

Colorful, varied characters present themselves at every corner. Amidst the normal ER turmoil, somehow the docs manage to help the damaged friends and police, find time for friends and family, and keep it together.

Throughout this series, the characters get closer and show how even in chaos, love and hope are possible. ( )

A Series:

Embryo ..... Is a malignant genius tinkering with women's bodies?
Embryo 2: Crosshairs ... A killer stalks women & an unborn baby.
Embryo 3: Raney & Levine... A religious zealot targets a child & the hospital caring for him.
Embryo 4: Catch Me ... A serial killer just targets couples.

and NOW....Embryo 5: Silver Girl ... A beautiful young TV star dies mysteriously...

Book Description:

"A beautiful young TV star, Jody Merrill, dies mysteriously and police are stumped. They are even more at a loss when the grisly remains of yet another actress, Jody's co-star, are found.

Detectives request the help of doctors Jill Raney and David Levine, police friends and detectives on their own. For Jill and David this is personal; they are heartbroken since both murdered young women were their friends. Furiously they resolve to find the killer: to skirt the law as they always do in cases of sex crimes, child abuse and murder; helping where cops' hands are tied ("No warrant? No problem!"), or in ways that police forensics never imagined.

The killer, capable of unspeakable savagery, must commit more murders in order to hide...possibly behind the glitzy cover of Show Biz Hell. As Jody Merrill called it, "That gorgeous, sparkly bubble that closes you in, bloats your ego in some weird, alternate universe where you lose all bearings, lose yourself. Fame is unhealthy."

Title: Embryo 5: Silver Girl
Author: J.A. Schneider
Publishers: J.A.S. & R.G.S.
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: five
Review:

"Embryo 5: Silver Girl" by J.S. Schneider

What I liked about this novel....

What will happen when a friend of Jill and David ends up dying after being brought to Madison Memorial emergency in critical condition? Will this be another one of this author's Raney & Levine suspenseful thrillers? YES! For Jill and David maybe Doctors however they are definitely a crime fighters who get the bad guys too. How will these two find this horrible killer so that there will be no more gruesome deaths? Well, to get all of those answers and more you will have to pick up 'Embryo 5: Silver Girl' to find out and noting that is this author's fifth Embryo series. Be ready for another one of this author's excellent thrillers as she takes you from the beginning to the end giving the reader a fantastic thrill of a read with some off the chart well developed characters..some old ones from other series and especially Jesse who is now eighteen months old. If you are looking for a love-betrayal glamorous side of TV stardom mixture you have come to the right place for a very interesting thriller that I would recommend as a good read. ( )