Fatal Dependence

A game of push and pull between an older woman and a younger man, beginning with exploitation and redemption: a self-serving female mogul funds a brilliant, subtly flirtatious young research scientist who has a secret crush on her. She supported him when he was struggling at university and saw him as a tool she could control. He let himself be used, willingly, just to stay close to her. There is no lovesick heroine here: she is selfish to the core, while he is devoted and cunningly “sweet.” Readers who dislike self-serving characters should proceed with caution. Amid the twists and turns of corporate warfare and the demanding race to develop chips, they push and pull at each other and help one another succeed. In the end, their evenly matched bond gives rise to a devotion that is uniquely theirs, twisted and deadly.