There is a lot to love about this book, but two things stand out for me above all others: the relationship between Maggie and Constantine, and their love of movie quotes (and pop culture references). While characters are important in a cozy (and this is actually a little more thriller than cozy), a good mystery is (obviously) also a key element. Ms. Valenti delivers, Protocol is a great page turner.

Protocol
(Maggie O'Malley Mystery #1)
by Kathleen Valenti

Hardcover, First, 300 pages
Published September 5th 2017 by Henery Press

Goodreads synopsis:
“A page-turner! Smart, fast-paced and surprising.” – Hank Phillippi Ryan, Mary Higgins Clark Award-Winner, Author of Say No More

Freshly minted college graduate Maggie O’Malley embarks on a career fueled by professional ambition and a desire to escape the past. As a pharmaceutical researcher, she’s determined to save lives from the shelter of her lab. But on her very first day she’s pulled into a world of uncertainty. Reminders appear on her phone for meetings she’s never scheduled with people she’s never met. People who end up dead. 

With help from her best friend, Maggie discovers the victims on her phone are connected to each other and her new employer. She soon unearths a treacherous plot that threatens her mission—and her life. Maggie must unlock deadly secrets to stop horrific abuses of power before death comes calling for her.slightly tarnished investigative kills and tame her fears (and her hair) to catch the real thief.

***

5 Stars

This is the first book in the Maggie O’Malley mystery series.

To me this felt the least like a cozy mystery and more like a mystery thriller. It is the surprise book of the season for me. I was totally absorbed in all the action and craziness.

Maggie O’Malley is starting a job in a pharmaceutical company where she is one of the lowest rungs on the corporate ladder. The big boss’s son takes a quick liking to her and when she rebuffs him an angry onslaught of weird things start happening to her. In the midst of all that is going down she realizes that something fishy is happening in Rxcellence.

On top of that, she had a new phone. It is someone else’s old phone that was stripped clean and refurbished. Then she begins to get mysterious appointment reminders on her phone showing a time frame and a photo of someone. By the time she wakes up the next morning after getting the strange reminder, that person in the photo ends up dead. And it keeps happening. By the third time she reaches out to the police and the person in the photo is practically labeled a crazy lunatic.

This book keeps you on your toes. I had put aside a previous book because I had gotten too emotionally involved in the story for my heart’s liking. But this one brought on all the feels and more. I had stress reading this book. I was absorbed. I wondered of Maggie would get her head out of her butt long enough to realize that Constantine “Gus” her best friend and constant companion was in love with her.

Highly recommended. I already picked up the next two books in the series. I hope the author continues to write fiction because I truly like her style. All the one liners and quips between the leads made this such an entertaining experience.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

I am reading everything I can find by this author now. The book was well paced and I enjoyed the protagonist very much. Will be looking forward to more in this series.

I enjoyed reading this book. Maggie has a new to her phone and a new job at a big pharmaceutical company. While out with friends she receives a reminder for an appointment she did not make with a person she does not know. When that person is killed she wonders about the connection and the previous owner of the phone. When it happens again and again and involves people at her new job she she sets out to solve the mystery with her best friend, Constantine. Trying to solve the mystery causes problems at work as she begins to uncover the secrets the company is hiding. I liked the mystery. There are lots of twists and turns and the solution made sense. Constantine is a fun character and provides comic relief. The ending was good but it was a little rushed. It was a page turner and kept me reading until the end. I am looking for word to reading the next book in the series. Enjoy

This romantic suspense is generously sprinkled with humor and romance. I enjoyed the use of technology to jump start the intrigue. The story sucks you right in and OH, what a ride!
Straight out of college, Maggie lands a job as a pharmaceutical researcher and quickly is in over her head.

Protocol

by Kathleen Valenti

There are exceptions, but generally I love it when a mystery begins with action or intrigue. Protocol, Kathleen Valenti’s debut novel, fits in that category. If you think a novel about the pharmaceutical industry sounds stuffy or boring, think again.

Maggie O’Maley is excited to be starting a new chapter in her life in her first job as a researcher at Rxcellance Pharmaceutical. Socially insecure and intellectually astute, she requires income to support not only herself, but also her aunt and father whose restaurant is undergoing hard times. Unfortunately she gets caught up in a world of violence beginning with appointment reminders she receives on her previously owned cell phone that was not properly wiped of information. Her world spirals out of control as she tries to make good choices for her job and to keep herself alive. A subplot that ties into the main mystery puts her long time best friend Constantine up against Ethan, a new love interest from the research facility.

Protocol is a page turner with lots of suspense and twists. Maggie is a likable character, and I look forward to reading more of her adventures in Kathleen Valenti’s next novel.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Henery Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.


Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: #1 in the Maggie O’Malley Mystery Series

Publication: September 5, 2017—Henery Press

Memorable Lines:

She imagined furtive glances by coworkers, conversations that stopped as soon as she approached and whispers around the water cooler as innuendo oozed under doors and around cubicle walls.

Maggie fumbled in her pocket and put two quarters into the machine. She punched the combination of keys that would spring Snap, Crackle, and Pop from their coiled prison.

The smell of antiseptic, so familiar, so clean, now seemed deceitful, designed to conceal the smell of putrefaction.

Maggie O'Malley, fresh out of college, lands a job at a prestigious pharmaceutical company, Rxcellence. She's really interested in working toward a cure for cancer, which killed her mother, but winds up working on an acne drug. Not an auspicious start, but the pay is good and there's room for advancement.

She has a second-hand cell phone and one night while out with friends from work, receives an appointment reminder for a meeting with a woman she's never met nor an appointment she never made. Shortly after she's stunned to find out the woman was killed, apparently in a hit-and-run accident. Then a day or so later she receives another reminder, and this person is killed as well.

You'd think that would be mystery enough, but it's not. Maggie herself becomes the target of something sinister, she is suspended from work, and discovers that the dead people have a connection to Rxcellence. With the help of her childhood friend Constantine, she's trying to find out what the connection means, and who is framing her.

I really wanted to like this book more, but Maggie doesn't seem capable at all. She's clumsy, breaks things, spills things, etc.; not the type of person anyone would want to have in a lab around breakable items. By the frequency of her little accidents, every vial and test tube should have winded up on the floor in pieces at some point. This is the one area I had problems with.

Aside from that, the plot was very good, and there was just enough intrigue and suspense to keep one interested. I think my favorite character was Constantine, and I hope to see a lot more of him in future books. This is a first novel by this author, and as such, a worthy effort. I look forward to the next in the series. Recommended.

Recent graduate Maggie O'Malley is thrilled to start work as a researcher for a major pharmaceutical firm. Maggie can use her knowledge to help others and can also help send money to save her ailing father’s restaurant. But then Maggie starts getting mysterious meeting reminders from strangers on her refurbished cell phone. It's weird but things turn sinister when she learns the people she is supposed to meet end up dying. But the police do not take her concerns seriously until it happens again. With the help of her best friend, Maggie figures out that the victims on her phone are connected to each other and her new employer and she unwittingly uncovers a treacherous plot that someone is willing to kill for,

This was a fast-paced, suspenseful read and a good debut.

I received an eARC via Netgalley and Henery Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

This is the first in the Maggie O'Malley series and I hope it is the start of a very successful series to come. This author has crafted a outstanding psychological novel that will keep every reader on edge.
As Maggie graduates college she lands a prime job as a pharmaceutical researcher and wants to change the world as well as make a outstanding salary. As she begins her job she receives a series of cryptic messages by text and has no idea who is sending them. Soon they escalate into threats and deceit so deep Maggie finds herself immersed into a multi faceted mystery.
A outstanding read and one I highly recommend. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC which did not influence my review.

I recieved a copy of this from Netgalley. I loved this first novel by Valenti. Humor and grit come to mind to describe this. Character depth needs work, as they were good but not deep enough. Trusting someone so completly when you only meet a few times is not believable. The plot was a little predictable, yet overall I really enjoyed the book and look forward to more from this author.

Protocol by Kathleen Valenti is the first book in A Maggie O’Malley Mystery series. Maggie O’Malley has just started her new job as a clinical research associate at Rxcellance. Maggie is enjoying drinks with co-workers after her first day at work when she reminder for a meeting on her phone. However, Maggie did not schedule the meeting nor does she recognize the woman. As she is leaving the bar, Maggie glances at the television and sees a report about a hit and run accident involving the same woman. Maggie checks it off to a coincidence until it happens again. Maggie contacts Gus who purchased the phone for her. They start looking into the victims and find a connection back to Rxcellance. Maggie and Gus dig into the case and they soon catch the attention of the killer. Can Maggie find the necessary proof to put the culprit away before she becomes the next victim?

When I read the blurb for Protocol, I was intrigued. It sounds like a great medical suspense novel. However, the final product was disappointing (for me). The story lacks suspense or scare factor. I wanted to be drawn into the story and riveted until the very last page. Instead, I found myself bored and skimming to get to the end (to see if I correctly identified the perpetrators). I think, though, that some readers will be surprised when some of twists are revealed. For the most part, the book is easy to read and has a good pace. There are technical sections relating to medical research (medical conditions, chemistry, drug interactions) that slow down the pace (some of it is a little too technical for laypeople). The writing is unpolished. I wish the editor had given the book another going over and tightened it up. The book is too long and the author left some dangling threads at the end. My rating for Protocol is 2 out of 5 stars (I was not a fan). The big problem was the main character—Maggie O’Malley. She bumbles, stumbles, overreacts, loses items, breaks things and blushes her way through the book. I am surprised that she has not started an epidemic (by dropping something deadly in the lab). Maggie “trusts” a man that she has only been out with twice more than Gus she has known since childhood. She barely knows him, but Maggie is willing to risk her life for him. Most of the characters were not fully developed and the plot seems implausible (which I can overlook if the rest of the book was captivating—which it was not). I do want to warn readers that Protocol contains foul language and gory crime scenes.

The tension that Maggie has as she starts her job is a little annoying...thus I couldn't really connect with her as a character. But the plot was progressive and interesting enough to keep me reading. A well thought out mystery and I would actually read more from the author to see how the character and story lines progress

“It was all so clear. She’d been so stupid…Cue the flying monkeys.”

The Maggie O’Malley series has taken wing. Thanks go to Henery Press and Net Galley for the DRC, which I received free in exchange for this honest review. In a crowded field, Valenti stands apart. Her snappy wit and precise pacing combine to create a psychological thriller that’s funny as hell. I didn’t know it could be done until I saw it here.

Maggie’s career is off to a promising start when she is recruited to work as a researcher for a major pharmaceutical firm. It’s a perfect chance to make the world a better place, and the beefy salary lets her take care of herself and send desperately needed funds to save her ailing father’s restaurant. It seems too good to be true, and we know what that means.

She’s barely through the door when she receives a mysterious meeting reminder on her refurbished new-to-her cell phone. Who is this person, and why would she meet her? And then, quick as can be, she sees the woman she is supposedly about to meet, die. Since the meeting reminder vanishes from her phone once it’s played, and since the reminder itself isn’t sinister, the police brush her off…until it happens again. Eventually, of course, she herself becomes a suspect.

This is a page turner, and we look over Maggie’s shoulder all the way through, wondering whether this friend or that one is to be trusted. Which date is a godsend, and which one is a snake in the grass?

The most notable difference between this story and others is the way Valenti sets up what looks like an error either on the part of the author or stupidity on the part of the protagonist, and then on the back beat, we see exactly why that was there, and that she anticipated our reaction all along. She does it over and over, and it’s hilarious. I feel as if the author is speaking to me as I read, howling, “Gotcha again!” It’s zesty, brainy writing. Valenti is the new mystery writer to watch.

This book is for sale now, and I recommend it to those that love funny female sleuths.

I did not like this book at all. I struggled to get involved and I felt the main character was naive and reckless and not in the least bit sympathetic. And Big Pharma as the villian has been done to death.

This one began a little tricky to draw me in but once I was in i couldn't sleep. The truth in the pharmacy plot, the depth of the characters and use of an unwired cell was just creepy. The humor of Gus made the constant tension break a bit and I hope Gus plays a big part in future stories. The couple to watch

Protocol the an extremely engaging and fast moving story of Maggie O'Malley, the "best and brightest" new hire at Rxcellance Pharmaceuticals. The suspense starts from page one and does not let up until the very end. From the disturbing appointment messages Maggie receives on the refurbished cell phone given to her by her best friend, Constantine, to the search for a corporate spy at Rxcellance, to mysterious documents found on (and disappearing from) her desk, and the unwanted aggressive advances of a creepy co-worker, Maggie finds her job to be anything but a big paycheck and much needed drug research. When her cell phone "appointments" start dying in "tragic accidents," Maggie is totally freaked out, and enlists Constantine's help to find out who was the previous owner of her supposedly wiped cell phone. Soon, Maggie finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy where co-workers and the research at Rxecellance are not as they seem nor can be trusted, and the victims all seem to have ties to the Big Pharma.

Protocol is a page turner that I found hard to put down as Maggie becomes more and more entangled in events beyond her control. This book is well written, full of suspense and unexpected twists and turns, as well as some really nefarious villains. I highly recommend this book as a thriller you will not want to miss!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A mystery that will keep you awake at night. It is a story that makes you realize how much money is at stake with the development of new drugs and scary when you think about how many drugs we take and what the possible side effects could be when big part gets greedy. Lots of surprises and and events that I did not see coming.

Protocol
Maggie O’Malley Mystery, Book #1
Kathleen Valenti
5 Stars

Synopsis:

“A page-turner! Smart, fast-paced and surprising.” – Hank Phillippi Ryan, Mary Higgins Clark Award-Winner, Author of Say No More

Freshly minted college graduate Maggie O’Malley embarks on a career fueled by professional ambition and a desire to escape the past. As a pharmaceutical researcher, she’s determined to save lives from the shelter of her lab. But on her very first day she’s pulled into a world of uncertainty. Reminders appear on her phone for meetings she’s never scheduled with people she’s never met. People who end up dead.

With help from her best friend, Maggie discovers the victims on her phone are connected to each other and her new employer. She soon unearths a treacherous plot that threatens her mission—and her life. Maggie must unlock deadly secrets to stop horrific abuses of power before death comes calling for her. (Goodreads)



Review:

The author is very talented in creating tension and suspense with just the written word. She took modern day experiences (who does not have a cell phone) and a current issue (pharmaceutical companies and how they do business) and turned it into a first rate suspense read. You may never look at your cell phone the same way again. I was truly riveted to the pages, afraid to keep swiping because I was afraid of what would happen but having to know because of my curiosity.

The characters are well developed and well rounded. Maggie is a smart, hardworking curious woman. When the incidents involving her phone begin, she cannot help but get drawn into the mystery. I enjoyed her relationship with Gus, her best friend. I liked the bickering and bantering between the two and how much they genuinely liked each other. The secondary characters (mostly her coworkers) added quite a bit to the story.

The writing style flows smoothly and, although it was an intense read, it was an easy read. I felt like I was right there, watching all of the action taking place around me. I thought I could hear the bing of her message reminder and I dreaded seeing what it said.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well plotted mystery suspense, especially a medical suspense. This is not really a cozy mystery because of some of the language, but nothing overly offensive. It is hard for me to believe this book is the debut for this author. She has a long career ahead of her as a suspense writer. I cannot wait to read the next book.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and Henery Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

If your a fan of a good clean suspense/thriller you might want to check out Protocol.
I was interested from page 1. I felt I was on a good 'ole fast paced ride.
The plot was intriguing and twisty turny like any good thriller.
A story line that is filled a bunch of crime and many people who die at the hands of the villain(s).

You'll find more than 1 villain. Mainly because in typical bad guy style the 'real bad guy' recruits and doesn't let anyone go. Don't do his bidding as he expects and your out 'dead out'.

There is no stalling as they realize people are getting too close
to the scheme.
Including offing a reporter, a citizen working with the homeless, an employee. I kind of lost track.

Our main character Maggie ends up running for her life once she begins to figure out the plot.

There was a bit of the movie thriller where everywhere the victim turns some one is running behind them with a chain saw or other
weapon of destruction.

There are alot of random characters; Maggie's co-workers that tha are involved in the plot.

Normally I am intrigued and interested in the main characters and the sub characters. I can't say that anyone just jumped out at me.

The only character that I really liked was the co-worker Maggie had a fleeting interest in who turned out to be one of the bad guys.
Maggie was helped and saved by her best friend she call's Gus who actually is the one that got her into all the trouble in the first place by buying a used phone. Which I thought was a little strange. These days who buys a used phone?

The main reason I wasn't drawn in to Gus (I actually wondered why there ended up being a little sizzle at the end leading to a romance in the next installment) Gus carries a hamster around with him in the pocket of his jacket. Although the plot line
wasn't creepy or graphic Gus and his hampster Valentine were just that. Creepy.

All in all Protocol was a good fast paced thriller. You'll be on the edge of your seat while your wondering who is behind all the mayhem.

I received a complimentary copy from Great Escapes Tours

This is quite a thrilling story about pharmaceutical "evil." Sadly, it is quite believable.
A phone that delivers messages about people who are about to die, be murdered.
Odd things at her new job.
A really creepy son of the owner!
A BFF who is obviously (to me, at least) more.
So many people you can't be sure about.
And her father and his failing restaurant.
Goodness!