Tainted Blessing by John Hemphill

About the book

Elin Norman is a brilliant graduate student nearing completion of her degree in agricultural science. Raised on the family farm in western Kansas, near the small town of Blessing, the young woman's dream is to help alleviate malnutrition and disease in Third World countries. Her dream seems within her grasp as Elin discovers a unique "daffodil" gene that produces a wheat crop of unprecedented nutritional value. But the joy of her discovery is tainted, and her future threatened when Elin is tormented with sexual harassment, leading to violence, from her mentor, the imminent but volatile plant geneticist, Dr. Devin Connor. Elin seeks help from the administration at the university, but Dr. Connor accuses her of being the sexual aggressor.

Connor's genetic engineering has resulted in a wheat crop that promises record breaking yields, much to the delight of Buford Marx, who heads the biotech division of a multinational corporation that funded the development of the genetically unique wheat. Marx stands to gain enormous wealth if the "designer" crop, enhanced by Elin's discovery, is a commercial success, and he will stop at nothing to realize that dream. Unknown to Elin, Marx has used illegal means including conspiracy and murder to buy up dozens of family farms near Elin's hometown. The golden wheat crop now stands ready to harvest on those same farms, including Elin's family farm. Seemingly legitimate arrangements have been made for the grain to be sold to a coalition of impoverished countries. But even Marx is unaware that Ravi Mondavi, who negotiated the purchase of the crop, actually represents the monarch of a rogue Middle-Eastern country. Ravi and his sovereign aim to use the wheat to feed armies posed to invade nearby oil-rich countries and seize control of half the world's oil reserves.

Everyone converges on Blessing as harvest nears. Elin brings the hope of a newfound love, and the man proves himself to her and the whole town. Connor comes to reap the accolades of his crowning genetic achievement. Marx summons Mondavi to help him deal with a renegade psychotic informer, the local mortician who aided Marx in acquiring thousands of acres of farmland. Elin discovers that the wheat is tainted and the soil polluted by Marx's late application of fertilizer authorized by Connor without Elin's knowledge. Elin's life is in danger. Elin's disclosure of the tainted wheat crop will destroy the dreams of Marx and Mondavi and cause the destruction of Connor's career. Other lives are endangered and Blessing's police chief closes in on unraveling crimes that have been committed, as violent thunderstorms and tornadoes threaten the wheat crop.

Self-doubt and heartbreaking choices come into play when Elin's life hangs in the balance. Heroic actions save her and she causes Connor to suffer public humiliation. Mondavi has a change of heart caused from an unexpected source and escapes after aiding in the capture of Marx.

About the author

Born and raised in Kansas, surrounded by an extended family with roots in farming, John chose a different path that has led to fiction writing as his fourth career. After completing his Ph.D. in economics, he was a professor and authored a textbook on small business management and a trade book on entrepreneurship. He was invited to testify before Congress several times on industry policy and competitive issues. John left academia to assume an executive position for a worldwide research and consulting firm, and then an executive position in the retail industry. His third career was serving as expert witness in litigation matters for nearly a decade.

His mother taught English and Latin for thirty years inspired reading and writing, always John's first love. Tainted Blessing, his first novel, springs, from his childhood working on the family farms. These experiences had a profound influence--the cycles of Mother Nature, tilling the fields and harvesting crops, and learning how large scale farming, although inevitable, mitigates solid Heartland values built on self-reliance and the anchor-circle of support and trust from family.

The author and his wife, Emily, a successful real estate attorney in the Palm Springs area, live in Rancho Mirage, California, with their "babies", Sydney, a black Lab, and Tiller, a Golden Retriever. When he's not writing, John is actively pursuing his interests in gardening, travel, golf, and reading.