Is Blood really Thicker than Water? Something is terribly wrong at Angiras, a family-owned medical start-up. Neddy Emory and her brother Charles are about launch a revolutionary life-saving therapeutic device. But they've hit a major snag. Critical research is unraveling and, to their shock and horror, one-by-one, team members are falling mysteriously ill. Neddy and Charles race to move the project forward, while struggling to keep their employees safe. Failure is not an option. Without the device, their younger brother Daniel will die. But Neddy begins to suspect the company’s innovative research methods are being tampered with. When probed, Charles gaslights her. He refuses to slow down, claiming he is Daniel’s only hope. Torn between loyalty to her family and the welfare of the staff, Neddy desperately searches for the truth. Then the unspeakable happens. A fatality. Charles appears to finally be persuaded. But his next move shocks her, and she realizes: the danger is only beginning. And she is on her own. For fans of THE MAIDENS who will appreciate Neddy’s determination and perseverance as she fights to keep her family together despite fractured relationships, greed, and treachery. “Breakthrough is a story as much about rebuilding a family narrative as it is about confronting extraordinary problems despite the cost of their resolution … nearly impossible to put down…” – D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review "Breakthrough is a story as much about rebuilding a family narrative as it is about confronting extraordinary problems despite the cost of their resolution ... nearly impossible to put down..." - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review "The author has managed to make a world about which I knew nothing (medical research and Big Pharma) compelling: I really cared about the project's outcome. I even felt that I understood the process - special praise here for an unusual ability to be clear without either boring or condescending to." CSW Schorr, reader "As a physician with 25+ years in pharma, going into this I was a bit skeptical. The story kept me engaged and the characters were for the most part well-developed; the family tensions were realistic and at times heartbreaking. The explanations of the phases of drug development are nicely put in layperson's terms. The pressure on small companies to produce (or perish) is quite real and was nicely depicted in terms of the unfortunate tendency of a few to cut corners to generate results." Victor S., reader Judy Kroll worked for over twenty years in large and small corporations, including four years in the pharmaceutical industry, as a human resources professional and later as a career counselor. She provided job search assistance to hundreds of individuals, including physicians, pharmacists, medical device developers, chemists, and other scientists impacted by mergers and downsizings. She is a practicing yogi (twenty-three years.) Both corporate experiences as well as many years 'on the mat' inspired her book, Breakthrough. Specifically, in both of these very disparate worlds, she observed the same phenomenon: the devastation wrought when a much-respected boss or mentor turns out to be unethical, and one must find a new path forward, seemingly alone.She lives in northern New Jersey, and in addition to writing, gardening, and practicing yoga, Judy co-chairs a not-for-profit conservation organization.