THE SIXTH COW: A Novel

After his father succumbs to cancer, medical researcher Sloan O'Hara is determined to find a cure for the disease. He doesn't expect his wife, Ally, to become his research partner, or to be caught up in a world of greed and politics. As their research begins to show promise, outside pressures intensify, and to make matters worse, Ally learns she has a malignant melanoma, as well as being pregnant with their first child. Ally is told that she must have an abortion, followed by chemotherapy and radiation, if she expects to live. Refusing to consider their advice, she is told she might live long enough to deliver, but will undoubtedly face certain death soon after childbirth. This moral and emotional dilemma forces Ally to seek an alternative route, and she begins to pressure her husband into applying his unproven animal research to her.