Reincarnation is the fifth novel in the CIA series that continues the story of former CIA clandestine operator Woody Stressel and the beautiful KGB agent Ava Volkov. With CIA help, the two protagonists have once again been reincarnated, this time as young medical doctors in training. Six years have elapsed since the now-married couple escaped from Mexico and a planned horrible death by members of a Chicago mafia. The woman, Kinzie Reichert, is a pediatric oncology fellow, and her husband, Ben Reichert, is a general surgery resident. Their goal to live quietly and anonymously is disrupted when the couple's young daughter is attacked by a rude, ten-year-old bully at the park. This forces Kinzie to resort to her KGB training to disable the boy's threatening father with a well-placed kick to his anatomical nether regions and a followup head smash. The father, Gregor Ivanovich, is a powerful Russian criminal lawyer and vows deadly vengeance.
As the story evolves, a number of unexpected deaths of wealthy people occur, with surprisingly rapid autopsies by the medical examiner. His denier raises questions about the fraudulent death reports and becomes the victim of a mysterious fall from the tenth floor of the hospital tower. Ben and Kinzie befriend a nerdy MD/PhD pathologist who is working with a new Russian compound that initially seems to cure childhood leukemia, but causes rupture of the ascending aorta four weeks later with a horrible and painful death. The three new friends are suspicious that the dead people may have been surreptitiously fed the compound as part of an ingenious murder-for-hire operation involving the medical examiner, as well as the Russian lawyer.
The plot becomes ever more compelling when Ben and Kinzie meet an old friend at a wake at a shady funeral home on the outskirts of town. This old friend brings added fire power to help protect the doctors from hired killers. Interest mounts as unusual new characters appear and become caught up in the web of dangerous intrigue. The denouement of the story is utterly unpredictable and will leave readers guessing until the final chapter.
