Nora Janjan
She knows the science, the policy,
and the clearance levels because she lived them.
Dr. Nora Janjan is a veteran of medicine, federal health policy, and national security, and only she could so skillfully bring you into her world. Coincidences pulls back the curtain on the closed-door corridors where institutional power, clinical precision, and state defense collide. This powerhouse debut novel is currently on submission to literary agents, and well worth the wait.
“International espionage thrillers are having a real moment in the market, and Coincidences will do well in a crowded space.”
“Could sit next to much of Nicholas Shakespeare’s work in any good book shop.”
“An espionage thriller with thoughtful twists and powerful characters.”
“The novel’s rich themes, mixed with its vibrant setting, could help it find attention from critics and create word of mouth.”
200
Peer-reviewed articles
60
Medical textbook chapters
20
Years as Vice-Chair, MD Anderson IRB
I–IV
Clinical trial phases conducted and audited
Nora Janjan on Coincidences
How three decades inside medicine, policy and national security became a novel.
Coincidences
A novel about deception and trust — in medicine, in intelligence, and in the heart.
Dr. Elsa Hermann has built a luminous career at the Texas Medical Center, far from the Stasi prison cell where her parents once refused to break. Their continued work with the CIA and in nuclear research went with them to their graves. She doesn't know that the Brazilian billionaire she just cured of cancer is being watched — or that the urbane chief legal officer at his side, Kurt von Reibnitz, was placed there by Langley, with orders that did not include falling for her.
From the research towers of Houston to a genetics laboratory in São Paulo large enough to rewrite the human genome, Coincidences follows a hunt for something the world has been quietly dreading: the next engineered pandemic, and a modern echo of the Lebensborn project buried inside a biobank.
What Elsa understands as a scientist, Kurt pieces together from contracts and whispered conversations — and what they uncover nearly gets them killed. Extracted to Langley and separated by an order from the highest levels of the Agency, Elsa is steered toward a different life: marriage to Jim Hartfield, a fifth-generation Texan, Naval Academy and Harvard Law, soon to be U.S. Ambassador to Spain. A good man. An arranged peace. And on the other side of the Atlantic, a decorated operative who has forgiven no one — not Dan Campbell, not Hartfield, and not the word coincidence.
For readers who love the tradecraft of John le Carré and Mick Herron, the international sweep of Nicholas Shakespeare, the medical stakes of Robin Cook — and a love story that refuses to stay buried.
Debut Novel · On Submission to Literary Agents
“An espionage thriller with thoughtful twists and powerful characters.”
“Pulls the reader into a hidden and terrifying world of international intelligence and the billionaire class.”
“The setting is compelling and unique, diving the reader directly into the ever-enticing world of the hyper-wealthy.”
“The romance aspect of the novel is very well done, with an obvious charge and intrigue early on.”
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Where medicine, business and national security meet
Recently completed, Coincidences shows how contemporary medical, corporate and diplomatic issues intertwine. Revealing how many within medicine and business are unaware of what their work — and their collegial interactions — mean for national security, the novel offers rare insight into how academic medical research, the intelligence services, and international diplomacy are woven together.
Even before its acceptance for publication, the novel has drawn strong interest from book clubs and readers across the country.
Houston
The medical center, and a cure that draws the wrong attention.
São Paulo
A laboratory built to rewrite a genome, and a biobank with a past.
London
Contracts, couriers, and the conversations nobody writes down.
Langley
An extraction, and an order from the highest levels of the Agency.
Madrid
An arranged peace — and an operative who has forgiven no one.
Free download
The first two chapters
Elsa's world of intrigue, romance and danger — the opening chapters, as a PDF.
Early praise for Coincidences
“International espionage thrillers are having a real moment in the market, and Coincidences will do well in a crowded space.”
“Could sit next to much of Nicholas Shakespeare’s work in any good book shop.”
“Reminiscent of The Sandpit by Nicholas Shakespeare in both theme and tone.”
“Mick Herron’s work feels like an inspiration here, too.”
“Its use of genre-mashup could position it well in a market that is currently driven by romance.”
“The novel could find a home at a Big Five publisher.”
“The novel’s rich themes, mixed with its vibrant setting, could help it find attention from critics and create word of mouth.”
“Genuine interest in the way the story connects scientific discovery with espionage, international intrigue, and complicated relationships.”
“This book reads so well and drew me in. I found the characters authentic, solid and well presented.”
“Well balanced and positioned to be a very marketable book with potential for sequels and film.”
Book two is nearly complete
Same characters, a new continent, and a reckoning that has been waiting since Langley. Join the mailing list to be the first to know when it's available.
“The story doesn't end in Madrid.”
13,000+
Book club members have already extended invitations
Before a publisher has even been named, reading groups across the country have asked to discuss Coincidences. Nora welcomes invitations to join the conversation, in person or virtually.
Thank you for the invitation.
Nora will be in touch about dates and format.
A novelist built from thirty years of medicine and policy
Academic
Tenured Professor of Radiation Oncology and Symptom Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; almost two decades as Vice-Chair of its Institutional Review Board.
International
Throughout her medical career, Dr. Janjan was privileged to have broad international experience, treating patients from around the globe.
Federal
Appointments to the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee and the National Cancer Institute's Central IRB, which reviews every national cooperative group trial in the country.
Cleared
Held a security clearance; consulted for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and was sent to Vienna to draft a technology document for the International Atomic Energy Agency — the kind of assignment that quietly informs every page of the novel.
Guidelines
Authored clinical practice guidelines for AHRQ, ASCO, the NCCN, the National Quality Forum, ASTRO, the American College of Radiology and ICER. Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Radiology, ASTRO and ASCO.
On the page
Nearly 200 peer-reviewed articles, editorial roles at multiple medical journals, and more than 60 textbook chapters. Medical and literary publishing are different crafts — they share the same unforgiving standard for what succeeds.
Texas ranch living
For more than twenty years, Dr. Janjan and her late husband lived on a ranch outside Houston, raising Brangus cattle, goats and chickens alongside more than 25 Straight Egyptian Arabian horses trained at top stables across the country.
A Texas Aggie, in the Corps of Cadets, her husband was commissioned into Army Intelligence and served in Turkey; he later sat on the Houston METRO Board of Directors and built oil services companies whose work reached the Panama Canal. Together they were Lifetime Members of the International Committee of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the largest in the world.
Their ranch, within driving distance of Houston and College Station, became a gathering place — from a formal dinner for twelve international dignitaries to “Texas ranch living” for more than 150 Texas A&M international students, and the wedding of one of Dr. Janjan's MD Anderson clinical fellows, with over 200 guests.
One of the happiest days
Among many memorable occasions, Dr. Janjan and her husband had local cowboys bring a 13-year-old Turkish patient from the Ronald McDonald House in a truck for a fabulous day at the ranch. Calling it one of the happiest days of his life, he rode the tractor and golf cart to see the livestock, and ate BBQ before returning home to Turkey. More than a decade later, and cancer-free, he shared his wedding photos with Dr. Janjan.
That was one of the happiest days of Dr. Janjan's life.
Readers, press, collaboration
All inquiries are handled with care and professionalism. Nora reads every message. Agents may request the query and synopsis here.
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