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Summary: Save the Killer, or Not, That is the Question
Review: Dr. Jessie Copeland, a gifted and respected neurosurgeon at one of Boston's leading hospitals, is dedicated to her work and to her patients, she is also at the forefront of developing a ground breaking technique that will revolutionize brain surgery.Claude Malloche is suffeirng from a brain tumor and wants Jesse to treat him with her new technique, but he's a ruthless killer. Jessie faces a serious dilemma, if she saves him, he'll undoubtedly go on to kill again. To ensure that Jessie do her level best, Malloche holds both the hospital and the city to ransom. If Jessie fails, hundreds of innocent people will die. Michael Palmer has written another pulse pounding medical thriller that drips with excitement, one you won't want to miss. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
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Summary: Always a good read
Review: I always enjoy Michael Palmer's books. They always provide a lot of information on cutting edge medical procedures. The only problem I had with this book was the abrupt ending.
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Summary: A Medical Thriller...
Review: Michael Palmer is an M.D. that also happens to be a very good writter of suspense stories. And this is one of them. With the daily advances in medical research, the procedures in this book are not far off. But even more important. This book is a fun and fast read. you will be turning the pages to see what happens next. If you like suspense, read it. This medical thriller has a good plot that will keep you guessing. You will following the quest of an CIA agent who is after a villanius killer with single minded determination of a pit bull. And at the same time this killer is trying to find the best neurosurgen to remove a head turmor he knows has developed. The story really becomes engrossing as the killer choses his Doctor....
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Summary: Possibly Palmer's Best?
Review: Palmer's latest medical thriller conforms to all the classic sound-bites of book-cover blurb "a real page-turner" "unputdownable" "edge-of-the-seat" etc. Palmer knows how to thrill and uses his talent to great effect. I would argue that his prose is in a different (superior) league to Cook's, and his plots are more convincing. This book introduces a plot revolving around that most glamourous of medical specialties, neurosurgery. And of course this offers us the greatest opportunities for things to go wrong. The bit where the doctor lost control of the micro-surgery robot and... well, I won't spoil it for you... but suffice to say, the suspense is palpable. Palmer judges his medical details just right. Attempts at medical legitimacy such as "A slow-growing subfrontal meningioma with some extension..." may seem intimidating, but are no more so than an average episode of ER. How feasible is the idea of a micro-robot operating with simultaneous MRI imaging? Well, in retrospect, Crichton's oldest books that would have seemed like impossible sci-fi at the time, but they now look decidedly dated in comparison to the leaps and bound made by 21st century science fact. Overall the details fail to detract from the engaging plot and rather, they add to it. The book tries to be more than "merely" this rip-roaring thriller, and raises the ethical question "Do you save the life of a ruthless man who, if cured, will go on to kill and kill again?" We know what the "correct" answer is: everyone should be treated equally by the medical profession (especially if someone happens to be holding a gun to your head at the time and has threatened to nuke the city with deadly nerve gas). There is a further ethical conundrum: throughout the book the heroine (a neurosurgical registrar) has to deal with the fear that her boss is not competent at complex surgery. The story never deals with this problem adequately, and this is the only sense in which this book lets the reader down. In conclusion, the book is a great one, with a few minor flaws that barely blemish this stunning read.
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Summary: lacking in character
Review: The characters lack credibility and substance. Another example of an author substituting technical knowledge in the medical field for good writing.
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Summary: An Outstanding Medical Thriller
Review: This electrifying medical thriller is brilliantly written and doesn't let up until the final page. Michael Palmer combines cutting-edge medical technology with international intrigue and throws in a side order of blind ambition to create a fascinating and suspense filled tale. This is probably the best medical thriller I've ever read. The technology was plausible and the scientific explanations seemed well informed. The characters are interesting and well developed. Dr. Carl Gilbride's insatiable egomania as head of the Eastern Mass Medical Center puts patients at risk by pushing the use of the ARTIE technology before it is ready. His imprudence and haughtiness makes it that much easier to love Dr. Jesse Copeland, his dedicated protégée who is far more accomplished as a brain surgeon than her boss is. International terrorist Claude Malloche and his wife are ruthless and wicked beyond description; heightening the uncertainty as to the mayhem they will wreak to further their desperate ends. The plot twists, turns and races at breakneck speed against an incessantly ticking clock providing a white-knuckle ride and unbearable suspense. I rate this book a 10/10. It has been a long time since I have been so engrossed in a story. Don't plan to get much sleep until you finish it.
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Summary: page turner all the way
Review: This is the first time I'm reading anything by Michael Palmer, and I must say how impressed I am. The first chapter neatly introduces the plot and the way it ends, catching the reader by surprise, sets the tone for the whole book. It gets better and more suspenseful halfway through, and you'll be flying through the final chapters, heart thumping wildly in anticipation of the climax. Characterisation was average but sufficient, and though the action almost never leaves the hospital setting, you will never get bored.
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Summary: Another fine, suspenseful Palmer / innovative surgical plot
Review: We have enjoyed all of Palmer's previous medical thrillers, and quickly got hooked on this recent one featuring micro-robotic neurosurgery as a not too impossible current/future development in medicine. After a noted nuerosurgeon gets bumped off in the prologue, we are introduced to Boston doctors Jessie Copeland and her boss, Carl Gilbride, who are perfecting a tiny robot that has been engineered to perform brain surgery on malignant tumors. When a mysterious foreign criminal, Claude Malloche, needs such surgery, he soon takes hostage the entire hospital, and to an extent, the city of Boston, so that the surgeons will be forced to use this experimental technique to save his life. Can these docs and Alex Bishop, an FBI type whose brother was killed by Malloche, save the day, the hospital, and the city? To us, Palmer can take a plausible premise and extend it into a suspenseful story with aplomb. His characters are well drawn and his plots are just reasonable enough to avoid the far-fetched bin. Even if the ending is a bit predictable, it's fun getting there. We highly recommend this author and this entertaining story.
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Summary: A Thrilling Thriller
Review: While a bit far-fetched, this medical thriller was enough to put this reader on the edge of her seat many times. The plot took many twists and turns, from wondering who REALLY was the bad guy to wondering how the good guys were ever going to solve the mystery and get out alive. The ending was a bit predictable-which makes me think that I have read too many books like this. Alex Bishop, a CIA agent operating on his own, wants to settle a personal score with Claude Malloche, an international terrorist/murderer who is a master of disguise but who also has an inoperable brain tumor. Dr.Jessie Copeland is in the final stages of perfecting the use of a miniscule robot that will change brain surgery forever and allow formerly inoperable tumors to be excised. To ensure Jessie's co-operation and to force her to use the untested robot to remove his tumor, Malloche literally holds all of Boston hostage, threatening patients in the hospital and the entire city with the release of a deadly toxin into the air. Of course, in light of what happened here on September 11th, the threats in this book, seemed mild in comparison. Nevertheless, physician-writer Palmer manages to imbue his stories with enough legitimate medical lore to make them fairly believable.
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Summary: Amazing Book!
Review: While I think this book was a little advanced for it's time, I don't think it's too far off. The book itself had a believable plot and strong characters. Although it's not one of his best books, it is a good read.
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