Fatal

Rating:
Summary: up all night
Review: First Palmer book I've read, certainly will not be the last.
FATAL is wonderful, great characters, involved but comprehensive
plot. Dialects well done and humerous to those of us who love West(by God)Virginia. I kind'a see George Clooney as Doc Rutledge. I personally know there are a lot of cool doctors in West Virginia.

Rating:
Summary: The Author of Unusual Destiny Says...
Review: From M.D. Michael Palmer, a triple dose of terror!

Virginia emergency room doctor Matt Rutledge is convinced the Belinda Cole and Coke mining company is responsible for poisoning his patients. With a little help from some endearingly quirky friends, he sets out to prove it and is shortly dodging bullets.

Boston coroner, Nicki Solari loses her best friend to a bizarre illness and a speeding car. After leaving specific post-autopsy testing instructions, Nicki easily finds her way to Belinda for the funeral, but gets a deadly surprise when she attempts to leave.

A retired Maryland teacher turned child immunization advisor, Ellen Kroft has grave doubts about the safety of a new super vaccine, but before she can testify, she finds herself in front of a goon with an automatic and an unacceptable agenda. Terrified for herself and her family, she follows the trail of the gunman and ends up in -- ready? -- Belinda, Virginia.

What could these three diverse individuals, pursuing three different sets of circumstances, for three wildly varying reasons possibly have in common? The answer comes in a most memorable end convergence that could cost all three their lives.

Michael Palmer has crafted this complex, heart-palpitating mystery with a surgical precision that leaves his readers breathless. Bring on the crash cart!

Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: from the stunningly gorgeous cover to the 'scarlet tanager' preceding the final full stop, the book was so entertaining and gripping..

if you are looking for suspense.. it is FATAL
if you are looking for education.. it is FATAL
if you are looking for a novel with a great message.. it is FATAL
if you are looking for a novel with wonderful simplified surgical techniques.. it is FATAL

the story builds up with stunning steadiness.. three neatly interwoven stories are getting knotted together in a wonderful smooth way that never blurrs your focus...

in short.. it is a fatal mistake that you miss FATAL..
well done, dr.michael, and waiting for the eleventh..

Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 stars
Review: I always enjoy reading a Michael Palmer novel because it always seems to combine controversial medical topics, along with thrills that will please all suspense fans.

Matt Rutledge is a small town doctor in Belinda, WV. He believes the local mining company is causing illness and death (such as his wife's and father's), and is looking real hard for the reason to get the mine shut down. Not a real popular idea amongst the folks in town.
Ellen Kroft is a retired school teacher who believes that a new vaccine that's being introduced nationwide (endorsed by the First Lady) is deadly.
Nikki Solari, a coroner from Massachusetts, is in the town of Belinda to attend her best friend's funeral, when an attempt is made on her life. It seems she might have received some suspicious information about her best friend's death, and somebody wants that information real bad.

As these individuals come together in the story, you get a very exciting and suspenseful novel that should put Palmer on the top of his genre (I think he's already on the top). Lassa fever, Prion diseases and possible problems with vaccinations are just a few of the interesting topics covered. You'll enjoy many of the characters as well. I got a kick out of the dialogue with the mountain men.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: slow starter but picks up halfway through
Review: I am a big palmer fan, but it took me forever to get through the first half of this book. I must have had alot of other things to do during the first half of the book (ie. cook, eat, and sleep), but it picks up nicely during the seconds half. Getting there was not easy, but the second half of the book makes the journey worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Not Bad!
Review: I will admit it took me more than a few chapters to get interested, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading. I've read all of Mr Palmer's medical suspense novels, and eventhough I think he's done better, I still enjoyed. I thought the ending, while interesting, fell a little flat. I think I enjoyed the camaraderie between Matt and the Slocumbs almost as much as anything else. All in all an enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: not the best thriller ever
Review: It's not a masterpiece but it makes you reading this to the end. What prevented me from giving this four stars is the singlemindness of the author in regards to the very complicated problem of vaccines and his obvious antipathy towards corporations. It's too black an white. Other than that it's well done medical thriller.

Rating:
Summary: A story of terrifying consequences.
Review: Matt Rutledge, an internist and emergency specialist at a small West Virginia hospital, notices a recurrence of people being admitted with horrifying symptoms--an Elephant-Man -like condition which produces large lumps all over the head and body, accompanied by a gradual descent into paranoia. As Matts wife had died of a rare form of cancer,he becomes convinced that the local mining company, Belinda Coke and Coal, is somehow connected throuh its output of toxic waste from the mine.
A Boston pathologist, Dr.Nikki Solari, attends the funeral of her musician friend Kathy who was born in Belinda, and showed all the symptons of chemical poisoning. She is kidnapped after the funeral by the Sheriff of Belinda,and is rescued by Matt Rutledge. Many other very interesting characters are introduced in this gripping tale of greed, murder and medical mystery and will revive the for and against arguments about vaccination.A terrifically fast paced book and a wonderful read.

Rating:
Summary: Great Medical Drama
Review: Michael Palmer hit a home run with "Fatal." The medical suspense thriller takes the reader on a winding journey full of intruige.

Matt Rutledge, a young West Virgina doctor, is dead set on proving that BC&C (the local mine and largest employer) is contaminating surrounding neighborhoods with various toxins, which are in turn leading to premature deaths via cancer and other assorted diseases.

At the same time, Nikki Solari, a Boston medical examiner, finds her closest friend on the verge of insanity. About the same time that strange bumps begin appearing on her face, Kathy (her longtime friend and roomate) begins to lose her mind.

On a totally different scale, Ellen Kroft finds herself the dissenting voice on a panel of experts about to unleash the First Lady's prized vaccine on the US population.

All three characters are on a collision course, that much is sure. What Palmer is quite adept at is holding the reader at bay until the last possible moment. Finally, it becomes apparent what they are all fixed on the same mission as the converge upon Belinda, West Virginia.

The ending is somewhat of a dissapointment for those who love the classic good vs. evil endings where good ultimately triumphs. To be sure, it does triumph, but not perhaps on the scale the average reader would desire. However, Palmer is the expert at medical intrigue and its a great read (and medical education).

Rating:
Summary: A fun fast read
Review: Michael Palmer is a best-selling writer of medical thrillers. In this, his latest work, Dr. Michael Rutledge of Belinda, West Virginia has returned home following the death of his wife and father. He is convinced the toxic waste of the local mining company is responsible and wants to prove it. Going against the local powers can prove to be quite dangerous. Meanwhile, pathologist, Nicki Solari, is looking into the death of a friend of hers who died of an unusual illness. She travels to Belinda, her friend's hometown to seek answers. Nicki eventually meets Michael and they realize they might have a common goal.
In another plot line, Ellen Kroft questions the safety of a new super vaccine. Her fear is that it has not been adequately tested and the risk to life is very real. Ellen sits on a committee evaluating the vaccine. After an unwelcome visitor threatens her child, Ellen tries to get to the bottom of the threat. The path, once again, leads to Belinda, West Virginia. Eventually, Michael, Nicki and Ellen join forces to fight a common, yet, dangerous, enemy.
FATAL is a fun, fast reading novel which questions the underlying motivation of getting vaccines on the market. What is especially impressive about this work is that ,in spite of having a strong agenda, the author manages to never wane from telling an exciting tale. Of course, there are some stereotypic characters present given that it takes place in the backwoods of West Virginia, however, overall they are a believable bunch. Michael Palmer fully understands what makes a thriller successful as is evidenced here.