Critical

June 11, 2007
Last seen in 2006's Crisis
, New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery diligently investigates an abrupt rise in infection deaths at the start of bestseller Cook's lively new thriller. All the deaths can be traced to three Manhattan hospitals owned by Angels Healthcare. Unbeknownst to Montgomery, Angels, which specializes in high-profit surgeries of amply insured patients, is on the verge of going public and can't risk any bad publicity. She's also unaware that Angels' main financial backer is a local Mafia don, who's prepared to kill anyone standing in the way of his investment. Cook smoothly juggles several subplots—one involving Montgomery's husband and fellow coroner, Jack Stapleton, who's suffered a serious knee injury playing basketball—and ekes out maximum value from one of his regular standbys, bumbling hoods. It all adds up to an entertaining mix of suspense, action and education about medical issues.

July 1, 2007
What do you have when you combine husband-and-wife NYC medical examiners, a very nasty strain of staph infection, two sets of assassins, and a physician-owned chain of specialty hospitals on the verge of a public stock offering? What else but the 27th novel by the father of the medical thriller? As in "Crisis" and "Seizure", Drs. Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery put their forensic skills to work as they attempt to unravel a puzzling medical crisis. A number of patients at Angels Healthcare's three specialty facilities have died suddenly from a virulent strain of staph. Meanwhile, two employees of the firm have been murdered as a crime family tries to protect its investment in the chain. Can events get more frantic? Yes! Operating behind the scenes is a vast conspiracy. Once again, Cook combines many standard elements of the genre: individual crusading physicians, a disease threat, large and intimidating public and private health institutions, plenty of jargon, and criminal conspiracies. Although not a master stylist, Cook does create enough interest in the characters and the story lines to keep readers interested. Recommended where Cook and medical thrillers are popular. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 4/1/07.]A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham Lib.

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