Fatal Cure
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A terrifying look at the darker implications of managed health care in America, from the “master of the medical thriller” (The New York Times)
“A riveting plot, filled with action.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune
Doctors Angela and David Wilson believe they have found personal and professional bliss when they opt to leave the university medical center for Bartlet Community Hospital, a modern, state-of-the-art medical facility in scenic Vermont. Bartlet seems to be a dream come true: a town with green lawns and crystal lakes that is an ideal haven from urban crime and pollution; a chance for a home of their own and a resurgence of romance in their relationship; a perfect environment for their eight-year-old daughter, Nikki, who suffers from cystic fibrosis; and the opportunity to work within an enlightened system of “managed care.”
But all is not what it seems. Gradually at first and then at a quickening pace, the Wilsons’ earthly Nirvana disintegrates—and day by day, their patients begin to die. Fighting for their careers as well as for the very survival of their family, Angela and David must conquer the evil that confronts each of them before they are consumed by the horror.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
If Cook's skills as a writer were as finely tuned as his sense of timing, his 14th medical thriller (after Terminal ) would be a lot more rewarding. Current political events guarantee that a suspense novel centering on health care management will be topical and at least potentially fascinating. Unfortunately, stock characters, stilted dialogue and improbable heroes and villains make for difficult reading here. Idealistic young doctors David and Angela Wilson take positions at a state-of-the-art medical center in a small Vermont town partly because they see it as an ideal spot for their daughter, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. But the town is not as idyllic as it seems, and the hospital is in a desperate financial bind due primarily to its contract with a local HMO, David's new employer. Worse still, patients are dying unexpectedly almost daily, and no one seems to care very much. The deaths are not normal, of course, and astute readers will quickly determine who is behind them, why and--most likely--how. Cook raises troubling questions about the conflicts between medical and financial priorities in managed care (albeit in a somewhat distorted fashion), but it's difficult to get emotionally involved in a scenario as improbable as this one. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; Mystery Guild alternate; Reader's Digest Condensed Book.
