Descrição da editora
In this exhilarating new medical thriller by bestselling author Robin Cook, fan favorites Jack and Laurie are lured into the dark underbelly of hospital dangers when an internist dies mysteriously.
Colleagues-turned-spouses Dr. Laurie Montgomery and Dr. Jack Stapleton already have their plates full with demanding forensic pathology work and family pressures. The last thing they need is the sudden death of a colleague. Yet when Laurie’s apparently vital and healthy longtime friend Dr. Sue Passero dies mysteriously in the hopsital parking garage, an autopsy is required, and it falls uncomfortably under Laurie’s purview as the chief medical examiner. So when Laurie asks Jack to take special care with the case, he can hardly refuse.
With his curiosity sparked by an inconclusive autopsy, the indefatigable Jack is compelled to resolve the case at hand, and sets out to investigate on-site at Manhattan Memorial Hospital, even though it means blatantly defying the Office of Chief Medical Examiner’s rules. What started out as an inquiry into Sue’s tragic passing soon turns into a deadly and dangerous chess game between Jack and the clever and deranged killer, who might just administer another lethal blow if Jack isn’t careful.
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In the opening chapter of bestseller Cook's so-so 12th medical thriller featuring married physicians Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery (after 2019's Genesis), an unidentified attacker kills internist Susan Passero in her car at the Manhattan Memorial Hospital parking garage by injection. That eliminates any doubt as to whether Susan was murdered, thus making New York City medical examiner Jack's efforts to determine the cause of death unsuspenseful. Susan was Laurie's doctor and her "oldest and closest friend," so when Jack learns of Susan's death, he's determined to discover what caused an apparent fatal sudden cardiac event. His digging reveals a possible motive for murder: Susan had been examining the criteria her hospital's Mortality and Morbidity Committee had been using to select cases to review. His inquiry, aided by Laurie, who happens to be his boss as the chief medical examiner, follows predictable lines, including a contrived denouement. Given that Cook has spent multiple books trying to establish his leads' devoted relationship, Jack's telling Laurie "your dear friend Sue Passero is downstairs in the cooler needing to be autopsied" may strike readers as a tad callous. Even series fans may be disappointed.
