



Isolation Ward
A Novel of Medical Suspense
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4.1 • 14 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Straight out of today’s hospitals and labs–and tomorrow’s headlines–comes a frightening, scalpel-sharp thriller from medical insider Joshua Spanogle. In an astounding debut, Spanogle takes us on an all-too-real race against time…as a young doctor enters the dark side of scientific research, desperate to stop a terrifying epidemic before it is too late….
In Baltimore’s St. Raphael’s Hospital, three newly admitted patients are among society’s most helpless citizens: female residents of Baltimore’s group homes for the mentally impaired, their bodies racked by a virus the likes of which no one at St. Raphael’s has ever seen.
Dr. Nathaniel McCormick is one of the first on the scene. A young investigator from the Centers for Disease Control, Nate is paid to explore the bizarre, the exotic, and the baffling–from superviruses to bioterrorism. But as soon as Nate begins to investigate the lives and habits of the victims, he knows something is terribly wrong. Using all his skills as a medical detective, Nate soon zeroes in on the “vector”–the one person who had sexual contact with the first victims. And when that suspect is found murdered, Nate fears that the disease he’s chasing may not be an act of nature, but of man.
With his brash style angering his superiors and fellow investigators alike, Nate turns to an old colleague and former lover, Dr. Brooke Michaels, for help. Together the two investigators follow a twisting trail of clues to a discovery that is at once groundbreaking and unspeakable. And as a circle of treachery tightens around him, Nate is about to confront the most chilling revelation of all–and a past Nate himself has been trying to escape.
At once a taut medical thriller and a riveting psychological portrait of a young doctor on the edge, Isolation Ward is a tale of runaway tension–with a brilliant “what-if” premise that is harrowing…heartbreaking…and impossible to wrench from your imagination.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Young and brash Dr. Nathaniel McCormick, a maverick investigator for the Centers for Disease Control, leads listeners through Spanogle's fever-paced debut novel. Rummel lends a vocal mixture of na ve exuberance and postgrad snarkiness to the action- and technology-packed adventure. A ghastly, impossible-to-diagnose or combat viral outbreak at a Maryland hospital (perhaps too lovingly described in all its flesh-peeling details) sends Nate rushing off in a reckless search for the source of the virus. The journey takes listeners deep into Robin Cook misuse-of-science country, traveling in the company of a couple of stunning beauties one naughty, one nice and a villain sadistic enough to make James Bond's nemeses seem merely playful. With the witty repartee, relentless action, stomach churning violence and mind-melting techno-lingo, it's something of a surprise to discover that Spanogle has also written an oddly affecting coming-of-age novel. Rummel displays a fair amount of versatility, capturing tender moment as efficiently as he handles the less credible confrontations: namely sequences of profound physical abuse from which Nate recovers with jaw-dropping speed. Ah, to be young, romantic, heroic and a fast healer. Simultaneous release with the Delacorte hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 2).
Customer Reviews
Isolation Ward
A super medical mystery in the mode of Robin Cooke w/a Mickey Spilane flare. I enjoyed how close to possible reality the plot skated. Also loved the "warts & all" MC.