The Perfect Predator, Steffanie Strathdee
The Perfect Predator, Steffanie Strathdee
3 Rating(s)
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
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The Perfect Predator
A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir

Author: Steffanie Strathdee, Thomas Patterson, Teresa Barker

Narrator: Christine Lakin, Dan Woren

Unabridged: 11 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/26/2019

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

An electrifying memoir of one woman's extraordinary effort to save her husband's life-and the discovery of a forgotten cure that has the potential to save millions more.
"A memoir that reads like a thriller." -New York Times Book Review

"A fascinating and terrifying peek into the devastating outcomes of antibiotic misuse-and what happens when standard health care falls short." -Scientific American

Epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee and her husband, psychologist Tom Patterson, were vacationing in Egypt when Tom came down with a stomach bug. What at first seemed like a case of food poisoning quickly turned critical, and by the time Tom had been transferred via emergency medevac to the world-class medical center at UC San Diego, where both he and Steffanie worked, blood work revealed why modern medicine was failing: Tom was fighting one of the most dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the world.

Frantic, Steffanie combed through research old and new and came across phage therapy: the idea that the right virus, aka "the perfect predator," can kill even the most lethal bacteria. Phage treatment had fallen out of favor almost 100 years ago, after antibiotic use went mainstream. Now, with time running out, Steffanie appealed to phage researchers all over the world for help. She found allies at the FDA, researchers from Texas A&M, and a clandestine Navy biomedical center -- and together they resurrected a forgotten cure.

A nail-biting medical mystery, The Perfect Predator is a story of love and survival against all odds, and the (re)discovery of a powerful new weapon in the global superbug crisis.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Clif on March 19, 2019

A compelling medical mystery turned thriller race against time and death—this memoir is even more than that. It's an emotional journey with the author as she tells of her frantic efforts to save her husband's life by finding the "perfect predator" capable of knocking out "the worst bacteria on the p......more

Goodreads review by Heather on December 09, 2018

Having lived through part of this harrowing journey because the authors are my daughter and son in law, I found this book truly inspirational and a real tear jerker. Although I knew the whole story, I still couldn’t put it down!......more

Goodreads review by Steffanie on March 02, 2019

As an author of this book, I won't leave a review, but am posting the review my Dad gave after he read the first draft, shortly before he died. Having gone through Tom's hospital ordeal gave me the courage to hold my Dad in my arms as he died. -Steff "Bravo, Steff and Tom! I knew the whole story of c......more

Goodreads review by Johann (jobis89) on October 05, 2021

This was inspiring and emotional and tense and I thought it was fantastic. 4.5 stars.......more

Goodreads review by Zulfiya on June 06, 2019

On a personal level, it is one of the most conflicted reviews I am posting. Let me first elaborate the positive aspects of my reading experience. 1. The book flows, and it flows well, and all the parts in it are in the right places, and nothing is excessive in the book, and chapters do not drag. 2.......more


Quotes

Amazon, "Best Books of 2019 (Science)"
Goodreads Choice Awards, Semifinalist (Science & Technology)

STAT News, "Best Health and Science Books to Read This Summer"
Audie Awards, "Nonfiction" Finalist (2020)

"A fascinating and terrifying peek into the devastating outcomes of antibiotic misuse -- and what happens when standard health care falls short."—Scientific American

"[A] gripping and intriguing medical thriller...This page-turner of a couple's determination to survive also serves as a dire warning regarding the consequences of the overuse of antibiotics."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A thriller, a detective story, and at its core a profound romance, The Perfect Predator is [a] breathtaking story.... It's a warning of the havoc that awaits us as antibiotics lose their power, and a glimpse of the science that could hold that dark future at bay - if we can summon the funding and the political will to create it."—Maryn McKenna, Senior Fellow of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University and author of Big Chicken and Superbug

"At once terrifying and inspiring, The Perfect Predator is a brilliant race-against-the-clock medical thriller that is also a celebration of love, commitment, and the power of scientific collaboration."—Steven Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and The Ghost Map

"A remarkable story of love, resilience, the science of discovery, and quite possibly the future of medicine."—Richard Horton, FRCP, FMedSci, Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet

"One of the single most compelling personal stories we've ever heard."—Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, authors of The Essential Guide to Getting yourBook Published

"A real-life medical thriller...fast paced [and] the writing is always infused with humor, hope, and intelligence, and the couple's remarkable story is grounded in real-life details that bring readers directly into their world. Dark, surreal poetic."—Kirkus Reviews

"The Perfect Predator is a compelling and heart-wrenching medical drama that would be completely unbelievable - if it weren't 100% true! Strathdee and Patterson masterfully weave together the personal, medical, and scientific strands of their battle against one of the world's worst superbugs, bringing not just Patterson, but a century-old medical technology back from the brink of death. This first-hand account of the front lines of the battle against the scourge of antimicrobial resistance underscores the human cost underlying the bland statistics."—Rob Knight, PhD, Director, Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California San Diego and author of Follow Your Gut and Dirt Is Good

"[A] riveting tale...The saga reads like a thriller....Remarkable passages from Patterson [describe] how he interpreted events through veils of feverish delirium, pain-killer fog, and coma."—Laurie Garrett, The Lancet