Fatal, Michael Palmer
Fatal, Michael Palmer
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Fatal

Author: Michael Palmer

Narrator: Michael Kramer

Unabridged: 13 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/27/2002


Synopsis

From The Sisterhood, Michael Palmer's first New York Times bestseller, to The Patient, his ninth, reviewers have proclaimed him a master of medical suspense. Recognized around the world for original, topical, nail-biting suspense, emergency physician Palmer'swork has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Now he reaches controversial and startling new heights in a terrifying tale of cutting-edge microbiology, unbridled greed, and murder, where either knowing too little or trusting too much can be FATAL.

In Chicago, a pregnant cafeteria worker suffering nothing more malevolent than flulike symptoms begins hemorrhaging from every part of her body. In Boston, a brilliant musician, her face disfigured by an unknown disease, rapidly descends into a lethal paranoia. In Belinda, West Virginia, a miner suddenly goes berserk, causing a cave-in that kills two of his co-workers. Finding the link between these events could prove FATAL.

Five years ago, internist and emergency specialist Matt Rutledge returned to his West Virginia home to marry his high-school sweetheart and open a practice. He also had a score to settle. His father died while working for the Belinda Coal and Coke Company, and Matt swore to expose the mine’s health and safety violations.

When his beloved Ginny succumbed to an unusual cancer, his campaign became even more bitterly personal. Now Matt has identified two bizarre cases of what he has dubbed the Belinda Syndrome--caused, he is certain, by the mine’s careless disposal of toxic chemicals. All he needs is proof.

Meanwhile, two women, unknown to one another, are drawn inexorably to Belinda, into Matt’s life--and into mortal danger. Massachusetts coroner Nikki Solari comes to attend the funeral of her roommate, killed violently on a Boston street. Ellen Kroft, a retired schoolteacher from Maryland, seeks the remorseless killer who has threatened to destroy her and her family.Three strangers--Rutledge, Solari, and Kroft--each hold one piece of a puzzle they must solve, and solve quickly. If they don’t, it will be far more than just their own lives that are at risk.

Michael Palmer has crafted a novel of breathtaking speed and medical intricacy where nothing is as it seems and one false step could be FATAL.

About Michael Palmer

Michael Palmer (1942-2013) wrote internationally bestselling novels of medical suspense, including The First Patient, The Second Opinion, The Last Surgeon, A Heartbeat Away, Oath of Office and Political Suicide. His book Extreme Measures was adapted into a movie starring Hugh Grant and Gene Hackman. His books have been translated into thirty-five languages. Palmer earned his bachelor's degree at Wesleyan University, and he attended medical school at Case Western Reserve University. He trained in internal medicine at Boston City and Massachusetts General Hospitals. He spent twenty years as a full-time practitioner of internal and emergency medicine. In addition to his writing, Palmer was an associate director of the Massachusetts Medical Society Physician Health Services, devoted to helping physicians troubled by mental illness, physical illness, behavioral issues, and chemical dependency. He lived in eastern Massachusetts.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim

This is a medical thriller genre novel. In this one, Matt is a doctor who lives in a town where a coal mining company exists. He believes they are poisoning the area and infecting the town's residents. He is the only one who believes this and he has no evidence of the company doing this. When I read......more

Goodreads review by Helen

TLDR: While slow to start, this book is fast-paced and full of action, conspiracies, and just a hint of romance. I read this book for the category of “Medical Thriller” for the PopSugar reading challenge. I’ve read a handful of medical thrillers in the past (many more than a handful if you can count......more

4.5/5 stars. I truly adored this book overall! As a very seasoned & experienced RN (20+ yrs already!), I tend to really pick apart any story written in or about any type of healthcare situation. Obviously, the fact that Michael Palmer is a physician himself lends a whole entire level of credibility a......more


Quotes

Raves for Michael Palmer's

THE PATIENT
The Patient might be [Palmer’s] most riveting book yet, leaving hardly enough time to take a breath.”
The Denver Post

The Patient is what Die Hard movies are made of: brilliantly nasty terrorists hectoring innocent folks, with only a wisecracking lone wolf to forestall.”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MIRACLE CURE
“A highly entertaining tale of greed and medicine run amok.”
Chicago Tribune

“Packs plenty of heart-stopping action.”
Associated Press

CRITICAL JUDGMENT
“Wrenchingly scary...Palmer is reaching the top of a demanding craft.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Palmer [brings] his fascinating ER procedural knowledge to a fast-paced...narrative.”
San Francisco Chronicle

SILENT TREATMENT
“Guaranteed to terrify anyone who...has reason to step inside the doors of a hospital....Dynamite plot...fast-paced and engrossing.”
The Washington Post

“Palmer owes this reviewer about three hours of sleep spent reading this can’t-put-it-downer. You are cautioned...don’t start this one at 10 at night.”
The Washington Times