Mercy by Michael Palmer
The
wide-ranging plot of this medical-ethical thriller unfolds gradually, revealing
the maddening complexities of the right to die issue.
Dr. Julie
Devereux is have problems with her twelve-year-old son since her split from his
artist father and her new relationship with Sam, a high school history teacher.
Julie has long been an outspoken advocate for death with dignity. However, this
works against her when terminal and badly injured patients start dying
prematurely in the hospital where she works.
Roman “Romey”
Janowki, an unscrupulous manipulator, has brought White Memorial from a
second-rate hospital to a well-run model facility since he took over as
administrator. His methods don’t always align with ethical behavior, though. He’s
gotten his hospital there by concentrating on the bottom line, not by
prolonging the lives of expensive patients.
Julie is thrown
into a dilemma when her fiance, Sam, is brought in following a car wreck with
injuries that will leave him a quadriplegic. When he begs her to end his life,
she hesitates while he calls her a hypocrite. More questionable deaths are
piling up around her as a representative from Very Much Alive, an organization
opposed to assisted death, gets involved. Just as they’ve convinced Julie
betray her deepest beliefs and try to save Sam, he dies from an unexpected
condition. He has been scared to death. Have the other deaths occurred this
way? Julie doesn’t know she’s being closely tracked by an ex-cop with anger
management issues.
Excellent
suspense, plus explorations of right to die, hospital ethics, and other issues.
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