Long
before my health stuff started getting serious and Sandi’s cancer stuff hit, I
would read a medical thriller now and then. I was looking for something else on
my blog, found this, and thought I would share again. From the archive…
Following up
on his novel, Deadly Errors, the author has crafted yet another
superb and at times very disturbing medical thriller. For neurosurgeon Russell
Lawton, the conference where he has presented his paper on connecting a robotic
hand to the neurons in a monkey’s brain by way of on interface between the two
has been routine though the material isn’t. If it works, someday paralyzed
humans might be able to move their limbs by way of thinking it to happen. What
has been a concept deep in the realm of science fiction is gradually becoming
modern reality.
Stopped after
his speech by a beautiful woman masquerading as a reporter, he agrees to be
interviewed and follows her willingly outside of the Moscone Convention Center.
That will be the last willing thing he does as he is soon grabbed and removed
from the street by Islamic terrorists. Before long, he is in the air in a
private jet on his way back to his laboratory at the National Institutes of
Health.
With his
young daughter a hostage and faced with death, Dr. Russell Lawton has no choice
but to cooperate. The terrorists are demanding his help and they are proposing
something so unthinkable at every level that Dr. Russell Lawton is revolted to
the very core of his being. Beyond the incredible medical challenges, the very
idea they insist will be done raises huge moral and ethical challenges. And
yet, Dr. Lawton has no choice if he wishes to save his life, his daughter’s, as
well as other potential victims.
What follows
is an incredible read that propels the reader on an emotional roller coaster.
Dr. Allen Wyler again uses his extensive medical background to bring forth
insight into a complex medical problem. Those very detailed bits of medical
information are skillfully woven into the story and do nothing to slow it down.
At the same
time, unlike most thrillers, the main characters in this book soon to be
released are rich and detailed. Dr. Lawton’s emotional agony both in terms of
his daughter as well as what he has been asked to do come alive for the reader.
This is also true of other characters unwittingly drawn in such as FBI Special
Agent Sandra Phillips who is part of the secondary and independent storyline of
the kidnapping of Lawton’s daughter.
The result is
an excellent fast paced read full of medical information and surgical
procedures, action, and deep moral questions. This thriller with a currently
scheduled release date of February 6, 2007, written by Dr. Allen Wyler is not
easy to put down once finished and sure to leaven the reader with a lot of
imagery and questions about the possible medical breakthrough and its meaning.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4jeGaOL
Kevin R.
Tipple © 2007, 2010, 2025
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