The Patient

Palmer, Michael

ISBN 10: 0553526979 ISBN 13: 9780553526974

Publisher: Random House Audio, 2000

Synopsis

3 Cassettes, 5 hours 15 minutes
Read by Lisa Harrow

His name is ARTIE, a miracle of bio-engineering that is about to transform the field of neurosurgery.  Dr. Jessie Copeland knows him better than anyone else at Eastern Mass Medical Center- and knows it's too soon to be using the tiny robot on a living patient's brain.  But, Jessie's department chief is too busy to worry about such ethics.  And neither of them has any idea that ARTIE will attract a patient from their worst nightmares.
Claude Malloche is a master assassin, more rumor than man, for whom murder is an art.  No one can identity his face.  Now Malloche has a deadly brain tumor, and he intends to have the best neurosurgeon in the world operate on it.
To ensure Jessie's cooperation, Malloche has devised a plan of intimidation that puts at risk her life and the lives of hundreds of innocent people.  Neurosurgery requires nerves of steel, but in coming up with a scheme to fulfill her oath as a doctor while thwarting a diabolical killer, Jessie will be performing the most complex surgery of her career- on a knife-edge of terror.

About this title

Review

The Patient, Michael Palmer's ninth medical suspense novel, is a fast-paced beat-the-clock thriller. Someone is killing off the world's most gifted neurosurgeons, and Alex Bishop, a renegade CIA agent, thinks he knows who it is. Bishop is out to settle his score with Claude Malloche, an international assassin responsible for the death of Bishop's brother. When he learns that Malloche is afflicted with an inoperable brain tumor, Bishop understands why the murdered neurosurgeons died, and where Malloche will strike next. Meanwhile, Jessie Copeland, an MIT-trained mechanical engineer and neurosurgeon, is working to perfect a robotic device that will revolutionize brain surgery.

One of the patients awaiting surgery at Boston's Eastern Massachusetts Medical Center is Malloche--but which one? No one has ever been able to identify the assassin, and Jessie is hardly well known enough to attract his notice. But ARTIE, the robotic device, is--and Malloche will stop at nothing to ensure that it's used to save his own life. He threatens to release a deadly nerve toxin on thousands of innocent people, and Jessie is forced to save him at the cost of her own safety.

Notable for his swift pacing, well-drawn minor as well as major characters, and medical expertise, Palmer delivers the goods with this heart-stopping read. -- Jane Adams

From the Back Cover

"The Patient might be [Michael Palmer's] most riveting book yet, leaving hardly enough time to take a breath. After all, it is brain surgery."
--The Denver Post

Raves for Michael Palmer's...

Miracle Cure:
"A highly entertaining tale of greed and medicine run amok."
--Chicago Tribune

"Packs plenty of heart-stopping action."
--Associated Press

Critical Judgment:
"Manages to scare the socks off the reader."
--The Globe and Mail, Toronto

"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."
--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

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Audio
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0553526979
• ISBN 13: 9780553526974
• Binding: Audio Cassette