The Aesculapian - Hardcover

Cloud, Dan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0913720984 ISBN 13: 9780913720981

Publisher: Frederic C Beil, 1998

Synopsis

The Aesculapian (Aesculapius was the Greek god of healing and performed miracles) is a tale of political intrigue, interwoven with power, romance, tobacco cartels, corrupt societies, murder, and the betrayal of American medicine for financial fortunes in offshore banking accounts. The Byzantine plot pursues Big Tobacco and the nicotine scandal; the power barons of medicine; the Tora Society, a sinister Japanese crime syndicate led by a cunning old doctor; a veteran French underground fighter; agonizing memories of World War II and Vietnam; a wicked Southern senator; Machiavellian revenge masterminded by the President of the United States; a captivating love story; an idyllic journey around the world; and, finally, an explosive climax. The timing of this first novel is fortuitous as our country struggles with its knowledge and tolerance of what it now knows about the tobacco industry. One can only wonder and fiction permits us to beg the question What did we know? When did we know? What was the knowledge worth? In The Aesculapian Dan Cloud has crafted a stunningly intricate tale of power and commitment, rich in detail, bristling with suspense a wrenching yet sensitive portrayal of a good doctor tortured by deception and tragedy.

About this title

Reviews

Given his experience as the former head of the AMA, Cloud seems well qualified to fictionalize some of the recent crises that have plagued the powerhouse medical organization, although this fast-paced debut thriller is hindered by stiff and hackneyed prose. Cloud's protagonist is a Phoenix thoracic surgeon, Joe Hawkins, who finds himself thrust into the national spotlight when the AMA's sexy young PR director, Kate Murphy, sees him at a local civic function and decides he's the perfect person to deliver a response speech after a presidential attack on corrupt doctors. Hawkins succeeds with a vengeance, so much so that he finds himself being drafted for a leadership role in the AMA, much to the chagrin of Letitia Jordan, the brilliant but power-hungry current president of the medical organization. As Hawkins reluctantly builds his power base, he slowly learns of deep-seated corruption within the AMA, which extends to members of Congress and includes a diabolical involvement with Japanese organized crime. After Hawkins's wife dies when her car runs off the road, he discovers that Jordan herself might have been responsible for what was clearly not an accident. The extent of AMA corruption emerges during a business junket that also includes a gooey whirlwind romance between Hawkins and Kate Murphy. The trip culminates with a revelation in Japan that sets up a surprise ending. Cloud has most of the right stuff for a second career writing medical suspense novelsAspecialized knowledge and a flair for non-stop action, but he needs to enliven his prose. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

During a ductus operation on a child, Joe, the doctor-protagonist in the novel, explains the embryology of the azygos system to his assistant: "The azygos system originates in the embryo with the suprecardinal veins. The left suprecardinal fades leaving only the hemiazygos, which you see is unimportant. The right supracardinal enjoys a more exalted destiny. It forms the azygos and also gives rise to the caudal portion of the inferior vena cava. Look it up in Arey when you have time. This is the recurrent nerve coming off the vagus. The recurrent is the key to the dissection. It leads you to the ductus. Always, I mean always, identify the recurrent as the first order of business and keep it in sight at all times. The recurrent must never be damaged. It descends from the neck with the vagus, then takes off around the ductus and runs up the postero- lateral aspect of the trachea, behind the thyroid, to the larynx. You've seen it in thyroidectomies. If you ding the recurrent, you may paralyze his vocal cord and make him hoarse for the rest of his life."

Edition details

• Publisher: Frederic C Beil
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0913720984
• ISBN 13: 9780913720981
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 359