Synopsis
The author of The Tomb invokes the terror of modern medicine run amok in the chilling story of a medical student who discovers a dangerous and far-reaching conspiracy. 200,000 first printing. Lit Guild Alt.
Reviews
Wilson switches from horror (Nightworld, 1992) to medical suspense and strikes notes that harmonize Robin Cook's Coma with John Grisham's The Firm and The Pelican Brief. The evidence is that he's livelier at horror. As in Grisham's The Firm, Wilson posits a superrich fantasy establishment--The Ingraham College of Medicine--that offers state- of-the-art equipment and a vastly high-level education, all of it tuition-free!--if you can only fit the profile demanded by the faculty. Yes, any outfit this fantastic must have something wrong with it, even though it's funded by the Kleederman Foundation and based on the Kleederman billions from advanced drugs. For one thing, you aren't allowed to leave the campus and break the school's spell on you. It's young Quinn Clery, one of the very few young women admitted to first-year studies, who accidentally breaks through the veil hiding The Ingraham's activities from the outer world. There's absolutely no doubt that The Ingraham and the Kleederman Foundation do good work, save lives with new drugs, and focus much of their research on poor inner-city hospitals, where most graduates wind up. All very noble. But Quinn's boyfriend- -fellow student Tim Brown, a whiz with a photographic memory who induces her to take a short trip with him to Atlantic City, where he counts cards at blackjack and wins $2,000 in an hour--discovers the reason why Quinn seems never quite to fit in at the college: all students' beds are bugged with electronic devices for subliminally influencing them into becoming inner-city patriots of medicine, but Quinn's bug apparently doesn't work on her, and she forever brings up arguments against the school's do-gooder ethic. It turns out that The Ingraham is actually a warehouse for illegally testing advanced drugs on living patients, the same job practiced by the do-gooders in the inner-city hospitals.... Opens strongly but that feeble chase-ending defeats praise. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
YA-Coming from a farm family of modest income, Quinn Cleary can only go to medical school if she is accepted by The Ingraham, whose program is so exclusive that application is by invitation only and all expenses are absorbed. She is crushed by her rejection but some quick and devious action on the part of her friends gets her enrolled. Quinn finds the education almost too good to be true until she notices subtle changes in her classmates, a common line of opinion, and a mysterious "Ward C." Could it be that the medical students are being brainwashed? Could the school's administration be frustrated with tedious and lengthy FDA regulations and be experimenting on humans? As Quinn tackles the mystery, she puts her own life in danger as her discoveries threaten to topple a pharmaceutical empire. A suspenseful medical thriller so believable it could almost pass as nonfiction.
Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Drawing on many years experience as a practicing physician, Wilson wrote this fast-moving thriller under a pseudonym. Only after Morrow won the auction did he reveal himself as the author of 15 previous books, including The Tomb and The Keep . This is a powerful read with a chilling premise about diabolical doctors (and big pharmaceutical companies) that may make a timely entry onto the bestseller lists. The book is neatly divided into two sections, the first recounting the attempts of Quinn Cleary and her friend Tim Brown to get into the country's most exclusive medical school, Ingraham College of Medicine, a tuition-free institution completely subsidized by Kleederman Pharmaceuticals. But there is one strange requirement: only those students who are proven susceptible to subconcious suggestion are admitted. Though Quinn is immune, Tim manages to get her in, and the two slowly discover the secret agenda behind the brainwashing and the grisly truth of the school's research. The main characters are perfectly capable of driving the plot on their own, so the occasional gratuitous event almost seems unnecessary. But that's the only stain on Wilson's story, which is well and believably told, with the suspense mounting relentlessly until the satisfying conclusion. Literary Guild alternate; major ad/promo.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The select are 50 carefully chosen members of the entering class at elite Ingraham College of Medicine, which is funded by the Kleederman Foundation, an offshoot of immensely profitable Kleederman Pharmaceuticals. Quinn, Tim, and Matt (three finalists, in ascending order of family wealth) meet at the college while taking the final-hurdle test for admission. The two men are accepted, and the woman, Quinn, is put on the waiting list, but skillful planning painstakingly carried out enables Quinn and Matt to exchange places on the list. Quinn has inherited an alert and flexible mind from her mother, while Tim blends in everywhere and has a photographic mind. All that's needed now for an exciting yarn are suspicions, a security system run by an ex-CIA agent, and a dean of medical education impatient with some of the more annoying FDA regulations. Once these are in place, Wilson's smooth style, increasingly rapid pacing, and bagful of surprises make for an outstanding novel. William Beatty
The Firm goes to medical school in this first novel. "The Select" are the 50 students who will be granted admission to the Ingraham College of Medicine, which is entirely funded by the Kleederman Foundation and completely subsidizes the lucky 50. Of course, there are many stringent rules, and perhaps the school is a little too concerned with the more confidential aspects of the students' lives. One of this year's finest prospects is Tim Brown, an aviator shades-wearing party animal who uses his eidetic memory to count cards at the blackjack table when he is not acing medical school exams. Tim helps the beautiful Quinn Cleary gain admittance by a small scam--it seems Ingraham isn't all that keen on women doctors. Together they discover that all is not what it seems in this "24-karat medical school." Predictable, but it should prove very popular in most libraries.
- Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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