I'm going to put a plug in here for my friend Michael Palmer's newest book, The Fifth Vial. The book is currently #18 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction list.
I picked up my copy last month at Michael's book launch party - a very nice time where Michael read out loud to us in attendance. (I always love it when authors read their own words... there always is so much emotion in their voices.)
I have been reading The Fifth Vial while I have been traveling, in airports, on planes, biting my fingernails as I look over my shoulder... this is a suspenseful medical thriller. Basically it 'feels' all too real. What if a sample of your blood is tissue typed and put into a massive database without your knowing it? What if you are the perfect match for a person of wealth or power and they need your organ? Who has the right to play God? Who is to say whose life is more important - say, a poor farm worker or a teenage virtuoso? And then the plot thickens...
Palmer fans will find all their favorites, locales of Boston, pet cats, hints at the supernatural, and a plot that makes you think.
Of course what I find the most fascinating is catching all the inserts from Michael's personal life tossed in. For instance, Ben the detective mentions that his zodiac sign is Libra. Wouldn't you know that Michael's birthday is October 9th.... also note that Michael's grandson's name is Ben, but I'm not sure if he's also a Libra - I'll have to remember to ask.
So I am about half way through the book, I am looking forward to tomorrow's trip to Alabama (again), I have a date with a killer.....
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