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Overview
Neurosurgeon Jessie Copeland works at the very frontier of neurosurgery, developing technology that could revolutionize the treatment of brain tumors. But her work brings her to the attention of an infinitely dangerous man.Claude Malloche is brilliant, remorseless—a terrorist without regard for human life. He is also ill with a brain tumor considered to be inoperable. Nothing can stop Malloche from getting to the woman he believes can cure him. For those caught in his path, the nightmare has just begun...and no one is more aware of the stakes than Jessie Copeland.
In brain surgery there are no guarantees—but that’s exactly what Malloche demands. With disaster just one cut away, Jessie faces the most harrowing case of her life—and the price of failure may be thousands of lives....
Synopsis
WARNING: USE OF THIS BOOK MAY CAUSE SIDE EFFECTS INCLUDING SOARING BLOOD PRESSURE, SLEEPLESSNESS, AND HEART-POUNDING TERROR.
Neurosurgeon Jessie Copeland works at the very frontier of neurosurgery, developing technology that could revolutionize the treatment of brain tumors. But her work brings her to the attention of an infinitely dangerous man.
Claude Malloche is brilliant, remorseless — a terrorist without regard for human life. He is also ill with a brain tumor considered to be inoperable. Nothing can stop Malloche from getting to the woman he believes can cure him. For those caught in his path, the nightmare has just begun...and no one is more aware of the stakes than Jessie Copeland.
In brain surgery there are no guarantees — but that’s exactly what Malloche demands. With disaster just one cut away, Jessie faces the most harrowing case of her life — and the price of failure may be thousands of lives....
Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction
From best-selling author Palmer comes this "great," "fast-paced" medical thriller, which thrusts a gifted neurosurgeon into a world of escalating danger when a terrorist suffering from a brain disorder catches wind of the doctor's new technology and insists the surgeon operate - and guarantee the outcome with his life. "A winner - I'd recommend it." "A tantalizing story of intrigue and survival." "True movie material - made for Jodie Foster!"
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
New York Times bestselling author Michael Palmer scores again with his ninth outing, The Patient, a slick and intriguing mix of medical thrills and international espionage. True to form, Palmer ratchets up the suspense with every turn of the page, incorporating a fast-paced plot with a cast of unforgettable characters. And this time out, one of the most intriguing characters is ARTIE, a mechanical marvel of medical science and bioengineering that holds the capability of advancing neurosurgery light-years ahead. Ironically, this advance may also lead to the deaths of thousands.
Neurosurgeon Jessie Copeland is a brilliant and talented woman doctor in a field dominated by testosterone. One of the worst offenders is Carl Gilbride, the chief of neurosurgery and Jessie's immediate superior. Jessie is hired by Gilbride to help him develop a biomechanical device that will revolutionize brain surgery, a device that Jessie is far more experienced in using. But when the device is ready to be tested on humans, the egocentric Gilbride snatches a chance for fame and glory by using it on an Olympic gymnast who is diagnosed with a simple brain tumor.
The surgery is a resounding success, and the new device, named ARTIE for Assisted Robotic Tissue Incision and Extraction, is in all the headlines. It attracts the attention of Claude Malloche, a chameleonlike terrorist responsible for more than 500 deaths worldwide. Malloche has a deadly brain tumor that can't be operated on by normal means; ARTIE, therefore, is his only hope, and Malloche will kill anyone who gets in his way. Jessie finds out about Malloche when a rogue CIA agent named Alex Bishop solicits her help. Bishop's brother was one of Malloche's victims, and Bishop has spent five years tracking the man. Bishop knows about Malloche's brain tumor and is certain the killer will show up at Jessie's hospital in hopes of being operated on with ARTIE. The problem is that Bishop doesn't know what Malloche looks like.
Gilbride, starstruck by all the attention he gets from the first ARTIE procedure, decides to perform a second one. But this time the case is far more complex, and he bungles the operation. In the end, he is forced to call for Jessie to bail him out. Shortly thereafter, Malloche's identity is revealed, and his wife, along with a small band of henchmen, takes the entire neurosurgery unit hostage and coerces Jessie into performing surgery on Malloche's tumor. Not only are the lives of all the patients and staff on the neurosurgery unit at risk, but Jessie learns Malloche has planted a number of deadly nerve gas bombs around town, each one set to be triggered if Jessie refuses or in any way bungles the procedure. Now Jessie must perform a procedure that risks not just one life but thousands. She and Alex have a few tricks of their own, but the stakes are frighteningly high and the price of failure devastating.
Physician Palmer, who spent 20 years working in emergency care and internal medicine, brings the medical aspects to such vivid life you can almost smell the alcohol. The life-and-death race of the neurosurgical problems Jessie faces would provide plenty of thrills all alone. But Palmer adds to the intrigue with an ever-escalating plot of psychological suspense that pits the wits of a gifted and caring neurosurgeon against a cold-blooded killer who has nothing to lose. If you suffer from high blood pressure or a racing pulse, you might want to get a doctor's note before reading this one.
—Beth Amos
Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction
From best-selling author Palmer comes this "great," "fast-paced" medical thriller, which thrusts a gifted neurosurgeon into a world of escalating danger when a terrorist suffering from a brain disorder catches wind of the doctor's new technology and insists the surgeon operate - and guarantee the outcome with his life. "A winner - I'd recommend it." "A tantalizing story of intrigue and survival." "True movie material - made for Jodie Foster!"Toby Bromberg
Taut suspense and roller coaster action highlight The Patient. Dr. Palmer knows his material and once again treats readers to an unforgettable reading experience.— Romantic Times
Publishers Weekly
Palmer's ninth medical thriller (after Miracle Cure) probably isn't the book to be reading when you've got a slight headache. Early on, a star Olympic gymnast feels a small pain in her skull, and soon she's having a brain tumor zapped by a flashy new surgical robot. The author, who was a full-time practitioner of internal and emergency medicine for 20 years, tells readers so much about the actual work of brain surgery that some might decide to skip over a few of the more agonizing moments, such as the frenzied operation on a young boy with a bullet wound. Yet these bloody and painful details put readers firmly inside the skin of Dr. Jessie Copeland, a neurosurgeon in her 40s with a combined undergraduate degree in biology and mechanical engineering. Now working under egomaniacal chief surgeon Carl Gilbride at a top Boston hospital, Jessie gets to try out ARTIE (Assisted Robotic Tissue Incision and Extraction) on cadavers, while Gilbride coaxes foundations to cough up millions for the revolutionary new procedure. Attracted by the media attention generated by ARTIE's use (too early, Jessie thinks) on the gymnast, shadowy terrorist Claude Malloche, known as "the Mist," who also has a brain tumor, comes to the hospital for treatment--and winds up holding patients and staff hostage in case the operation fails. It's finally up to Jessie and a rogue CIA agent to keep everyone healthy. This graft between medical and terrorist thriller has some rough edges, but the operation is a success. Agent, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Apr.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|Library Journal
Jessie Copeland is a brilliant neurosurgeon and engineer. Her work has led to the creation of "ARTIE," Assisted Robotic Tissue Incision and Extraction, a robot that will help to revolutionize neurosurgery by reaching tumors that could not be reached using standard surgical techniques. Jessie thinks that with a little more work and testing, ARTIE will be ready for use on live humans. However, her supervisor, a man with a taste for fame and grant money, uses ARTIE on a world-famous gymnast without Jessie's knowledge. Suddenly Jessie finds herself in the middle of an onslaught of publicity. She also finds herself the target of Claude Malloche, a dangerous assassin with a brain tumor. With Lisa Harrow's narration, this tape starts out extremely slowly, and listeners will be able to predict many of the plot twists in the first three sides. However, the final three sides will leave readers breathless as the CIA and FBI race to save the city from destruction. Those who enjoy spy thrillers with a medical bent will enjoy this particular novel. For large public libraries.--Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.Beth Amos
April 2000New York Times bestselling author Michael Palmer scores again with his ninth outing, The Patient, a slick and intriguing mix of medical thrills and international espionage. True to form, Palmer ratchets up the suspense with every turn of the page, incorporating a fast-paced plot with a cast of unforgettable characters. And this time out, one of the most intriguing characters is Artie, a mechanical marvel of medical science and bioengineering that holds the capability of advancing neurosurgery light years ahead. Ironically, this advance may also lead to the deaths of thousands.
Neurosurgeon Jessie Copeland is a brilliant and talented woman doctor in a field dominated by testosterone. One of the worst offenders is Carl Gilbride, the chief of neurosurgery and Jessie's immediate superior. Jessie is hired by Gilbride to help him develop a biomechanical device that will revolutionize brain surgery, a device that Jessie is far more experienced in using. But when the device is ready to be tested on humans, the egocentric Gilbride snatches a chance for fame and glory by using it on an Olympic gymnast who is diagnosed with a simple brain tumor.
The surgery is a resounding success, and the new device, named Artie for Assisted Robotic Tissue Incision and Extraction, is in all the headlines. It attracts the attention of Claude Malloche, a chameleonlike terrorist responsible for more than 500 deaths worldwide. Malloche has a deadly brain tumor that can't be operated on by normal means; Artie, therefore, is his only hope, and Malloche will kill anyone who gets in his way. Jessie finds out about Malloche when a rogue CIA agent named Alex Bishop solicits her help. Bishop's brother was one of Malloche's victims, and Bishop has spent five years tracking the man. Bishop knows about Malloche's brain tumor and is certain the killer will show up at Jessie's hospital in hopes of being operated on with Artie. The problem is that Bishop doesn't know what Malloche looks like.
Gilbride, starstruck by all the attention he gets from the first Artie procedure, decides to perform a second one. But this time the case is far more complex, and he bungles the operation. In the end, he is forced to call for Jessie to bail him out. Shortly thereafter, Malloche's identity is revealed and his wife, along with a small band of henchmen, takes the entire neurosurgery unit hostage and coerces Jessie into performing surgery on Malloche's tumor. Not only are the lives of all the patients and staff on the neurosurgery unit at risk, but Jessie learns Malloche has planted a number of deadly nerve gas bombs around town, each one set to be triggered if Jessie refuses or in any way bungles the procedure. Now Jessie must perform a procedure that risks not just one life but thousands. She and Alex have a few tricks of their own, but the stakes are frighteningly high and the price of failure devastating.
Physician Palmer, who spent 20 years working in emergency care and internal medicine, brings the medical aspects to such vivid life, you can almost smell the alcohol. The life-and-death race of the neurosurgical problems Jessie faces would provide plenty of thrills all alone. But Palmer adds to the intrigue with an ever-escalating plot of psychological suspense that pits the wits of a gifted and caring neurosurgeon against a cold-blooded killer who has nothing to lose. If you suffer from high blood pressure or a racing pulse, you might want to get a doctor's note before reading this one.
--Beth Amos
Beth Amos is the author of several mainstream suspense thrillers, including Second Sight, Eyes of Night, and Cold White Fury.