From Publishers Weekly
Flinty, incorruptible San Francisco surgeon Carroll Monks returns in this entertaining but shallow sequel to McMahon's Twice Dying. This time, the gruff Mercy Hospital doctor is thrust into the midst of high-powered corporate intrigue after he saves the life of a scruffy-looking junkie who's overdosed on Demerol. Monk's daughter, Stephanie, an impressionable med school student, recognizes the drug abuser as Lex Rittenour, a reclusive and egomaniacal software designer who's the power behind the throne at Aesir, a major bio-tech company. Shortly after Rittenour is escorted out of the hospital's ER by shady Aesir attorney Ron Tygard, Mercy's blood lab is attacked by saboteurs posing as local firemen. Rittenour's blood samples are among those destroyed, and the cagey Monks and Stephanie quickly deduce that Aesir is trying to destroy any evidence that its genius-in-residence was ever at the hospital. The company can't afford any negative publicity: it's planning a major IPO and putting the finishing touches on REGIS, a revolutionary piece of software that can quickly and comprehensively scan any individual's entire genetic makeup. When Monks sets out to confront Aesir's head honchos, he finds himself contending with the company's ruthless CEO, Ken Bouldin; the seductive Dr. Martine Rostanov; and a secret, highly unethical research project conducted on illegal Korean immigrants. McMahon's sophomore effort shows little depth or character development, and his exploration of the ethical dark side of genetic research can be pat. Still, the novel is plenty of fun, with swift pacing, some tense scenes and a likably crusty protagonist. Monks has a real knack for putting people in their place, as when he tells the obnoxious Tygard, "You don't have to flaunt your inner child so much." There are few lulls in this shipshape medical thriller.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Here's the second novel starring Carroll Monks, the crime-solving emergency-room doctor. Like
Twice Dying (2000), which introduced this unique and series-worthy character, this is a fast-paced, intelligent medical thriller that gives Michael Palmer's best-sellers (see p.1481) a run for their money (and catapults McMahon miles ahead of Robin Cook's plodding, repetitious yarns). When a man who calls himself John Smith turns up in the ER, and he just happens to bear a striking resemblance to a filthy rich computer genius, Monks suspects somebody's not telling him the whole story. When the computer genius turns up missing, and somebody waltzes into Monks' hospital and steals the blood samples taken from Smith, our hero smells a conspiracy. Like Quincy, television's crime-solving coroner (and, to a lesser extent, like Dr. Mark Sloan, of the more recent
Diagnosis Murder ), Monks combines his medical expertise with his knack for detection to filter out the lies and false leads and get to the truth. With any luck, readers can stand by for more Carroll Monks adventures.
David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
