Critical Judgement [Paperback]

Michael Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 4, 1997

Dr Abby Dolan was on the fast track at a major San Francisco hospital when she made a critical choice: to follow her fiance, Josh Wyler, to the picturesque California town of Patience, where he has a new job with the manufacturing giant Colstar. Working in a small-town emergency room, knowing her every move sparks gossip, Abby nonetheless begins to feel at home - until the first undiagnosable patients start to showing up. Abby calls them NIWWs: No Idea What's Wrong. And despite her considerable skills, she can, track these baffling, seemingly random cases. When Josh too begins to suffer disturbing symptoms, followed by manic, even violent behaviour, she wonders: Could Colstar somehow be poisoning the town? Warned by a colleague that her predecessor in the ER died in a dubious accident after making similar allegations, Abby refuses to back off. She begins to question everyone and everything around her in the now hostile town of patience - while her most dangerous enemy is far closer than she thinks.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A character in Palmer's latest medical chiller (after Silent Treatment) refers to the industrial enclave of Patience, Calif., locked among mountains above San Francisco, as "Faustville." It certainly seems as if the town has made a pact with the devil in order to thrive. Emergency room doctor Abby Dolan has been at Patience Regional Hospital for only a few months when she begins totting up "NIWWs"-her shorthand for patients whose complaints offer her "no idea what's wrong." The hospital and town are literally overshadowed by the manufacturing giant Colstar, a cliff-dwelling international battery-making concern whose security rivals that of the Pentagon. After Abby's fiance, Josh Wyler, a new Colstar employee, suddenly exhibits alarming manic symptoms and threatens her with violence, Abby begins to wonder if Colstar is exposing its employees to the toxic heavy metal cadmium, a battery component. It doesn't take her long to cross Colstar security chief Lyle Quinn, or to be approached for help by an earnest group known as the Alliance, headed by Abby's handsome ER colleague Lew Alvarez, who also suspects that Colstar's chemicals are harming the town. If the soulless but many-eyed corporation, secret underground labs and evil experiments on unwitting patients are familiar elements to medical suspense fans, Palmer, an M.D. who worked in emergency medicine, renders them, for the most part, gripping and fresh. Scenes of medical terror (particularly one involving a claustrophobic patient who suffers an allergic reaction inside an MRI cylinder) are wrenchingly scary, and the imaginative final twists confirm that Palmer is reaching the top of a demanding craft. Doubleday Book Club main selection; Literary Guild and Mystery Book Club alternates; simultaneous BBD audio; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Abby Dolan, a young, hot-shot emergency room physician, has left the big city environs of San Francisco to follow her fiance to a small town where he has taken a job with Colstar?the main source of the town's economy. In her work, Abby quickly comes across several patients with vague but troubling symptoms that she believes are caused by environmental poisoning and may be linked to Colstar. Palmer's success in the more gripping Silent Treatment (LJ 2/15/95) is not equaled here. Slow pacing, an awkward writing style, and an uninteresting and unbelievable plot make for a dull medical thriller. Still, Palmer's works are popular, and this novel will no doubt receive a lot of hype.?Patricia Altner, Information Seekers, Bowie, Md.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: Arrow (December 4, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099705214
• ISBN-13: 978-0099705215
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 1.3 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #609,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Palmer, is the author of sixteen novels of medical and political suspense, all international bestsellers. His 17th medical and political thriller, OATH OF OFFICE is now available. In addition to writing, Palmer is an associate director of the Massachusetts Medical Society Physician Health Services, devoted to helping physicians troubled by mental illness, physical illness, behavioral issues, and chemical dependency. He lives in eastern Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story with lots of surprises, August 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Critical Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)

The whole idea of chemical poisoning and a corporate cover-up is intriguing enough, but Palmer makes it even more exciting by adding twists and turns at all the right times. Every time I thought I figured out what was going on, I was pleasantly surprised to realize I was way off base. Abby's commitment to solving the mystery is fierce. The action is tremendous and it doesn't stop until the last page, as the story races to a thrilling conclusion. This book was difficult to put down. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a chilling mystery novel.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars better than Robin Cook ?, March 18, 2003

By 

mungo "mungo_sd" (san diego CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Critical Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)

the obvious anti-gun bias in the first few pages almost made me put it down. The author has a demented man walking into a gun store and coming out with 2 semi-automatic rifles. California has a 14 day waiting period for any gun purchase. No gun shop I know would sell to a disturbed person like Josh, they want to keep their license. The author also refers to these rifles as "machine guns". Palmer must have gone to the Diane Feinstein school of armory and misinformation. If he doesn't research guns very well, I am suspect of his other technical statements.

The "old man in the woods" who happens to be a Zen archery master is hilarious. Was Dr. Dolan supposed to be Grasshopper?

It is scary to think innocent people could be guinea pigs for government sponsored drug tests. Unfortunately that has happened several times we are aware of, soldiers exposed to radiation in Nevada and syphilis patients in Alabama. The central story of this novel could be true.

Cook wrote about ergot poisoning that caused uncontrolled violence. Clive Cussler wrote about water supplies being poisoned by chemical waste and that caused extreme violence as well. Palmer is a better writer than Cook but Cussler is more entertaining than either. Cussler also introduces topics for personal research.

I'll stick with Cussler.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense medical thriller., September 16, 2002

By 

A. Vegan (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Critical Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)

I wanted a change from Robin Cook and I'm quite happy I found Michael Palmer. The book was a bit slow to start and I was tempted to stop reading it, but I kept on.
This book is fantastic. The characters are well written as is the plot. There were many times while reading this book that I felt troubled and anxious just because of what Abby was going through. This book really had a hold on me. Although it was the first Michael Palmer book I've read, I'll definately be reading more of his.