The First Patient (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Michael Palmer (Author) "The rotors of Marine One slowed, then stopped..." (more)
Key Phrases: medical van, gray goo, White House, Secret Service, Treat Griswold (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This over-the-top yet endlessly entertaining thriller from bestseller Palmer (The Fifth Vial) pits a country doctor against a conspiracy to kill the president. Dr. Gabe Singleton, an old friend of President Andrew Stoddard, is brought to Washington, D.C., from Wyoming when Jim Ferendelli, Stoddard's former doctor, goes missing. Almost immediately, things fall apart as Stoddard suffers from a random episode of incoherence, and Singleton is shot at while driving in early morning D.C. traffic. Complicating matters is Alison Cromartie, a sexy nurse who captures Singleton's heart. Singleton must figure out who's behind the president's mysterious illness, investigating everyone from the Secret Service agents to the vice president. Citing specific medical and technological processes, Palmer convinces readers that his novel is logical and reasonable, even as he mixes the unlikely with the insanely hyperbolic. The roller-coaster ride of a plot builds to an undeniably shocking conclusion. Author tour. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“An exciting thriller that is full of surprises…captures the intense atmosphere of the White House.” —President Bill Clinton

“Endlessly entertaining…the roller-coaster ride of a plot builds to an undeniably shocking conclusion.” —Publishers Weekly

“If medical thrillers are what you’re after, Palmer delivers.”—Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; Reprint edition (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031293775X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312937751
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,457 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great spin to take you away!, March 29, 2008

By	Carole J. Cox "DrivingMs.Haflinger" (West Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: The First Patient (Hardcover)

We read for many reasons. Those who have left rather stinging remarks in their reviews have valid comments. They are perhaps reading for information or enlightenment. Yet, there are other readers who read to escape the routine of their life. They want to fall in love, have an adventure and solve a case, all within the cover of a book. Yes, the plot is rather far fetched but so is Harry Potter and look how many copies it sold! I tend to bristle at technical readers who do not stick to technical media. The categories is NON-FICTION! Dan Brown has received similar comments about his writing. This comments are unfortunate as they may influence an uniformed reader to not purchase Books that are entertaining and escapist. A book that is realistic is called a textbook. They cost ten times what these wonderful little novels do and sell far fewer copies.

All this being said, I feel First Patient has many merits. It has a clever plot. The reader is taken through several twists and is given the surprise ending that thrills us all.

Michael Palmer created some likable characters which are important for our transference into the plot. I think one of the biggest problems a writer faces is creating characters and scenes that are transferring while staying within the confines of what a publisher feels is a marketable length.

I most most impressed by who the villain was. Often, I am ready to put a book aside within the first 50 pages because the writer has given me too much information and I am not inclined to read any further. This was not the case in First Patient.

Anyone wishing to take a small weekend adventure that doesn't use any gasoline or create a motel bill will be satisfied by their First Patient experience.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What if the President was Mad?, April 4, 2008

By	Katie Osborne (Portland, Oregon and the sunny Caribbean) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: The First Patient (Hardcover)

Dr. Gabe Singleton is sitting in the saddle on his Wyoming spread when Marine One puts down. President Andrew Stoddard has come a calling. His personal physician is missing, he needs someone he can trust to take over and who better than his old college pal. Gabe has reservations, but President Stoddard is persuasive and Gabe accepts.

But a couple days latter, just before a state dinner, Gabe is called to the Residence. The president is having an episode. He appears stark raving mad. After the episode passes, Stoddard begs Gabe to keep quiet about his problem for the good of the country. He wants Gabe to find out what's causing his episodes and Gabe agrees.

But Gabe wants to get to the bottom of why the president's doctor has vanished, so he starts to investigate. Also someone tries to kill Gabe, not once, but twice. Does someone fear Gabe is getting to close? And if so, too close to what? And who can Gabe trust? Nobody it appears.

I will admit at first I found Mr. Palmer's story a bit farfetched. The stuff of this book could never happen, but as I read on I started to think, well maybe. It wasn't long before I was caught in a high power web of lies and deceit. Somebody very close to the President of the United States wants him out of the way and it appears he is very powerful, a man or men with unlimited resources. Someone who will stop at nothing and there is only on person who stands between him and what he wants, country doctor turned investigator Gabe Singleton.

This is Michael Palmer's best book and surprisingly when I finished, I didn't find it so farfetched after all and that's scary.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "...the powers and duties of his office", April 29, 2008

By	Linda Bulger (Avon, Maine) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: The First Patient (Hardcover)

There is so much of interest in the field of medicine that it seems a shame to use an obscure element in a medical thriller. Nanotechnology (I don't think that's a spoiler) is on the sensational end of medicine: real but not in our everyday medical lexicon. Yet Michael Palmer used it as his "hook" in The First Patient, and used it effectively.

Palmer's smooth style brought me straight into the story. Gabe Singleton, a Wyoming doctor, was a Naval Academy roommate of Andrew Stoddard who is now the President of the United States. Stoddard pays a visit to Gabe and persuades him to come to Washington as the President's personal physician after the previous holder of that position vanished. Another man might see this as a good career move but Gabe has his "baggage" and goes only as a favor to his friend.

Things get ugly fast when the President has what seems to be a psychotic episode; temporary, but not his first. The twenty-fifth amendment to the constitution is waved about (rules of succession should the president be incapacitated). That night someone tries to kill Gabe at a traffic light. Something's rotten in the state of Denmark and Gabe is determined to puzzle it out. There are two beautiful women, horses, impressive real estate, Washington intrigue, ideology in politics.

Michael Palmer always delivers great writing and a brisk pace. His characters are well drawn: the good guys a little flawed, the bad guys wearing a veneer (in some cases very thin) of civility. My personal preference in a medical thriller is that it be grounded a bit more firmly in the plausible, but this book delivers the goods and is sure to please readers far and wide. Four stars, and it would have been four and a half if I had enjoyed the political overtones more. Recommended for a beach read or a rainy night.

Linda Bulger, 2008