Ghost Image : A Novel [Hardcover]

Joshua Gilder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 22, 2002

The last thing plastic surgery resident Jackson Maebry wants at the end of a long day in the operating room is a call to the ER. Once he gets there, what he finds is worse than his most hellish imaginings: a young woman, beaten and burned almost beyond recognition, a trauma case as terrible as any he has ever seen. What Jackson's colleagues don't know is that the victim, Allie, is actually his lover.

With Allie in a coma, Jackson keeps their relationship quiet and takes part in her reconstruction, a complicated and grueling set of procedures that only the most skilled specialists can perform. But as he and the other doctors struggle to put her back together, the fractures in Jackson's own life begin to break apart dramatically. When the San Francisco Police Department's investigation of the attack leads to his door, Jackson knows the truth can no longer be suppressed.

"Ghost Image" is an expertly plotted, chillingly vivid, and wholly absorbing mystery, signaling the debut of an unforgettable new voice in the genre. Taking readers inside the operating room and literally under the skin of its patients, it's a story that will appeal to those fascinated by medicine and forensics. It is also a story -- like all classic crime novels -- about guilt and innocence, good and evil. But, above all, it is a story of love -- the kind of love that might prove deadly, or that might just save your soul.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A gallery of distinctive supporting characters and lucid, full-bodied prose distinguish the debut novel of former presidential speechwriter Gilder. San Francisco plastic surgeon Jackson Maebry undertakes the emergency treatment of a young woman who has been severely beaten and burned, only to realize that the victim is his lover, Allie. Wanting to stay near her during recovery, Jackson keeps their relationship a secret from both his mentor, imperious chief of surgery Peter Brandt, and police detective Rossi, a black Vietnam vet with a borderline addiction to nasal spray. Allie develops amnesia, complicating the search for her assailant, but eventually Jackson's secret comes out, to his detriment. His concealment of his relationship to Allie makes him a suspect in Rossi's eyes, but quirky attorney Manny Lucasian manages to keep him out of jail. Jackson convinces his former girlfriend, Krista, a nurse, to keep an eye on Allie, but Krista has ulterior motives. He learns some unsettling facts about Allie's past, both distant and recent, and must contend with the unwanted advances of Brandt's alcoholic wife. The story loses steam and focus near the midpoint, but a couple of suspicious deaths speed it to a climax; believable scenes of plastic surgery add an extra layer of chills and interest. The bland and unsympathetic Jackson makes a poor first-person protagonist, but Gilder offers an interesting detour around nearly every corner. Agent, Matt Williams of the Gernert Company.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Dr. Jackson Maebry is eagerly anticipating a romantic evening with his girlfriend, but a page from the emergency room delays his departure from the hospital. A brutally beaten woman has been found rolled up in a carpet and set on fire. As the ER team works to save her life, Jackson realizes that the victim is his beloved. He decides not to disclose their relationship even to his mentor and chief of surgery, Peter Brandt, and sets out on his own to find her attacker. His intense interest in the case makes him a prime suspect to the investigating officer. Allie is eventually released from the hospital with plans to return for extensive plastic surgery. Even though the romance between them has cooled, Jackson continues his investigation while his wisecracking lawyer fights to keep him out of jail. Digging into Allie's past brings more questions than answers, and he discovers that she had had previous surgeries, perhaps even performed by Dr. Brandt himself. People trying to help Jackson end up dead, drugs surface, and he begins to question who is really on his side. This fast-paced mystery/thriller has the perfect combination of suspense, forensic science, and gore (operating room descriptions are not for the faint of heart). It will be a sure winner with CSI fans.
Katherine Fitch, Rachel Carson Middle School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743223128
• ISBN-13: 978-0743223126
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,168,186 in Books (See Top 100 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 The most exciting new novelist since Scott Turow., November 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Ghost Image : A Novel (Hardcover)

Ghost Image is a tense and powerful novel which launches Joshua Gilder as the most exciting new novelist since Scott Turow debuted in 1988 with Presumed Innocent. Gilder distinguishes himself from many of today's top suspense writers: He cares deeply about his characters; and so does the reader. In Ghost Image, the shocking revelations are not just arbitrary plot manipulations; the action rushes forward as the reader penetrates the darkest and most painful parts of the human soul. Gilder can create the suspense of a Grisham, but Grisham may not consistently create characters of such potency as those found in Ghost Image. The human relationships are complex, the medical science is exact, and the pace is unrelenting. The book is an innovative medical thriller, but the sharpest scalpel is applied to cutting open the raw fears, ambitions and intimate desires that seethe through these poignant characters in a painful and uncommon love story. Ghost Image is a suspenseful, can't-put-it-down page turner. I read the book in a single all-night sitting, racing to reach the remarkable conclusion before the sun came up. You will love this book, and if you are like me, you will want more. Ghost Image gets my highest rating.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning Thriller, December 6, 2002

By 

Cynthia King "novelist" (Bethel, Vermont) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghost Image : A Novel (Hardcover)

Joshua Gilders first novel, Ghost Image is a psychological thriller set in the world of plastic surgery that moves inexorably from its startling opening episode to its resonant conclusion at an almost breakneck pace.
Jackson Maebry, a rising plastic surgery intern, discovers the night he is called to the ER that the cruelly beaten and burned female patient he is attending is Allie, the girl he has just recently fallen in love with and hopes to marry. When her heart stops he overrides his colleagues, saws her chest open, massages her heart until it beats again. However, having saved her life, subsequent problems come at him with appalling speed. Will her heart still beat for him? Will he and his famous mentor plastic surgeon be able to restore her beauty? Who has done this brutal deed? When he becomes the main suspect desperation takes hold.
Gilder writes with intelligence, wit and fluidity, taking time to allow his characters to ponder the more complicated issues of human frailty, trust, love and loyalty, and to lighten his story of trauma and murder with the informed irreverent banter among medical men.. This is no ordinary whodonit. At one point Allie, confronts Jackson with the facts of her disfigurement, suggesting that he never would have fallen in love with her if shed been disfigured when he met her, drawing the parallel between her condition and his fear of his inheriting his mothers insanity. Gilders writing is deft, clear, highly literate, and he brings to the page an astounding (and sometimes horrifying) amount of information about plastic surgery.
I am not usually a lover of thrillers, but this metaphoric story of both mental and physical disfigurement, its causes and cures, held me captive until the last surprising page.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yeah, a new writer who can write!, November 12, 2002

By 

Book Club Mama (Bethesda, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghost Image : A Novel (Hardcover)

I am just here to jump on the Joshua Gilder bandwagon. I am so happy to have a new author to read. I love suspense thrillers, but find that most of the books I pick up are so poorly written I can't even finish them. I know it is a cliché to call Ghost Image a "page-turner" but it truly is one!!!! From beginning to end, I could not put this down. The first page grabs you, not with a murder (those come later) but with a scene that immediately gives you that sick-in-the-pit-of-your- stomach and a this-ain't-good event.

The story unfolds against the backdrop of California and the world of plastic surgery, however this will also appeal to those who like the forensic mysteries that are popular now, it is technical, detailed, fascinating. The characters are interesting, flawed and well developed. Some of the secondary characters will be recognizable, but the main ones are truly unique and complicated.