Customer Reviews

Natural Causes

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For a while now, I've been on the Michael Palmer 'kick'. His novels are full of plot twists, detailed characters and just the right amount of suspense.
Natural Causes is just another of his well written books that will keep you hanging on until the end. The best part about his books is the right from page one, you're hooked.
Natural Causes does have some truth to it and makes you wonder about 'Natural' supplements.

This book captures you from the very beginning and makes you see the world through the eyes of Dr. Sarah Baldwin. Very detailed medical information and a fast read. Keeps you going from the first page to the last.

Dr. Baldwin is the kind of doc most people in this open-minded society would want to have -- one with the Western science medicine as well as using holistic practices such as accupuncture. She gets in trouble after two women die and one woman is maimed in their pregnancies after taking her herbal supplement for pregnancy, which she recommends instead of the usual vitamins. An intrigue follows which delves into politics and money. Great mystery up until the very end, when one of the last people you'd suspect turns out to be the bad guy!

My first taste of Michael Palmer, and I'm looking forward to reading more!

This is the first book I've read by Michael Palmer, but it won't be the last. "Natural Causes" grabbed me from the first pages and didn't let go until the end! I was still wondering who to trust up until the last chapter. I really enjoy thriller/mysteries and combining it with medicine makes it that much more interesting for me. I will definitely recommend this book to all of my reading buddies.

I finished my first Michael Palmer book - Extreme Measures and couldn't wait to read another. Natural Causes has the same complex medical background but is just not as exciting or complex. I enjoyed the conflict between alternative and traditional medicine. Natural Causes has suspense and intrique and if I had not read Extreme Measures first I would probably give it 5 stars.

After reading about the first 6 or 7 chapters I thought this book was slow moving (not exactly boring)... just slow. So I put it down for three weeks and then I continued from where I left off. The whole second half was full of suspense and tons of action. I definitely couldn't put it down. This was my second Michael Palmer book, and after reading Critical Judgement this is ranked my #1 MP book. If only the beginning hadn't been slow.. it would definitely be a five star novel.

We all know what it means to die from natural causes but, in this era of modern medicine, it is an exceptionally infrequent occurrence for someone to be cured by "natural causes". Indeed, the conflict between natural medicine in all its forms - homeopathy, chiropractic, herbal remedies, acupuncture, naturopathy, midwifery, and so on - is the theme of Michael Palmer's latest medical thriller entitled, of course, "Natural Causes"!

The story starts off with dizzying speed graphically describing the catastrophic deaths of a number of women in labour who essentially bleed to death because of an obscure viral illness that prevents blood clotting. The career of Sarah Baldwin, a young up and coming obstetrician, is in jeopardy as the initial epidemiological research on the deaths seems to indicate that the culprit is herbal supplements she had recommended to her patients in the early stages of their pregnancy.

It seems such a shame! "Natural Causes" started out as a whirlwind page turner that had so much promise - exciting passages that detailed medical emergencies as this bizarre blood clotting illness consumed its victims with horrific speed; realistic insights into internal hospital politics, the necessity to generate funds through community foundations and the grueling routine of medical training; and, most interesting of all, the conflict between advocates of alternative medicine and standardized medical care as we understand it in the western world of modern medicine.

Sadly, "Natural Causes" ultimately failed to live up to its own potential. With one or two plot twists too many, it finally just devolved into a morass of medical thriller melodrama - big money, corporate greed and institutionalized medicine versus the vilified, persecuted lone doctor's voice crying from the wilderness! What's even worse is that Palmer couldn't find any better way to ultimately reveal the plot than that hoary old device of having the villain gloat about his megalomaniacal plans to the victim as he metaphorically ties her to the railway tracks in front of the oncoming train! How sad is that?

Despite its failings, it will still appeal to Michael Palmer fans and those who enjoy a medical thriller. But it's clearly one of his weakest efforts thus far and falls a long, long way short of the chills provided by such bombshell medical thrillers as Robin Cook's "Coma" or Tess Gerritsen's "Harvest".

Recommended

Paul Weiss

I just discovered Michael Palmer's work, and I'm hurrying to remedy that deficiency. Dr. Palmer writes tightly plotted medical fiction that holds the reader in suspense and keeps them off-balance with new twists and turns. This book kept me reading, because there were few, if any, spots where I could say, "I'll put the book down and read some more later." It's a true page-turner, in every sense of the word.
The emphasis on alternative medicine was something of an initial turn-off for me, since I'm a physician grounded in conventional medicine. However, Dr. Palmer has definitely done his homework, and eventually I found myself quite interested by some of the material he brings out. All that aside, from the standpoint of well-done medical suspense, this book is excellent.

I am an OB nurse and really enjoyed this book, found it believable and couldn't wait to turn the page. This is 3rd book of Michael Palmers I have read and this was the best!

We're fans of Palmer and have read most of his booklist, now standing at ten novels. We like his ability to describe medical complexities in plain enough terms to get us through but with plausible enough premises that the scare factor heightens his suspenseful storylines. "Natural Causes" continues in this vein as pregnant women start losing their babies and dying themselves from a rare blood disorder. Is it being caused by (our heroine) Dr. Sarah Baldwin's use of "herbal supplements"? Or is it related to her former lover's mysterious oriental-herb-mix weight loss miracle product? A team of lawyers, doctors, CDC specialists, and our heroine in self-defense plow through a labyrinth of plot twists and turns before the truth will out toward the end. That so many of the central characters turn out bad gets a bit depressing after a while; and some of the sinister goings-on with shady underworld types get a little hard to believe. And how the rattlesnake poison found in Sarah's locker tied in never was revealed that we could tell. But admittedly the pages kept turning til the satisfying conclusion spells out almost all.

Palmer has a fine imagination and excellent craft. Sarah was a rather remarkable lead character with the somewhat unique combination of extensive traditional medical training (she's an MD and a surgeon) as well as a two-year stint in Thailand learning acupuncture and other alternative healing methods. Palmer uses her talents as a ploy to discuss these methodologies in interesting detail. While this time our author almost outdoes himself with the complexity of his tale, we suspect most will enjoy it thoroughly as they read on into the night!

This book captures you from the very beginning and makes you see the world through the eyes of Dr. Sarah Baldwin. Very detailed medical information and a fast read. Keeps you going from the first page to the last.

Dr. Baldwin is the kind of doc most people in this open-minded society would want to have -- one with the Western science medicine as well as using holistic practices such as accupuncture. She gets in trouble after two women die and one woman is maimed in their pregnancies after taking her herbal supplement for pregnancy, which she recommends instead of the usual vitamins. An intrigue follows which delves into politics and money. Great mystery up until the very end, when one of the last people you'd suspect turns out to be the bad guy!

My first taste of Michael Palmer, and I'm looking forward to reading more!