Positive Match [Mass Market Paperback]

Tony Chiu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1998

Caduceus 21 is the future of health care. Few people know its balance sheet is fueled by a hidden trade in human organs. Only one person suspects where the organs are coming from.

But Dr. Nguyen-Anh Dupree can't prove his dark suspicions without help. Enter Maggie Sepulveda, a hard-charging investment banker at Marx Dillon & Neil. She is about to land the deal of her career, financing the expansion of Caduceus 21; but the more she learns about her new client, the more her elation turns to fear. Soon Dupree and Maggie are drawn together, running for their lives as they try to expose the shocking truth Caduceus 21 had hoped to keep secret forever--a secret nothing short of global murder....

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

How does the organ donor transport firm MedEx come up with so many needed body parts so quickly, and at such good prices? Dr. Nguyen-Anh Dupree, a Vietnamese American physician working in Mexico for the charitable group Doctors Without Borders, stumbles on the nasty answer: MedEx is also in the business of transporting illegal aliens. And then there's the link between MedEx and the giant health care firm Caduceus 21 that is about to launch a huge stock offering. In the hands of journalist Tony Chiu, this debut thriller crosses several genre borders and topical time zones without losing its considerable energy and imagination. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In this day of consumers' questions about HMOs, the present work is a most appropriate medical thriller for librarians to put in their patrons' hands. The HMO called Caduceus 21 is the only health provider that seems to have human organs available for transplants. Dedicated young doctor Nguyen-Anh Dupree has his suspicions about the HMO's practices, particularly when Mexicans he helps immigrate to the United States never arrive. Some of the investment bankers at Marx Dillon & Neil?financiers planning to underwrite Caduceus 21?also have their questions, and one of their staff is murdered sadistically. Dr. Dupree and Maggie Sepulveda, Marx Dillon's young partner, become allies as they race from coast to coast, investigating Caduceus 21 and its organ supplier, MedEx, with the help of young ghetto-based computer whizzes. Overwhelming computer jargon and sundry minor characters introduced by nickname detract from the story line at the beginning, but the pace picks up, and readers will find themselves delighting in this thriller and its blockbuster ending. A nice buy for libraries with Robin Cook fans.?Alice DiNizo, Raritan P.L., N.J.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553575465
• ISBN-13: 978-0553575460
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,818,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #97 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Medical

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a twisted thought!, March 3, 2001

By 

"lizzette_l" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Positive Match (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to say that I have read a number of medical thrillers lately and they seem to have a common theme running through them: patients are getting hurt or dying due to some hospital or doctor who has an agenda (maybe to test their new experimental drug). This book blew my mind because the ending was so unbelievable. The plot involves a lot of different characters from all walks of life, poor Mexicans trying to cross the border, the doctor who works with them and his young colleagues who are "techies", gangsters, the new company that is providing body parts so quickly when needed. I don't want to get too much into the plot and ruin it (read the synopsis), but the author writes very well and the story doesn't drag at all. I believe this book is a step above the average medical thrillers that seem to be coming out of the woodwork lately. Hope you enjoy it!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thriller with a keen point about our society and medicine, August 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Positive Match (Hc) (Hardcover)

The plot makes clear that this thriller is also a statement about dangers in the trend to put medicine in the hands of private, profit-making corporations. Given what's going on in managed care, "Positive Match" might not be the "reducto ad absurdum" it may seem at first glance. It could be a creepy prophecy

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars where is the dialogue?, June 1, 2004

By 

L. Maynard (Dallas, Tx) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Positive Match (Hc) (Hardcover)

I love medical thrillers but often they end up being mostly all alike and predictable. This story was not that. The premise of the story was not original but had a twist at the end that I didn't see coming. That is why I gave it 2 stars. The problem I had with this book was the lack of dialogue. The author was telling a story but there was little interaction between the characters. There was a bit too much technical talk. It got to be very boring after a while and I found myself skimming instead of reading. The first chapter grabbed me and I thought I was in for the ride of my life, but it fizzled all too quickly.