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Fatal
Fatal
Author: Michael Palmer
Matt Ruttledge returns to his home town to marry his high school sweetheart and set up a medical practice only to have his beloved Ginny fall victim to a rare form of cancer. Was it caused by nearby Belinda Coal Company's toxic brew of waste that Matt holds responsible for his own father's death? Hard evidence is nowhere to be found until two st...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780553802030
ISBN-10: 0553802038
Publication Date: 4/30/2002
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 32

3.9 stars, based on 32 ratings
Publisher: Bantam
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

spOOnman avatar reviewed Fatal on + 51 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
great medical thrillerm
sarah5775 avatar reviewed Fatal on + 386 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A great medical thriller. It's about a young doctor who suspects that a mine in his small town is cutting corners in disposal of medical waste. When people in the town start dying of a rare disorder, he uncovers a web of corruption. Meanwhile, a woman pathologist many miles away begins doing her own research into strange medical symptoms in a woman who used to live in the doctor's town, and the grandmother of an autistic child lobbies for more studies for vaccinations which caused her granddaugher's disability. These three seemingly unrelated characters come together. The novel has lots of twists and turns...I think this is the best I've read by Palmer so far...and all his books have been good, but this was even better.

NOTE: My copy has a water stain (still in relatively good condition) and I'm giving it free to anyone who requests another of my books. Please pm me.
honydo1 avatar reviewed Fatal on + 16 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
THIS WAS A REALLY GOOD BOOK. IT WAS HARD TO GO TO WORK AND HAVE TO PUT IT DOWN. COULDN'T WAIT TO GET BACK HOME TO READ SOME MORE OF IT. IF YOU LIKE THRILLERS AND NON BORING BOOKS, THIS IS THE ONE FOR YOU:)
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reviewed Fatal on + 22 more book reviews
Great book by an Great Author
reviewed Fatal on + 53 more book reviews
A Master of Medical Suspense...
reviewed Fatal on + 7 more book reviews
good medical mystery
reviewed Fatal on + 102 more book reviews
I really like Michael Palmer books and this was no disapointment.
reviewed Fatal on + 8 more book reviews
A very good medical thriller.
reviewed Fatal on + 312 more book reviews
From The Sisterhood, Michael Palmer's first New York Times bestseller, to The Patient, his ninth, reviewers have proclaimed him a master of medical suspense. Recognized around the world for original, topical, nail-biting suspense, emergency physician Palmer's work has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Now he reaches controversial and startling new heights in a terrifying tale of cutting-edge microbiology, unbridled greed, and murder, where either knowing too little or trusting too much can be FATAL.

In Chicago, a pregnant cafeteria worker, suffering nothing more malevolent than flulike symptoms, begins hemorrhaging from every part of her body. In Boston, a brilliant musician, her face disfigured by an unknown disease, rapidly descends into a lethal paranoia. In Belinda, West Virginia, a miner suddenly goes berserk, causing a cave-in that kills two of his co-workers. Finding the link between these events could prove FATAL.

Five years ago, internist and emergency specialist Matt Rutledge returned to his West Virginia home to marry his high-school sweetheart and open a practice. He also had a score to settle. His father died while working for the Belinda Coal and Coke Company, and Matt swore to expose the mines health and safety violations.

When his beloved Ginny succumbed to an unusual cancer, his campaign became even more bitterly personal. Now Matt has identified two bizarre cases of what he has dubbed the Belinda Syndrome--caused, he is certain, by the mines careless disposal of toxic chemicals. All he needs is proof.

Meanwhile, two women, unknown to one another, are drawn inexorably to Belinda, into Matts life--and into mortal danger. Massachusetts coroner Nikki Solari comes to attend the funeral of her roommate, killed violently on a Boston street. Ellen Kroft, a retired schoolteacher from Maryland, seeks the remorseless killer who has threatened to destroy her and her family. Three strangers--Rutledge, Solari, and Kroft--each hold one piece of a puzzle they must solve, and solve quickly. If they dont, it will be far more than just their own lives that are at risk.

Michael Palmer has crafted a novel of breathtaking speed and medical intricacy where nothing is as it seems and one false step could be FATAL.


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