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Ben Callahan gave up a career in education to become a private detective, a job he saw as more fulfilling and less nerve-wracking than teaching social studies to bored teenagers. It didn’t take long for him to discover, though, that his new profession was more tawdry than exciting with the bulk of his work involving sordid divorce cases and cheating spouses. Then Ben met Professor Alice Gustafson, the founder and driving force behind Organ Guard, and his life changed forever. Ben is hired by Gustafson to look into the disappearance of an Idaho teenager who has learning difficulties and his subsequent death in a Florida traffic accident. What interests the professor is a report issued by the coroner stating that Lonnie Durkin had donated bone marrow only days before his death. Who would kidnap a boy, drive him to another state, and then release him after withdrawing bone marrow from his hip? Could it be that someone is selling bone marrow on the black market along with other types of organs? At the same time that Ben is tracking down info on Lonnie, a young female medical student is considering the premature end of her career. Natalie Reyes has been forced to take a leave of absence from school after countermanding a senior resident’s orders in the ER. Dr Doug Berenger eases the pain of Natalie’s punishment by sending her to Brazil to deliver a paper at an international transplant meeting. The trip goes badly, though, when Natalie is shot by a would-be kidnapper and loses a lung to surgery. Back in the US, the former track star tries to put her life back together – until she discovers that her Brazilian surgeon doesn’t exist. Back in Brazil to hunt down her doctor, Natalie meets Ben who is hot on the trail of a company dealing in illegal organ transplants. By now a third person has entered the story, a gifted researcher from Cameroon. Dr Joe Anson has received a life-saving transplant, but he’s wary of its origin. His own search for the truth mirrors that of Ben and Natalie, but unlike them, his life is not in immediate danger. Ben and Natalie are facing death, and only luck – and the help of some friends – can save them from a grisly fate. Michael Palmer has written 11 medical suspense stories prior to THE FIFTH VIAL. Like his other books, this one has a convoluted plot based on scientific fact and true-life criminal history. A doctor, Palmer knows his science and presents it in the most harrowing way while also crafting complex characters in believable settings. Like Robin Cook, Palmer knows how to spin a good yarn with just enough scientific background to scare the wits out of his readers. The good news is, he also knows how to bring his criminals to justice while crushing their evil empire in a most satisfying way. But readers beware! You may find yourself exhibiting a bit of Big Brother paranoia the next time you go in for a blood test and the tech draws a fifth vial. Just try to relax, and remember, it’s just a story. Or is it?
Reviewed by Mary V. Welk, April 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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