The Society (ISBN 1594131112)

Download Description:
Michael Palmer, M.D., spent twenty years as a full-time practitioner of internal and emergency medicine, and is now an associate director of the Massachusetts Medical Society¿s physician health program. From the Hardcover edition.

Good story, BUT....:
I really have enjoyed all of Michael Palmer's books, but I'm shocked that an actual physician like Palmer would be pushing socialized medicine in a fiction novel. Quite obviously Palmer is thrilled with Great Britain and Canada's government health care and doesn't know of the massive problems for patients trying to get timely care, nor does he realize the cost to the citizens of these countries. He hasn't done his research, but like many famous authors, he's a socialist. The story is great, the premise is faulty...and let me ask Michael this...what are the waste and fraud figures for Medicare and Medicaid alone which is run by the government, not to mention the ponzi scheme of social security. This doesn't even mention how poorly the government education is in government schools these days, nor does it mention the failure of so many postal workers to be able to read well enough to properly deliver mail. If Palmer likes socialized medicine so much, let him move to the countries that offer it...quite obviously our government has proven time and again that they cannot do as well as private enterprise in anything. Constitutionally, we are to be responsible for ourselves...it is NOT THE GOVERNMENTS responsibility to take care of people if they don't take care of themselves.

Medical thriller:
Dr. Will Grant, an interesting character speaking out for HMO reforms gets himself involved in an exciting medical thriller with murders, scandals, and lady cops. This book held my interest and definitely gets you thinking about who can you trust in the health care industry.

I liked this book:
I like this book. Yes, some of the characters are stereotypical... but I think that's because of the way the narrator does his narration... the writing didn't stereotype the physicians, for example, as much as the narrator switching to a snooty, erudite delivery whenever he read a doctor's lines did. The plot was good and the end caught me totally off-guard. That's always nice. Too many books out there are too predictable. There are parts that could have been more thoroughly developed, but overall, I really liked it.

Good story, but dislike the political views.:
I really enjoyed this book, dispite the incredible ending and the unexplained gaps in time. My major complaint is that at the end I had to listen to a long diatribe about HMOs and support for socialized medicine. I was very surprised that a doctor would be pushing socialized medicine and so heavily in a novel. I gave the story a four and 1/2 and had to subtract 1/2 star for the anti-managed care propaganda at the end. I listened to this book and overall was done well. I do wish readers would find out the local pronounciations of places. In New England we do have many places that are spelled very differently than how they are said and I get annoyed that this is not researched. I am sure this happens in other regions of the country too. At least the reader didn't try to do a Boston accent.

(3 1/2) Medical Thriller With Five Star Plot Unfortunately Derailed:
Note: This review is based on the audio CD (11 discs, 13 hours) - which is performed by J. Charles and is highly recommended, the reading itself deserves a five star rating This murder mystery/detective story/medical thriller begins slowly as the author introduces the central character, Dr Will Grant and then provides the reader with the initial pieces of the complex puzzle that will gradually unfold. Dr. Grant is a member of the Boston chapter of the Hippocrates Society, and organization formed to combat the deleterious effect which its members believe the for-profit managed care companies have exerted on the practice of medicine. However, the pace quickly picks up as Dr. Grant's visibility and strong opinions quick bring him to the attention of rookie detective Patty Moriarty, who is investigating the high profile murders of several local managed-care CEOs. The killer, who leaves cryptic clues at each scene and claims to bear a personal grudge against the industry, soon contacts Dr. Grant anonymously and attempts to recruit him as a spokesman for his grievances. Of course, this further increases the police investigators' suspicions of the doctor, particularly Wayne Brasco, the detective who has been put in charge of the case to Patty's dismay and is attempting in every way possible to demean her efforts in the hope of having her reassigned. Both Patty and Will have personal complications which also distract them; Will is attempting to resurrect his life after a bitter divorce while maintaining a close relationship with his young twins and Patty is trying to overcome the disappointment of her father, Commander Tommy Moriarty, that she chose to follow in his footsteps by joining the state police rather than pursue a more respected professional career. Further murders occur, and eventually both Patty and Will find themselves in the crosshairs of the killer as their search for the truth uncovers many inconsistencies in the original theory of the crimes. This is a plot with great potential, and the author creates wonderful suspense as the story moves very rapidly along. There are also many interesting characters, in more cases these are villains rather than good guys - but the minor but essential performance of Augie Machelli as Will's legal defender when he is peril of losing his career was the most enjoyable for me. There are many plot twists, and while some are quite improbable until late in the story they all seem reasonable within the parameters of the storyline and the characters' motivations. Then, after perhaps approximately ninety percent of the narration has occurred, three elements caused my enjoyment to lessen considerably. First, events which had seemed merely improbable were replaced by a sequence which bordered on the totally unbelievable in order to rescue Will and Patty from the extreme danger in which they had very improbably been placed. (At this point he story changed from improbable to totally incredible.) Second, it suddenly seemed that the author was either reacting to an approaching time deadline to submit his manuscript or a self imposed limit on its length; after describing in minute detail most of the action during the crucial events of the past few days, suddenly there was a time gap of several hours and then Will and Patty miraculously appeared to confront the evildoers. And several minor threads (e.g. Wayne Brasco's fate) were left totally unaddressed. Third, and most disappointingly, in a major penultimate aside the author turned the story from a novel about individual wrongdoers within the managed- care industry and who were contrasted to Will Grant (obviously a voice for the author's feelings concerning the need for reform) into a blatant one sided political diatribe in favor of socialized medicine. Then, the final scene suddenly briefly flashed out of nowhere to stun the reader. I loved the medical insights provided by Michael Palmer at many points during the novel, and felt the detail that he provided in the context of the storyline was both informative and added to the realism. (Although, some of the violence and torture seemed a little gratuitous.) And his discussion of Augie's battles with his addiction certainly benefited from his medical knowledge as well. Thus, in summary, my rating reflects five stars for the plot and medical details less a star for the political propaganda and less half a star for the rushed and unsatisfactory ending, which caused me to round it down to three stars since after totally enjoying most of the story I felt so disappointed by the manipulative and rushed conclusion. And I emphasize again, if you get the chance, listen to the Brilliance audio version. Tucker Andersen