This was one of the few Michael Palmer books I'd not read previously, and I found it good, but nothing spectacular. As with his other books, the characters are unique to this one, so Palmer does spend a lot of time on character development throughout the book. I find this both good and bad. On the plus side, it means you can pick up any book and not have to worry about a crucial plot twist that occurred in an earlier book and affects what you know about the character. On the downside, readers don't have a familiarity with the characters and it takes a bit of time to sort out the 'good guys' vs. 'the bad guys', though I can also see Palmer using this as an advantage, as it keeps readers guessing.In flashback, the book focuses on Dr. Zachary Iverson, who is invited back to his hometown to work for the hospital his brother, Frank, oversees, a hospital that was once a community medical center but has recently been acquired by UltraMed, a big conglomerate. The local medical board, headed by the men's father, Judge, is nearing a deadline to either re-purchase the hospital or finalize the sale. Immediately after starting his shifts at the hospital, Zachary notices some unpleasant things going on, from a well-respected local doc being forced out in favor of a new UltraMed surgeon, to surgical patients of this new surgeon having remarkable recovery times after anesthesia but lingering nightmares. The relationship between Zachary and Frank has always been strained, and Zachary finds that bringing these concerns to his brother isn't met with a warm response.What I didn't care for about the plot of the book is that it seemed to focus a lot on the pending meeting of the board and whether the hospital would remain with UltraMed or not and less on the patients who were potentially being affected by what the surgeon was trying in his OR. Also, it is discussed that 500 people may have been harmed, but only 2 are focused upon, plus two others who get a brief mention as symptoms manifest. I just felt the premise of the book, as outlined on the back cover, sounded better than it ended up being. That said, it did keep me interested and guessing in the end.
I love all Michael Palmer books. I read a few when I was in middle school and now I want to read all he has.Zach Iverson has just moved back to his hometown of Sterling, NH, to work at Ultramed-Davis Regional Hospital, "Community and Corporate America working together for the Betterment of All." His brother, Frank, runs the hospital and his father, Judge, is head of the board. Zach is asked to consult on the case of a little boy, Toby, who has been having fits from some unknown trigger. He soon discovers something is going on with the anesthesia being used by one particular surgical team and that the patients are reliving their operations... pain, fear, everything! It is up to Zach to figure the cause and the people involved because no one else will listen to him.
What do You think about Flashback (1995)?
This is a decent medical thriller, but for me was memorable for personal reasons.I read this the summer I had to have a minor bit of surgery. I won't give the book away, but the plot revolves around a new anaesthesia that has certain effects. After my surgery my recovery from anaesthesia was similar to the positive aspects described in the book - which obviously freaked me out.Happily I didn't get the negative effects. The positive effects were only due to how little anaesthesia I was given, not because of some new anaesthesia.Still. Bad timing. If you're going in for a short procedure where they're only going to lightly knock you out, this is not a good book to read the week before.
—Kevin
3rd medical thriller has: love, deceit, rivalry, corruption!We're reading Michael Palmer's medical thrillers in order, having thoroughly enjoyed his earlier "Sisterhood" & "Side Effects". As before, most of the story revolves around a hospital, this one, Sterling New Hampshire's Ultramed, part of a big business conglomerate. The successful administrator is Frank Iverson, son of the town's patriarch, Judge Clayton Iverson. When younger brother Zack finally finishes all his training in neurosurgery, he decides (with some misgivings) to return to the family stomping grounds and sign on with Ultramed. We're soon introduced to an 8-year-old, Toby, who is near dieing over reliving his surgery of a year or so ago. We readers are given enough clues to know something is up, and it finally turns out two doctors are in cahoots to experiment on certain patients - gads! As our hero Zack starts to zero in on the malpractice, his new love, cardiologist Susanne Cole, is also victimized, certainly making the whole thing more personal. Meanwhile, hospital politics are rife with tension as Frank and Zack do not see eye to eye almost off the bat; and the Judge is stirring up a possible community buyback of the hospital. Female Ultramed executives bring more chaos to the scene as Frank gets more desperate to hide a years earlier embezzlement, the experimental drugging his salvation??As with his early books, Palmer keeps us hooked till right near the end. In fact, he mixes so many ingredients from the human condition into this one that we can't even tell what kind of stew it is. But it tastes good and leaves us looking for more Palmer - handy he finds success and as of now has seven more novels for us to enjoy. Let's get at it!
—Jerry
