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5th out of 19 books
—
30 voters
The Fifth Vial
by
Michael Palmer (Goodreads Author)
From the blockbuster, eleven-time New York Times bestselling author comes a novel of medical suspense that begins with these chilling questions: Who ends up with the blood samples you routinely give for tests? What else are they being used for? Why don't you know?
Take a Deep Breath. . . .
In Boston, a disgraced medical student is sent to deliver a research paper that could...more
Take a Deep Breath. . . .
In Boston, a disgraced medical student is sent to deliver a research paper that could...more
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published
February 20th 2007
by St. Martin's Press
(first published 2006)
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This is a medical thriller. It describes the illegal organ transplant trade through a vast global conspiracy. A company called Whitestone sets up a huge network of private labs to do routine testing for medical purposes. An extra vial of blood is taken and sent to a central processing facility supposedly for QC purposes. Instead the blood is analyzed for suitability for organ donation. When a wealthy person needs an organ, a donor is matched through Whitestone's database. Most often the donor is...more
I was expecting something more. The basic story line was OK--about the murky underworld of organ donation--but the grand conspiracy theory a bit farfetched. I figured out the big shocker mystery really early, though, so that made the rest less dramatic. The tension didn't build like it does in, say, a Michael Crichton medical thriller. Mainly, I don't think the author does characters and dialogue that well. I liked the reluctant, uncertain detective, but was less fond of the heroine of the story...more
My mom reads books like this in 5 minutes, i think it is just to pass the time. She thought she might pass this one along since there is some hint of "science" in it. I started reading it and the first thing i thought of was that the author must not know anything about medicine. I looked at the back cover and to my surprise, it is a doctor. What a joke. It is medical drama sensationalized to the point of being ridiculous. Way to scare the populace.
The Fifth Vial written by Michael Palmer. I wasn't sure about this book when I started listening to it as an audiobook because I did not like the reader's female character voices and felt the twang in Ben’s, a main characters voice was artificial. However, as I continued to listen, I began to get caught up in the plot and connected with the characters. The plot and action made the voices less important but I would have enjoyed it more with a different reader.
Natalie Reyes a young medical residen...more
Natalie Reyes a young medical residen...more
While working at AABB (the American Assn of Blood Banks), this book got passed around due to its subject matter. I saw it at B&N on clearance and figured I'd check it out.
I don't usually do the thriller/mystery kind of stuff, so I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy it. It was a little slow to get going as the 3 main plot lines all operate independently, but towards the end of the book as loose ends start matching up, I started to get more into it.
As usual with these sorts of books, the author fe...more
I don't usually do the thriller/mystery kind of stuff, so I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy it. It was a little slow to get going as the 3 main plot lines all operate independently, but towards the end of the book as loose ends start matching up, I started to get more into it.
As usual with these sorts of books, the author fe...more
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I am new to 'goodreads' but thought that I would contribute by adding the books that I have read over the past year. It's a bit difficult to write a review months later. I remember enough about all of these books. They were 'good reads' or 'worthwhile reads' in my humble opinion. I am attempting to discuss what stood out for me.
I really like stories like this. Fiction but believable ? I say "yes" - being a scientist and of course my spouse responds "It is fiction !" It has been a while since I h...more
I really like stories like this. Fiction but believable ? I say "yes" - being a scientist and of course my spouse responds "It is fiction !" It has been a while since I h...more
3 likes · like · see review
A pretty easy beach read, although there is some depth to it. The concept of organ donation (and in some cases the idea of "donation" is used loosely) is an interesting one, and is tied into the plot and the characterization quite well. The characters aren't quite three dimensional - and I felt like I was told more than I was shown about Ben and Natalie - but for a thriller, they were just right.
I actually thought the Plato quotes worked to ground the story in something that might even seem plau...more
I actually thought the Plato quotes worked to ground the story in something that might even seem plau...more
Too bad the whole book wasn't like th end, loved the end few chapters of the book. The first part of the book was a struggle to read though, it never fully pulled me in.
2 likes · like · see review
Pretty much in line with Michael Palmer's other books - pretty basic medical mystery/thriller with a not-entirely-unexpected twist at the end. A good, fairly quick summer read.
Natalie Reyes, a 30-something Harvard trained doctor goes to Brazil to present a paper for her esteemed colleague after being suspended from her residency for insubordination. While in Brazil she is attacked and left for dead, but wakes up in a hospital missing one lung. It was damaged during the attack and had to be surgically removed. Will this unfortunate operation to save her life take away her livelihood? These events lead her on a dangerous, murderous, and unfathomable mission to expose or...more
Oh my gosh, what a treat to have discovered Michael Palmer. Well, actually, a friend turned me on to him. I was a Robin Cook fan and hadn't found much in the way of medical thrillers until I started reading Tess Gerritsen and now have found Palmer. Fifth Vial is another treatise of the somewhat used plot of illegal organ theft and transplants. Palmer has a little different take on it, and while there are a few places that require real suspension of disbelief in the main it is interesting, exciti...more
How about this--back to back Michael Palmers? The first one was from the bookmobile, the second from a book sale. It is amazing when you think that you have read all of an author's books, and then find two more. The heroine of this story, Natalie Reyes, is persistent and annoying at the same time. Once a world class athlete, she is now at 35, trying to complete medical school. She ends up being attacked in a foreign country, and losing a lung. This book is about organ transplants, and the illega...more
Books that increase your paranoia are always fun to read, and this book did exactly that. Trust me when I say that I will ALWAYS pay attention to the color on the top of the vials they use to take blood from now on, and if a green one is in the mix, I'm running away... Fast. This book was very much written like Crichton's Next. Separate stories, told from separate points of view, seemingly unrelated that come together in the end. Although Palmer's writing was not nearly as advanced as Crichton's...more
This book came highly recommended from a friend. It was well written, fast paced and informative on the subject of organ transplants. The evil that men can do was underscored again and again. Very interesting that each chapter started with a quote from Plato and very interconnected with the story line. it was a quick read but I didn't actually find the story line that believable, things just happened to fast and there were too many coincidences. I hope this story is as implausible as I found it,...more
Quite an entertaining book. Moves between several continents and different groups of people, all struggling with health problems, organs received or donated, and a detective trying to check into organ fraud. Very horrifying to think about the underworld traffic in organs, which does exist. Very realistic descriptions of what it must be like to need a lung--"air hunger," but unbelievable at the feats these people can do. Still, there are many obstacles along the way--not smooth sailing--the the s...more
I finished this book quite a while ago. I really enjoyed it, as I always do with Michael Palmer's medical stories. Again he focuses on medical ethics, and raises questions that might be raised at some time in the near or far future. Palmer's style keeps the action moving right along, and I can barely put his books down to go to sleep! This book is about the tubes of blood that are drawn, but unused, and the nefarious use of them to type and match blood and tissue, keeping the results in a comput...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Need a fix while you’re waiting for Robin Cook to release his next medical thriller? Why not give Michael Palmer, Cook’s contemporary and former classmate, a read.
Though he lacks Cook’s global acclaim, Palmer released his twelfth medical thriller this year with The Fifth Vial, a suspense-filled look at the grisly world of underground organ donation. In the novel, we are introduced to three seemingly unrelated characters—Natalie Reyes, a former Olympic runner and Harvard Med student who is attack...more
Though he lacks Cook’s global acclaim, Palmer released his twelfth medical thriller this year with The Fifth Vial, a suspense-filled look at the grisly world of underground organ donation. In the novel, we are introduced to three seemingly unrelated characters—Natalie Reyes, a former Olympic runner and Harvard Med student who is attack...more
Jul 06, 2008
John Mayer
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
someone in prison with no other reading material.
Like so many thrillers, an intriguing premise and not much else. Also, like most thrillers, gets worse as it goes along and the author has to supplement his concept with some story-telling. As another reviewer noted, the protagonists are saved way too often by good luck, too many coincidences. Might be worthy of another half star, but that’s not an option here. “OK” is too strong an endorsement.
I, too, was caught by the medical theme, just having graduated in a medical field, but science has li...more
I, too, was caught by the medical theme, just having graduated in a medical field, but science has li...more
i am enjoying this book at the moment.
i was thrown off by the mutliple story lines but i think i am getting to the point where i am about to see where they all intersect [not sure if they actually intersect but i am feeling that hat is the direction:]
so....the book got better and there was quite a bit of action in the last chapters when the separate stories started coming together.
i finished this book on sunday night.
i was a little let down by the ending.
but now i am ready to start reading The...more
i was thrown off by the mutliple story lines but i think i am getting to the point where i am about to see where they all intersect [not sure if they actually intersect but i am feeling that hat is the direction:]
so....the book got better and there was quite a bit of action in the last chapters when the separate stories started coming together.
i finished this book on sunday night.
i was a little let down by the ending.
but now i am ready to start reading The...more
Nov 02, 2009
(Kelly)~Got Fiction?~ Oakes
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
medical-thriller
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Meh, this was a totally servicable medical thriller. It was not at all well-written, and the plot was tied up a little too neatly for my tastes, but it passed several hours of sitting around the airport, and for that I am grateful.
It was strange that the whole book was about illegal organ trafficking, and then the afterword was mostly about how important organ donation is (rather than about the realities of organ trafficking). I get that the author is more likely to get a reader to change their...more
It was strange that the whole book was about illegal organ trafficking, and then the afterword was mostly about how important organ donation is (rather than about the realities of organ trafficking). I get that the author is more likely to get a reader to change their...more
I did like the excerpts from Plato and it piqued my interest in reading more from "The Republic". I learned a little about the human organ trade, but the plot was too far-fetched for me. Even the main characters were not very realistic, but it was good for a "fast read". I do not think the author is nearly as entertaining as say, Michael Crichton or Dan Brown. I was also somewhat disappointed in the ending.
This book was a bit like a roller coaster ride, fast and furious,and scary but not really life like. I had a hard time taking it seriously, perhaps it was the reader's fault, but I thought I was watching cartoons while listening to this. Had this been marked as YA I might have given it 3*. A far cry from Cutting for Stone another book about medicine I just happened to read the same week.
This was an Audio book. My first book by Michael Palmer. I really enjoyed it. It was full of excitement and the unknown. Lots of twists and turns. This would have been a great read. The audio book was great! I look forward to reading some of his books. This is a great way to discover new authors. This book will get you thinking and wondering what will really happen next! Great Book!
This is pretty much in line with Michael Palmer's other books - pretty basic medical thriller with a twist at the end (not unexpected). A good, quick summer read. I like stories like this. It’s fiction but you believe it could actually happen. The science in the midst of the story is interesting and current. Some of the stories were told from separate points of view but it all came together in the end. Books that increase your paranoia are always fun to read, and this book did exactly that. Afte...more
I never would have picked this book out on my own. My husband had to read this for a Business Ethics class a couple semesters ago so I actually read it to him. The story-line was intense and we would stay up ridiculously late reading because we were so in to it. There's some pretty nasty language and gory details but overall an enjoyable read.
This book reminded me of IMMORTAL LIFE OF HARRIET LACKS in that it deals with medical ethics and the question of to whom do our extra tissue or blood samples belong? It is a suspenseful medical and murder mystery involving organs being harvested from unwilling donors. A medical student who was robbed of a lung, a researcher of a fantastic new serum who receives an organ, and a detective who is out to right the wrong of organ theft all end up together in Brazil in an action adventure like Clive C...more
This was a book that the library put in the similar category to Robin Cook. I would have to differ in their opinion. The plot was a good one - organ transplant - or should I say stealing? But it turned out to be highly predictable and a bit disappointing. Overall a nice diversion, but not something I would go out of my way to read again.
The premise of this book interested me because I work in clinical lab medicine, but the plot progression was just too over the top for me. Luis just happened to have a cave filled with weapons in case of a revolt at the hospital in Brazil? Yeah right. I also didn't really like the characters I think I was suppose to like. The whole thing felt like it was written to be a movie... and if it's made into one, I think I'd like it better.
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Michael Palmer, M.D., is the author of the forthcoming A Heartbeat Away (2011), The Last Surgeon, The First Patient, The Fifth Vial, The Society, Fatal, The Patient, Miracle Cure, Critical Judgment, Silent Treatment, Natural Causes, Extreme Measures, Flashback, Side Effects, and The Sisterhood. His books have been translated into thirty-five languages. He trained in internal medicine at Boston Cit...more
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