26 books
—
11 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Silent Treatment” as Want to Read:
Silent Treatment
by
In his five bestselling novels, from The Sisterhood to Natural Causes, physician Michael Palmer has drawn on years of firsthand emergency-room experience to create the drama of a frighteningly authentic world—a world where the line between medicine and murder is scalpel-thin. Now, in his most harrowing suspense novel yet, Palmer reveals how the power to heal can become a l
...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 480 pages
Published
February 1st 1996
by Bantam
(first published March 1st 1995)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Silent Treatment,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Silent Treatment
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Silent Treatment

Rating: 3.5
This was a pretty fun medical thriller. This has been one of my favorite medical thrillers so far.

I only rated it three stars because the whole innocent person getting framed trope causes me a lot of anxiety. Not in a good way either for me a lot of the time. I don't know why. I've DNFed books for that reason alone. I understand why writers use that trope though.
...more
This was a pretty fun medical thriller. This has been one of my favorite medical thrillers so far.

I only rated it three stars because the whole innocent person getting framed trope causes me a lot of anxiety. Not in a good way either for me a lot of the time. I don't know why. I've DNFed books for that reason alone. I understand why writers use that trope though.
...more

This novel deals with conspiracy in the field of health insurance. Harry Corbett's wife needs an operation and the night before this operation she is killed. Harry is the suspect and the quest to find out what really happened begins.
This book didn't bore me but it never grabbed my whole interest either. I did like the concept of the book and the idea of how far executives of health insurance companies will go to save money is scary and relevant. I think I was a little turned off by the past hist ...more
This book didn't bore me but it never grabbed my whole interest either. I did like the concept of the book and the idea of how far executives of health insurance companies will go to save money is scary and relevant. I think I was a little turned off by the past hist ...more

May 10, 2014
Joyce McKune
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-fiction,
medical-thriller
One thing I love about this author is I don't have to worry about reading them "in order", however, this one could use a sequel. Will Harry and Maura live happily ever after? I suppose after the excitement of this story, nothing they could do would compare.
Harry's wife was having an brain aneurism repaired in the morning. The ward was very full and the person in the next bed was (Maura) going through alcohol withdrawal after head surgery from a drunken fall down the stairs. Harry was visiting a ...more
Harry's wife was having an brain aneurism repaired in the morning. The ward was very full and the person in the next bed was (Maura) going through alcohol withdrawal after head surgery from a drunken fall down the stairs. Harry was visiting a ...more

My first book by Michael Palmer, but not the last, I'm sure. A real roller-coaster ride, with lots of suspense all the way. It went fast, mainly because I had trouble putting it down.
If you don't like the state of medical care and medical insurance in the US, this book probably won't change your mind. Although it was a bit over the top, it didn't seem completely unbelievable that the insurance company would try to maximize their profits at the expense of a few patients. Hopefully, they don't go ...more
If you don't like the state of medical care and medical insurance in the US, this book probably won't change your mind. Although it was a bit over the top, it didn't seem completely unbelievable that the insurance company would try to maximize their profits at the expense of a few patients. Hopefully, they don't go ...more

From the prologue to the epilogue this book kept me in a panic. I felt for each of the characters in a special way. The balance between the stress of being investigating for the murder of one's wife to solving that mystery was perfect. Just when the reader thought that everyone was figured out.....Nope try again. Classic Palmer style. A great read and true page turner.
...more

Dr. Harry Corbett's wife dies unexpectedly - murdered. Other deaths are also occurring in the hospital. As Harry investigates, he finds a high level conspiracy to eliminate certain types of patients. He has to find out the doctor who is doing this and why.
...more

I resented every minute I had to be away from this book until I finished it. It was suspenseful and compelling. I would have liked a less punchy ending- a bit more of an aftermath would have been nice, to find out a bit more about what happened to some of the characters. One of them- Maura's brother, disappeared from the plot and never returned!
...more

If you're a fan of medical thrillers suspense/thrillers, especially those written by authors who are or have been doctors, then you've got to check out Michael Palmer's books. I've been a fan of his for a long time, but hadn't read Silent Treatment. I couldn't put this one down.
...more
...more

i really enjoyed this one!
it was my first by michael palmer... im not really into medical thrillers, but the pacing and plotting were great
he's a very talented writer.... he sometimes goes a bit over the top with his medical descriptions, but it doesn't distract from the story too much
highly recommended! ...more
it was my first by michael palmer... im not really into medical thrillers, but the pacing and plotting were great
he's a very talented writer.... he sometimes goes a bit over the top with his medical descriptions, but it doesn't distract from the story too much
highly recommended! ...more

Michael Palmer
i don't know about a silent treatment , because i not yet to read this books .
i want to the meaning to indonesian , because i have a homework about it
please help me to finis my homework ... ...more
i don't know about a silent treatment , because i not yet to read this books .
i want to the meaning to indonesian , because i have a homework about it
please help me to finis my homework ... ...more

so found this on my bookshelf, was in the mood for something different.
A good story, no a great story.
Interesting twists and turns.
Yet I was sooo bored. I cant explain it.
A good story, no a great story.
Interesting twists and turns.
Yet I was sooo bored. I cant explain it.

Perhaps not the worst he's written, but it's certainly the worst I've read!
When you've written as many novels as Michael Palmer has, it's a logical inevitability that something is the best and something else has to qualify as the weakest! It's a sad day to encounter that candidate for a career worst when you've come to believe that an author's quality is almost inevitably top flight!
When Evie Corbett, a young up-and-comer in the community, dies suddenly and unexpectedly on the eve of a surgery, ...more
When you've written as many novels as Michael Palmer has, it's a logical inevitability that something is the best and something else has to qualify as the weakest! It's a sad day to encounter that candidate for a career worst when you've come to believe that an author's quality is almost inevitably top flight!
When Evie Corbett, a young up-and-comer in the community, dies suddenly and unexpectedly on the eve of a surgery, ...more

In 'Silent Treatment', Dr. Harry's hopes of reconciling with his wife Evie are dashed when her surgery goes horribly wrong thus she dies from a brain haemorrhage. To make things worse, he becomes the prime suspect. However, the killer isn't about to stop. As the body count rapidly increases, Harry embarks on a dangerous quest to unveil the truth only to find that he's up against a formidable foe..
Having read 'Miracle Cure' by Michael Palmer, I was pleasantly surprised by this book as it was a de ...more
Having read 'Miracle Cure' by Michael Palmer, I was pleasantly surprised by this book as it was a de ...more

I enjoy many of Palmer's books, but this one took a little while to get into, and when I did, I found the main plot to be a bit of a stretch. The book opens with Dr. Harry Corbett fighting against the administration of his hospital over the roles primary care physicians play in the care for their patients, but once his wife, Evie, dies immediately prior to a scheduled surgery, that goes on the back burner. Instead, Corbett must focus on proving someone else killed his wife while he was out getti
...more

Whilst this had a certain air of deja vu having similar plot elements to a Robin Cook book I had read previously (insurance companies killing expensive patients to save money) there was a distinct difference in implementation of these plot elements. In Silent Treatment the story is more about the ramifications of those acts & the people involved in them, than the acts themselves.
Specifically, a friendly doctor, Harry Corbett, has his wife go in for what should be a rather run of the mill neurosu ...more
Specifically, a friendly doctor, Harry Corbett, has his wife go in for what should be a rather run of the mill neurosu ...more

Michael Palmer nearly always provides a medically-based, action-packed thriller. Silent Treatment does not disappoint.
Dr. Harry Corbett is just a few days away from his 50th birthday, which he is dreading because of a "family curse" that seems to strike the men in his family on that date. His wife, Evelyn, with whom he has a strained relationship, is scheduled for surgery at Manhattan Medical Center for a brain aneurysm. When Evie dies suddenly the night before the surgery, Harry is accused of ...more
Dr. Harry Corbett is just a few days away from his 50th birthday, which he is dreading because of a "family curse" that seems to strike the men in his family on that date. His wife, Evelyn, with whom he has a strained relationship, is scheduled for surgery at Manhattan Medical Center for a brain aneurysm. When Evie dies suddenly the night before the surgery, Harry is accused of ...more

A medical thriller that isn't, in a way. The lives of several people are taken in a mysterious way. The methods cause suspicion to land on Dr. Harry Corbett. To save himself, Corbett must track down the killer himself.
The medical part is that it takes a doctor or otherwise medically trained person to commit these murders. But there isn't any mysterious disease or unusual treatment involved. It is simply an evil person using his medical knowledge. There is a backstory here about the evil person ...more
The medical part is that it takes a doctor or otherwise medically trained person to commit these murders. But there isn't any mysterious disease or unusual treatment involved. It is simply an evil person using his medical knowledge. There is a backstory here about the evil person ...more

Palmer never disappoints. Every chapter leads me onward, and while the plot is somewhat predictable there are enough twists and turns in the narrative to keep one reading. This novel is one about health insurance companies which begin to terminate patients who have become too expensive to care for....a chilling thought given our broken health care system. It's not difficult to imagine that when a for-profit health insurer begins to determine who will get care and what that care will be in spite
...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Gripping and enthralling. Felt like 3 parts to this book. First mostly to do with Harry and his problems, then the accusations, then the hunt. I really couldn't stop reading this every night. Loved it very much. Michael Palmer is not an author I have read before and it was yet again another garage sale box bargain of other books. I will start reading his other novels!
...more

If it weren't for the language and sex, I'd be saying that this is one of the best books I've ever read! There are several different plots going on, and you wonder how on earth they're ever going to fit together, and as each one does, it is startling! So many unexpected occurrences and cliff-hangers in this book! On to the next Michael Palmer book!
...more

Terrific mystery!
This story is fast-paced and is a fascinating page turner. As it develops, the main characters leap off the page and become more real. The twists and turns are swift and shocking, leaving this reader to take a deep breath before moving on from one swift plot maneuver to the next.
I recommend this book highly.
This story is fast-paced and is a fascinating page turner. As it develops, the main characters leap off the page and become more real. The twists and turns are swift and shocking, leaving this reader to take a deep breath before moving on from one swift plot maneuver to the next.
I recommend this book highly.

All of Michael Palmer's books a good, full of suspense and thrilling, scary moments. I find his books to be a bit wordy and too long and technical in many places, but this is not enough to keep me from picking up a book of his. The happily ever after is predictable. The satisfying portion of this particular book is how the bad guys are eliminated! Excellent! Fist bump!
...more
...more

Michael Palmer is right up there with Robin Cook in my book! I love the medical thrillers. This one is scary because of how plausible it is. Hmmmm....everyone with massively expensive conditions keeps dying. Whose pockets would those people drain? Hmmm. Secret groups, torture experts, physicians and insurance execs keep the suspense going...
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
News & Interviews
Happy Women's History Month! One of the undisputedly good things about modern scholarship is that women’s history is finally getting its due....
73 likes · 11 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »