Cover Up

by Howard Olgin, Jim Connor (Editor)

Nestled in the heart of one of America's wealthiest communities, Beverly Hills Hospital serves the needs of the rich and famous. For Dr. David Berger, this is an ideal place to practice his surgeon's skills. But for a conglomerate with organized crime connections, it is the target of a possibly violent takeover.

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Mom urged me to take this book she had picked up at a recent used book sale. She said it was easy and fast to read. And the cover blurb says it is a 'gripping medical thriller in the tradition of Coma'. So I brought it home with me, and since I try to read the books she gives me as soon as possible (because she asks about my progress with them) I chose it the other day when I was spending the day trying not to be sick. Seemed appropriate.

So, was it anything like Coma? Well, large parts of the book did take place in a hospital, but I remember Coma being much more heart-stopping and scary. Cover Up is more about the politics involved in a big hospital, and how doctors get caught up in things they really should not be concerned with. Or at least in a perfect world they would not be concerned with such things: making money, keeping better doctors from getting patients, concentrating on business rather than health.

Dave Berger is a general surgeon working for Beverly Hills Hospital. He is one rung up from low man on the ladder, and has failed his oral board exams twice, with his third and final chance coming up just 49 days from the time the book starts. The hospital is in the process of a corporate takeover, and there is a vote coming up soon by the executive board. But then one member of the board has an accident right in the hospital
parking lot: he gets run down by a ambulance. And our man Dave is the only surgeon available to operate. This event gets the ball rolling on all kinds of cloak and dagger goings on behind the scenes of the takeover. We get to meet slimy doctors, a supposed organized crime leader, oily lawyers and one interesting middle aged lady who runs a possibly illegal service to match up doctors and Medicare patients. I liked her, though.

This book was written by a surgeon and there are lots of medical terms, which of course give it that realistic flair. Not necessary to understand any of them, even later when Dave spends a night studying for his exams and we are treated to pages of information about various kinds of tumors and how the surgeon is expected to treat them. Felt like a bit of showing off, but it did help show the mental stress of having to pass those oral exams in order to continue with your entire life.

I thought Doctor Dave was too much in the background of this story to be memorable. He showed up in the first chapters, but afterwards floated in and out of the story, and I was actually surprised every time he appeared. I had gotten all wrapped up in the politics and the board room meantime and pretty much forgot about him. The flow of the story was fairly predictable, but I admit that in the final chapter I was surprised at the identity of 'the boss' who ordered a 'hit' on a certain shady character.

This was an okay read, fast and easy, like Mom said. I would not go out of my way to read any others by Olgin, but if I saw any at a book sale during Dollar-A-Bag Sale Day like Mom did, I would add them to my pile and save them for another Try Not To Be Sick Day.

[Brett]

Suspense