Flawless

Nathaniel McCormick #2

by Joshua Spanogle

A former medical detective for the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Nate McCormick had seen enough suffering to last a lifetime. Now he’s left the CDC, determined to begin a new life with his girlfriend in San Francisco…until the vicious murder of a biotech researcher—an old friend—hurtles him back into the medical world he’d left behind. While the police hunt for a killer, Nate starts sifting through evidence, determined to find what his friend did to provoke his brutal death. And the truth he ultimately discovers far exceeds the very worst he had imagined.

As a circle of treachery tightens around Nate, and the woman he loves is thrust into the line of fire, patients surface with agonizing stories to tell. Nate is about to make the most startling discovery of all: a secret alliance between crime, science, and a billion-dollar industry determined to hide its victims at any price. For Nate, that price will be the one person most important to him—unless he can expose the flaw in a perfect conspiracy of medicine and murder.

From shocking evidence revealed under a microscope to the shattering testimony of those betrayed by the ruthlessness of the medical industry, Flawless takes us on a terrifying, adrenaline-charged journey. Taut, thrilling, and relentless, it will leave you pondering its questions long after the last page is turned.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook, Medical, Crime, Thriller Suspense

496 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 2007

Reviews

[Elif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nate McCormick bir zamanlar CDC’de çalışmış işsiz bir doktordur. Sevgilisi ile sorunları vardır. Bir gün üniversiteden eski bir dostu arar ve yardımını ister. Arkadaşı kötü adamlara bulaşmıştır. Yardım etmek üzere evine giden Nate tüm ailenin katledildiğini fark eder. İstemese de olayların içine çekilir. Arkadaşının intikamını almaya niyetlidir. Ama zaman geçtikçe ve konuya dahil oldukça arkadaşının da çok masum olmadığını anlayacaktır. Arkadaşının evinde bulduğu yüzünde tümörler olan 10 kişinin fotoğrafı her şeyi değiştirecektir. Onlar kimdir ve bunu onlara yapan nedir? Nate’in derine inmekten başka şansı yoktur.
Kitap çok heyecanlıydı. Bulmaca gibi tıkır tıkır okudum. Bazı kısımları tahmin ettim, sorun değil. Çok sürprizli bitmedi, sorun değil. Güzeldi

[Bridgett · Rating 1 out of 5]

It had been only a few months since I’d last stepped foot on the grounds of an elementary school. The occasion had been a whooping cough outbreak in a rich suburb of Atlanta where quite a few of the affluent, Internet-savvy, and misinformed parents had gotten it into their heads that vaccinations were more of a liability than a benefit. Pertussis wasn’t even my bailiwick at CDC, but I wanted to see the disease close up, so I tagged along with the investigation. Two days with wheezing, grunting, miserable juveniles and their nitwit parents. My colleagues and I decided that nitwits who are so flipped about the dangers of vaccines that they don’t take their kids for their shots should be forced to breathe through a straw for a week. Let the parents see how it feels. Then we can talk.

That pretty much says it all. This author/doctor is a total dickhead.

My fellow parents and I decided that nitwit physicians who like to play God, are horribly under-educated about the dangers of vaccines, and who force parents to vaccinate under a one-size-fits-all schedule should be forced to take care of all the severely vaccine-injured children for a week...physically, emotionally, and financially. Let the doctors see how it feels.

Glad this guy stopped writing novels because they're sure as hell not worth reading. A snarky, egomaniacal main character, over-the-top cliche supporting characters, and completely implausible story lines. Add that to a story-line that's WAY too long (it seriously could have been 200 pages shorter), and you've got yourself a big, fat dud.

Thumbs down from this momma of a DTaP injured child.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first Dr Nathaniel McCormick book, Isolation Ward, which compared to Flawless was much better. This was okay but wasn't really that great. Whilst you can read Flawless without having read Isolation Ward as there is plenty of background to each character here and their circumstances I really think you're better off reading it first as frankly it is a better book.

Overall, this isn't a bad book, it just doesn't meet the standard set in the prior one.

[Carolyn Wallis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like medical thrillers. I enjoy learning about medical concepts and practices. Though I thought this author was promising, I've discovered that this author is predictable and the ending scenes continue well beyond anything reasonable. The story does start off fairly intriguing and the characters are interesting then it all gets outlandish. 3 stars might be too much. I suggest you look to other places unless you want a predictable, unreasonable story with some characters that might just be learning something. Sadly this book is just as Flawless as are the medical procedures in the story.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more. It had an awesome premise. I love science based CDC investigation type novels. I felt like the author was really repetitive and made the book a lot longer than it needed to be. Descriptions of San Francisco were neat and much appreciated. I also liked all of the science in the book. But overall, too long and too repetitive.

[Kees van Duyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tijdens zijn opleiding tot dermatologisch chirurg schreef Joshua Spanogle de enige twee boeken die van zijn hand zijn verschenen. Hij debuteerde in 2006 met Isolation ward (Infectie, 2007), het eerste deel met biologisch arts Nate McCormick. Een jaar later werd de opvolger Flawless (Gaaf, 2009) uitgebracht. Beide boeken, die in negen talen zijn vertaald, spelen zich af in de medische en biotechnische wereld en gaan over actuele ethische kwesties.

Voormalig CDC-arts Nate McCormick wordt door zijn oude vriend Paul Murphy, die hij al tien jaar niet meer gezien of gesproken heeft, benaderd met een dringende vraag om hulp. Murphy wordt echter om het leven gebracht en Nate is daarom vastberaden diens moordenaar te vinden. Tijdens zijn onderzoek stuit hij op een aantal afschuwwekkende foto’s en hoort hij enkele verschrikkelijke verhalen. Langzaam maar zeker krijgt hij in beeld waar zijn vriend zich mee bezig hield, maar niet iedereen blijkt hiervan te zijn gediend. Door dit alles komt Nate’s leven steeds meer in gevaar.

Het schoonheidsideaal hield en houdt nog steeds veel mensen bezig en de gevolgen van een ingreep zijn niet altijd om over naar huis te schrijven. De resultaten zijn soms dramatisch, maar er zijn eveneens medische risico’s. Het is dan ook niet zo heel erg vreemd dat de auteur, die in de gezondheidszorg werkzaam is, dit thema in zijn tweede thriller heeft verwerkt. Een aantal zaken die hij hierover naar voren brengt, komen realistisch over en het is daarom niet ondenkbeeldig dat ze in werkelijkheid kunnen voorkomen. Als je dan ook nog eens bedenkt dat winstbejag vaak een belangrijke drijfveer tot duistere praktijken is, is het niet ondenkbeeldig dat de criminele wereld zich hiermee bezig gaat houden. Spanogle heeft zich dit gerealiseerd en dit feit gebruikt om het verhaal een spannend accent te geven.

Daar begint hij, ondanks de betrekkelijk rustige start van de plot, toch vrij snel mee. De lezer wordt in de aanvangsfase al enigszins nieuwsgierig gemaakt en zo nu en dan zijn er enkele spannende momenten. Naarmate het verhaal vordert, nemen deze toe en de climax bevindt zich overduidelijk in de ontknoping. Voor het echter zover is, gebeurt er wel het een en ander. Toch bestaat de plot niet alleen maar uit actie, want aan de privéomstandigheden van protagonist McCormick wordt ruim aandacht besteed. Die blijken nogal complex te zijn en de oorzaak daarvan moet in het voorgaande deel van de tweeluik te vinden zijn. Desondanks kan Gaaf uitstekend als standalone gelezen worden, er wordt namelijk zo goed als niet naar eerdere voorvallen verwezen, de lezer heeft in ieder geval niet de indruk iets te missen.

Ondanks dat alles wat er gaande is volledig vanuit het perspectief van McCormick verteld wordt en de lezer daardoor het een en ander over hem te weten komt, blijft hij over het algemeen behoorlijk oppervlakkig en aan de ene kant komt hij over als een sympathieke vent, maar aan de andere kant heeft hij zijn nukken. Dat maakt hem wel menselijk, maar of hij de harten van alle lezers weet te veroveren, is de grote vraag. Over de Chinese onderwereld en het reilen en zeilen in de biomedische wereld kom je daarentegen wel het nodige te weten. Niet alles daarvan is even interessant en aansprekend overigens.

De schrijfstijl van de auteur is overwegend vlot en toegankelijk en vaak erg beeldend, met soms heftige scènes. Spanogle heeft wel gemeend de nodige humor in het verhaal op te nemen, wat niet altijd een goede keuze is. Vooral in de eerste helft maakt hij daar veelvuldig gebruik van en regelmatig komt dit nogal geforceerd en gemaakt over. Uiteindelijk normaliseert zich dit en zijn de grappigheden meer gedoseerd, hetgeen een aanzienlijke verbetering betekent. Over het geheel genomen is Gaaf een aardige en onderhoudende thriller met een aantal kanttekeningen.

[Mauricio Martínez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read a medical thriller that kept me intrigued and not bored, so this was a good read in that regard. I liked the plot, it was intriguing and had a lot of surprises, that kept you wanting to read more and more.
Although I enjoyed the book, I didn't like the main character that much.. He felt, forced. Unnatural.
But hey, I can't complain, it was a nice book, and a weird change for my previous book trends.

[Mark Giordano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an action-packed, medical mystery story that I truly enjoyed. I don't recall reading Nathaniel McCormick # 1 but I might go back and give it a shot. It's not that he's a particularly impressive lead character, but he's kind of an average person just trying to do the right thing. I never got bored in this story and was curious to see how it would all tie together at the end.

[Ebruli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Son yıllarda sıradan ve zararsız bir uygulamaymış gibi gittikçe yayılan botoks çılgınlığı üzerine doğru düzgün bilimsel çalışma yayınlanmazken kafanızda soru işaretleri oluşmasını sağlayabilir bir kitap.

[Christine Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better be ready for a lot of medical terminology. I found I was hampered by not having read The Isolation Ward, which came before this. So now that's on the to-read list.
A flawed hero, lots of twists and turns.

[Kathleen Messmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new author for me and I loved it! It was action packed from the start. The characters were well developed and likable. The villains were really great villains. Overall really an enjoyable story. Read it.

[Brandi Kuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this author and his writing style. The protagonist has a sense of humor similar to my own and I caught myself audibly laughing several times throughout this page-turner. I will definitely be seeking out the prequel.

[Donna Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read this year. A medical thriller than never stops.

I left this in the trunk of my car and couldn't stop reading. You can pause the story and then pick up right where you left off.

A superb story that even someone who doesn't understand biology will get.

[Mandy Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nate McCormick left the CDC and joined his fiance in California but life is not going well without a plan. He gets pulled into an investigation with a mysterious illness attacking beautiful women and destroying their face. His life is falling apart while he gets sucked in to this new investigation

[Alec Peche · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the story, but the violence was overdone. Also, there was a certain implausibility of what the protagonist was doing.

[Kozmokitap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitap konu olarak ilgimi çekse de yazarın kouyu uzattığını düşünüyorum. Bu nedenle yer yer sıkıcı oldu kitap.

[Kathleen Hagen]

Flawless, by Joshua Spanogle. Produced by Books on Tape, read by Scott Brick, purchased through Audible.com.

This is a taut medical thriller. Nate McCormick has been an unconventional doctor to say the least. He has a checkered background of starting medical school, cheating on a test and being expelled, going back to medical school in Maryland, finishing and ultimately working for the CDC, and leaving that job, which he loved, of investigating viruses, due to politics. His girl friend a doctor working for Oakland California Public Health wants to stay out there in California. Nate doesn’t want to move there because he has lots of baggage from the San Francisco area, that was his first med school experience. But he comes back and moves in with Brooke Michaels. He’s at loose ends, uncomfortable as to where this relationship will go, with no job, when he is called by an old friend from his San Francisco days who insists that they get together and says he needs to talk to Nate. Although their parting had been awkward and they hadn’t seen each other for ten years, Nate agrees to meet him. His friend tells him nothing but asks Nate to come to his home later. Nate does, and finds his friend and the whole family brutally murdered. He also finds some pictures that his friend had hidden, of people with hideous tumors on their faces. He becomes embroiled in a terrifying set of events that involve a research laboratory, cosmetic surgery, Asian gangs and murder. Very good. I couldn’t put it down. Ashamed to say it, but I skipped work in part to finish it.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a few years since I read Spanogle's debut, 'Isolation Ward', so I was a little fuzzy on the history of his main character, Nate McCormick, but I don't think readers would have to read that one in order to get into this one. Spanogle vaguely references what happened, mainly just to explain why McCormick has a bit of a checkered past, and it's not terribly important to know the details for this book. I vaguely remember a couple of McCormick's friends and their personalities, which adds to the believability of this as a sequel to 'Isolation Ward'.
In 'Flawless', McCormick returns to California after 10+ years away and reconnects with a friend from his college days, who seeks McCormick's help with 'something bad' that is going on. Unfortunately, the friend dies before McCormick can find out what it is, but the friend leaves some clues behind and McCormick spends the rest of the book trying to sort it all out. Other than the curiousity I had about how an unemployed scientist who just moved cross-country has the money to rent hotel rooms and cars, plus pay his other expenses when the only income mentioned was a couple hundred bucks he got for selling his car, I thought the plot was very good and kept me guessing until the end. During the climactic final scenes, I was having trouble keeping track of who was the good guy, who was the bad guy, and who was just a bit player in the whole thing.
No preview or hint of a 3rd book in the series at the end of this one, but I'll have to be on the lookout for it, because I have enjoyed these first 2.

[Nandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book is amazing. I actually started at the wrong part but I thank God for that because if I didn't do that then I would have not wanted to read the book. The way the author described the way the Murphy's (Mr. McCormick's friend) body, along with his wife and kids body looked, it was very graphic. Then the way the author described how Mr. McCormick shoved a tube down Murphy's throat to make him breathe, was even more graphic. I know that was a devastating moment. Now I'm up to the part were Mr. McCormick is trying to get a job in Murphy's old job and investigate. He basically feels like he can do a better job then the police. He also feels like this is his job and it was his promise to Murphy. Mr. McCormick's only obstacle now is his girlfriend. She wants her boyfriend to have nothing to do with the investigation of Murphy's murder.
I'm beginning to get a little scared reading the book because the same car Mr. McCormick seen before the death of his friend is now the car that he is constantly seeing while under the investigation. What an amazing book. I don't know what to expect.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Publishers Weekly
Stanford med student Spanogle's high-energy sequel to 2006's Isolation Ward shares its predecessor's virtues and, well, flaws. Smart-alecky Dr. Nathaniel McCormick, starting a new life in the San Francisco Bay Area after quitting his job at the Centers for Disease Control, stumbles on photographs of living people with hideous facial tumors. Before they can die from their disease, however, the sufferers are being horrifically murdered in an apparent effort to prevent the authorities from noticing their condition. Lurking in the background is an unsavory gang of Chinese mobsters with a particular interest in the region's biotech industry. McCormick hunts frantically for answers as the bodies pile up. Spanogle's efforts at engineering poignant moments clunk more often than not, and his hero's tendency to crack wise in dire situations strains believability, but he has an undeniable gift for creating tension and movement. For page-turning fun, this gory medical thriller has all the elements.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't one of my favorites, but I have to admit that I really do like medical thrillers/mysteries. I've read another book by this author that featured Dr. Nate McCormick of the CDC also, and I can't say that it was one of my favorites either.

Nate leaves the CDC and moves to San Francisco to be with his girlfriend. He arrives in the Bay area and immediately proceeds to get himself involved in a murder mystery of an old school friend and his family ... actually discovers their bodies as they are dying from a horrible break- in/murder in their home as he's about to reconnect after many years. Of course, he's outraged about their murders and wants to make things right. He discovers pictures of people with horribly disfigured faces at his former friend's home, but doesn't know what the story is behind them. Therein lies the mystery!

Nate gets himself into lots of "hot water" with the police, his girlfriend, and a very high-powered Chinese gang. It was a fun read, all in all.

[Laren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided pretty early on in the story that I didn't much care for the protagonist. He was self-centered, non-law-abiding and had too much nasty baggage and current vices to appreciate him. And yet I wanted to find out what was really going on in this medical investigation on the origins of facial tumors in recent plastic surgery patients who all mysteriously subsequently disappeared. The plot took way too long to reach the end, but it did reward me a little with glimpses of a possibly changed man by the end. To be fair, the fact that I was able to decide how much I didn't like the main character also probably says something about how well the author painted his pictures to the reader.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows Isolation Ward. So, it basically continues on with the two main characters and goes from there. Again - I enjoyed the suspense in this story and kept me going until the end waiting to find out what happened. But, man - this author sure knows how to write some disturbing stuff. In this book there are some torture scenes that I fast-forwarded through :) - but maybe it's just me. The main character does things that I would hope no normal person with any common sense would do - but if you can get past that - this will provide you with hours of entertainment (mostly).

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fast-paced medical suspense/thriller. If you like books by Robin Cook, Michael Palmer, Tess Gerritsen and the like, I think You'd like Flawless.
BUT..I must give a warning!! This book has explicit descriptions of violence. If it wasn't for the fact that the plot intrigued me (injectiable consmetic procedures gone amuck), I probably tould not have finished the book because of the explicit violence. I would have appreciated a disclaimer before diving into the book. But, now...you've been warned! :)

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Book. Sort of a medical mystery/thriller. Follows a guy who falls upon a secret plot that involves a major biotech pharmacutical company and a new drug that takes years off of ones face through botox like injections, but of course there is a problem and much more to the ever unfolding story. Great fiction roller coaster ride that will keep you guessing and page turning all the way until the end.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sequel to Isolation Ward, Flawless continues to follow the careers of Dr's from the CDC and local infectious disease agencies.

People begin showing up with terrible facial skin tumors. Even more alarming these people also begin to be murdered.
Following the clues, the Drs' discover an underworld of experimental drugs and treatments. And of course a huge financial incentive. Thrilling and fast paced.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good medical thriller - the second in a series, although I haven't read the first one.

I like the main character - he's smart & smart-alecky & snotty in a way that amuses me. He's fleshed out & believable. The sense of place here (San Francisco) is fairly well rendered & the plot is twisty & turny & believable. It's also timely given our fascination with plastic surgery of all kinds. This was just what it was meant to be - a good, fun vacation read.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I deserve five stars for having actually finished this. 17 hours are just a bit too long, especially since the whole plot seemed predictable and even though I frequently lost interest and concentration on this I don't think I actually 'missed' anything.

On the plus side, I did like the narration and thought that the reader's voice helped even more with Nate's wit and sarcasm which was the only highlight in this book for me, unfortunately.

[Honestly Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many F-words. But, it makes you think about this crazy world that we live in that is so obsessed with physical beauty. Billions of dollars a year are spent on plastic surgery and the likes, according to this book. It is sad that we cannot accept ourselves as we are for the beautiful people we are.

[Shelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. Talk about gratuitous violence! I couldn't believe how bad this got towards the end of the book. I read the first one by this guy, and I don't remember it being this bad. I had to skip parts because it was just disgusting. Lots of bad language, too. Add an obnoxious, sarcastic, self-absorbed main character, and there wasn't anything really redeeming about this book. Not a good read.