Code White

by Scott Britz-Cunningham

On live television, neurosurgeon Ali ODay is about to implant a revolutionary minicomputer into the brain of a blind boy, giving him sight, when the words Code White crackle over the hospitals speakers, announcing a bombs presence in the medical center. Ali suspects that a vast, inhuman intellect lies behind the plot to sabotage herand that she may be the true ransom demand.

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

Audiobook

First published January 22, 2013

About the author

SCOTT BRITZ-CUNNINGHAM was born and raised in the Chicago area. An MD and a PhD, he works as a staff radiologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and is an assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Britz-Cunningham lives in Quincy, Massachusetts, with his artist wife, Evelyn, and his son, Alexander.

Reviews

[Patrice Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished Code White by Scott Britz-Cunningham and am impressed with how well this debut novel is written. There are many ways to mess up the medical thriller but the biggest is always making the technical information seem like a foreign language that is not in any way interesting or digestable. There are ways that authors of medical thrillers can get so wrapped up in explaining procedures that ultimately they lose any interest the reader had in it's entertainment value. Brilliantly, Britz-Cunningham's Code White is a good balance of medical information and entertainment.

We are introduced to Ali O'day who is an up and coming neurosurgeon who's about to broadcast for the whole world, an implant of a revolutionary mini-computer into a young boy's brain. This surgery is groundbreaking and will allow Jamie, the boy, to see. Her lover Dr. Helvelius and her soon to be ex-husband assist her in making history all the while, there's something much more dangerous in the works. With reporters and the whole world watching, the hospital security team calls a "code white", a bomb threat.

Harry Lewton, the hospital's chief of security is doing everything in his power to locate the bomb that is in the hospital. Harry is the quinessential security guy you want on your team. His passion, dedication, intelligence, and care makes him the one to root for in this novel. He's a well-developed hero that readers crave in these types of novels. I hold him in high regard because there wasn't anyone else that sparked my interest as he had which brings me to some of the things that I didn't think worked that well.

Ali is a well-rounded developed character and has a lot of good qualities, but she also has some that annoyed the crap out of me. She seemed cold and stoic in moments I thought she would have softened a little bit especially when she was presented with the news of the bomb threat. I understood that she hadn't always had a great relationship with the US of A but for someone who cares so deeply for patients, that layer should have been easier to break in her facade. Her relationship with Jamie does knock some of the reservations I have about her, but then I don't think it was enough for me to really enjoy reading her segments as I did Harry's. And as far as Ali is concerned, her love triangle thing gets a little old and tiring for me and for Ali. What's girl to do?

Finally, my last thing that was a little off for me was the revelation of the whodunnit early in the novel left a little to be desired by the reader. I thought that Britz-Cunningham could have definitely milked that cow a little longer. I hope this doesn't deter any readers because it doesn't hurt the plot, I personally would have liked to do a little more guess work. I mean c'mon! I'm no doctor so the least I can do is put together clues as to who the culprit is.

Overall, I think this was a great, well written, fast paced novel and I really enjoyed spending the few hours that I did with it. Britz-Cunningham has written a great novel right out of the gate. His expertise and knowledge in the medical field and techno field will not disappoint any techies or physicians nor will the thrills, suspense, character depth, and pure entertainment disappoint others who find that to be crucial. I'm happy that Britz-Cunningham's work stands on it's own and he doesn't have to be given brownie points for having a novel set in Chicago and mentioning Evanston.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plotting in this book was decent, but Jesus Crust the dialogue was horrible. People just do NOT talk that way. And the "bad guy" had the absolute worst case of monologuing I've seen in a long time.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Code White by Scott Britz-Cunningham is part medical thriller, techno-thriller and all edge-of-your-seat reading! An emotionally stunted Dr. Ali O’Day becomes the focal point for the twisted rage of her estranged husband, a brilliant scientist. Kevin has created a mini computer, SIPNI, that is implanted within the brain of a small boy to restore his sight. If successful, it was hoped that its uses could be almost limitless. Along with SIPNI, Kevin has also developed Odin, an artificial intelligence able to provide guidance and vital information in real time to the surgeon, Dr. Richard Helvelius, Ali’s current lover and mentor. The historical occasion is filmed for posterity by the media. When a bomb threat is discovered by the chief of security, Harry Lewton, chaos ensues, the FBI is called in, further degrading the situation, as the agents posture for power, claiming they know it is the work of terrorists. Is it? Could it be an inside job? With the clock ticking to the devastation of the hospital and all of its patients, the bombs must be found, the threat eliminated. How does Odin play into this? Is Odin the answer to ending the threat?

Key to this intense thriller are the interpersonal relationships, past and present between the characters. Both Ali and Kevin were extremely flawed, the failure of their marriage was multifaceted and well depicted when woven into the unfolding drama. The egos of the FBI agents gave almost comedic relief to the action going on, a bit of a breather, if you will. Harry Lewton, by far seemed the most capable force to be reckoned with in the time of crisis, but even he had some personal baggage that played well into the main plot. Full of medical and technical jargon, you might want to keep a dictionary handy!

This ARC edition was provided by NetGalley and Tor/Forge in exchange for my honest review. Publication date: April 9, 2013.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I have ever listened to. Not only was the writing (especially the dialogue) horrible, but the narration was also just really, really terrible. The woman reading the book was so whiny and overacted some of the characters so badly that I could only listen through the first four and a half discs...after that I listened to the first few seconds of each section - just enough to keep up with what was going on - and skipped through the remainder of the book. I really was hoping for more about the blind boy and the surgery that the book starts out with, but was sorely disappointed with how little of that plot line the story contained. Don't waste your time with this one...bleck.

[Sherrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had some promise--a sort of "HAL Does Hospitals" for those of you old enough to remember 2001: A Space Odyssey--but it was so poorly written that I couldn't care about anything in it. Not the characters, plot--nothing. I abandoned it halfway through and felt no guilt.

[AKay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited to get my hands on Code White. I even featured it in a Waiting on Wednesday post, but sadly I was slightly disappointed. I was expecting a non-stop page turner with some romance thrown in. What I got was a semi-page turner with semi-unlikable characters. Instead of being a must read, it was just pretty good.

There are three main POVs in Code White. There is Ali O'Day, a doctor who is hoping to give sight to a blind child by a new age computer device. She is a mess. She is too complex, to the point of being annoying. She has a lot of baggage, too much for my taste. I had a hard time connecting with her. She wasn't intolerable, she just wasn't a favorite character of mine. Another point of view was from Kevin, Ali's estranged husband. He was also beyond relatable and had pretty much no redeeming qualities. The other Point of View was from Harry Lewton, the man in charge of the security at the hospital, he was my favorite character in the book. He seemed the most real and I just flat out loved him. He had the perfect amount of charm and awesomeness. He took charge when the hospital went under code white, a bomb threat, and had a good head on his shoulders. Harry Lewton stole the show. I was rooting for him the whole time. He alone is worth reading the book. It was interesting to see the step-by-step process of the hospital's response to the bomb threat.

The overall plot line was pretty darn good. I didn't like how obvious it was to the reader on who planted the bomb in the hospital, but I did enjoy pretty much everything else. I loved the scenes with Harry and his search for the bomb. It was intense and thrilling. I also loved Ali and Jamie, the blind boy's, relationship. There was a good balance of focusing on the bomb and focusing on the medical marvel of getting a blind child to see again. On the other hand, I wasn't big on the medical and science terminology. It was confusing at times and hard to follow. I love watching doctor shows and it doesn't matter that I don't always know the terminology, that doesn't bother me, but I think that in Code White the wording and descriptions were not always executed well.

Even with its flaws Code White was still an enjoyable read. I think people who like advanced technology, medicine, and thriller novels will enjoy this one.

*I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. It has in no way hindered my honest review.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise was interesting but the characters were one dimensional and the scenes kept jumping from one "action" to the next without really keeping with the plot. Being a first novel and considering the author's background in medicine I would say skip it.

[Jennifer Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though this was going to be a more of a medical thriller; but the medical part was lacking to me. Overall an okay book--I would give it 2.5 stars if I could. Next time I'll just read a Robin Cook

[Christine Schmidt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Irritating, unrealistic, soap opera dialogue. Tension artifically pushed. Others do this genre much better.

[Andrea Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read, a blockbuster-style thriller.

Definitely more plot-oriented than character-oriented - I liked the characters okay, but will probably remember the events and situations of the book better than the characters. At times the reader could see the author pulling characters' strings a bit in order to use dialogue to reveal backstory, but it allowed for good pacing and reader interest, instead of laying everything out at once about what made the characters tick.

Author's grasp, on a scale of 1-10:

How to create characters the reader cares about: 5
Handling exposition of backstory: 8
How to create believable motives and abilities in characters: 9
Word-weaving and writing style: 8
Dialogue creation: 4
Knowledge of facts/accuracy in medical and scientific principles: 10
Using terminologies in a way that doesn't lose the reader: 4 (I have a background in medical and scientific lingo, but sometimes I had a hard time keeping up. I appreciate that he didn't dumb it down, but I don't like starting to feel lost while reading.)
Overall plot structure: 9

There were times when the book was hard to put down. I liked the complexity of the main characters' relationships. I would like to have had a bit more falling action, or better, an epilogue at the end, but as stated, the book was more about the story than its characters.

There were a few mild surprises, but nothing that could really be called a twist.

I reserve 5-star ratings for stories which blow me away on multiple fronts - which this story didn't quite do, but it offered enough well-done and satisfying aspects to earn it a solid four stars.

[Lecy Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Content Warning: bombings/bombing threats, descriptive details about invasive medical research being performed on animals. This is an interesting concept, though it raises a lot of ethical and philosophical questions. There were too many sub-stories that made this plot feel cluttered and drawn out. The book is structured in a chronological timeline, starting in the early morning when medical offices are opening and the day's surgeries are commencing, and from the moment officials at the hospital learn of a bombing threat, they are in a constant state of evacuation until the very end of the book, which felt a little far-fetched. Again, I think there is an interesting idea here, but in this case, I believe it was poorly executed.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Code White, a near-future medical thriller, promises a love story enhanced by some cool speculative medical technology. Instead, soap opera vies with nanotech and artificial intelligence issues that don’t rise above the level of a bad made-for-TV movie. Here we go: a Luddite computer tech (huh?); a bomb in a hospital; an AI, waking up; a creepy ex-husband; a lover with a bad case of surgeon’s ego; Mr. Right doc; an unappreciated nurse; and a cute blind kid who needs his brain fixed by revolutionary new AI-controlled nanotech. I could stand to hear more about AI and nanotech and less about the rest. 3 stars.

[Dallas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was 100% into this story until the human/machine merger. For me the story lost all creditability at that point. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't against the idea of it exactly...but it did leave me wondering why the egomaniac didn't attempt it. I mean if you're going to go out there, might as well go all the way right?

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

New author - easy listening to fast paced story. Will re-listen sometime in the future when I can't find another new audio book.

[Amy Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

ScienceThrillers Review:

Code White is a debut novel that brings a new, powerful voice to the medical thriller genre. Written by physician-scientist Scott Britz-Cunningham, a radiologist at Harvard Medical School, Code White is the best hospital-based medical thriller I've read in some time.

Compared to the explosion of science-themed thrillers (especially indies) that I've seen in the past few years, hospital-based medical thrillers are relatively rare. Britz-Cunningham's book serves the genre well, delivering an insider's level of accurate medical detail, a female Muslim protagonist with more character depth than most thriller heroines, and a double dose of SciFi-level technology in the form of an experimental brain implant designed to restore a child's sight PLUS an artificial intelligence-type entity named Odin.

Set inside a Chicago hospital, Code White begins on the day of an historic medical experiment. Neurosurgeons Ali O'Day and her mentor/lover (ooo, ignore those pesky institutional guidelines about relationships between bosses and employees) are being interviewed and filmed in the OR by a TV morning news crew about the surgery they're about to perform. This news media format allows the author to fill in a lot of backstory about the experiment and the characters. I understand the necessity but the scene did feel a bit forced to me. Readers who share my feeling should plow on as the book will capture you with its page-turning appeal. I loved one bit of the author that came through in this scene: Ali O'Day worries about trying to explain her science to a mass audience. This is a challenge for writers of science thrillers, and for all working scientists who must communicate technically complex ideas to listeners who don't have the level of scientific background to appreciate all the details.

The surgery proceeds while things start to happen outside the OR. Readers are introduced to the delightful Harry Lewton, the hospital's chief of security. Harry brings common sense and compassion to his job, getting not only the reader's affection but better results than the rigid FBI agent who arrives at the hospital along with the bomb threat. For the first half of the book, some mystery hangs over the nature and source of the bomb threat. This mystery is dispelled rather early in the story. The author must rely on other sources of tension to keep the reader engaged.

A noteworthy subplot to this book is Islam. Ali O'Day immigrated to the West from a Muslim family, and her life experiences are important in the story. Britz-Cunningham shows insight into Muslim culture and sensibilities from the perspective of both a progressive/Westernized Muslim and a radical fundamentalist that makes for interesting reading.

But this isn't a story about Islamic terrorists. It's about a woman, her loves, her weaknesses, her zeal. It's about advanced medical care (with plenty of detail, including descriptions of neurosurgery and other medical procedures that will either intrigue or bore depending on the reader's preferences) and about artificial intelligence and the fusion of man and machine. Odin, the AI character in Code White, is derivative of many other sentient programs in fiction, reminiscent of HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey and multiple episodes of the original Star Trek. The impact of this "character" isn't its originality, but rather the way Odin's story intersects with Ali's story in the gripping final pages of Code White.

Code White easily earned 5 biohazards for excellent medical content. I give it 3 1/2 stars overall. I felt compelled to read this book swiftly, which is a good thing for a thriller, but am holding back on a full 4 star rating. Code White has all the elements of both plot and character that a 4 star science thriller should, yet somehow the emotional pull of them came up a little short. I think the reason is so much of the emotional action is told in either flashback or as backstory, which robs it of some of its punch.

Code White is Britz-Cunningham's debut thriller. He has written his next novel and I look forward to reading it.

Unique words: AVM arteriovenous malformation; Spetzler Martin scale; axon; 12 gauge needle; catheter; C arms; fluoroscope; butyl-cyanoacrylate

If you like stories about a hospital bomb threat, read CJ Lyons' Critical Condition.
If you like stories about sentient AI, read Mark Alpert's Extinction.

FCC disclaimer: An advance reader e-copy of this book was given to me via NetGalley for review. As always, I made no guarantee that I would read the book or post a positive review.

[Lis Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ali O'Day is a rising young neurosurgeon, and it's the biggest day of her life. She's about to implant into the brain of a young blind boy the SIPNI device developed in collaboration with her estranged husband Kevin, and her lover Richard Helvelius, the medical center's senior neurosurgeon and Ali's professional mentor. If the device works, Jamie will see again. And then it can be used to repair other neurological damage, restoring for other patients the ability to walk, see, hear--it's a potential technological and medical miracle. Along with SIPNI, Kevin has also developed Odin, an artificial intelligence that provides enhanced information to the the surgeon--along with perhaps quite a bit more. There's film crew to record the surgery for posterity and national news ratings, and everything is focused on the great moment.

While they're in surgery, a "code white" is announced over the PA system. "Code white" is a bomb threat.

The hospital's new security director, Harry Lewton, has been running extensive drills on both the security technology and his security staff, but he hasn't been there long enough to know his staff well yet. He and the FBI agent on the scene have some history together that leaves them unable to fully trust each other.

What none of them knows is that there isn't just one bomb, and the bomber isn't an outsider.

This is a wonderfully written thriller, turning on the well-developed personalities and personal histories of key characters. The development of Ali and Kevin in particular is fascinating. There are real reasons why Kevin fell in love with Ali, and Ali with Kevin. It's not a shallow or superficial relationship--and the reasons for the death of their marriage aren't shallow or superficial, either. They both still remember what brought them together, and still struggle with what drove them apart.

And it's key to how the bomb crisis plays out.

Highly recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

[Jud Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What starts out as a historic day for Dr. Ali O'Day changes to one of terror as her soon-to-be ex uses his computer expertise to create "Odin," an artificial intelligence residing in the hospital lab. Odin is like no other computer in the world and Kevin has used him to hold the hospital ransom in revenge for Ali leaving him. His plan goes awry, however, when Odin starts making decisions on his own and setting off explosives, killing several cops and hospital staff. Kevin is arrested but is shot by hospital security while trying to escape and ultimately dies. The only hope now is for Ali to convince Odin that Kevin was going to release everyone. If she succeeds, everyone survives; if not, the death toll will rival that of 9/11.

Code White by Scott Britz-Cunningham is a top-notch thriller that you won't be able to put down once you start it. Those of a certain age will be able to draw an analogy between HAL and the computer intelligence known as Odin. Much like HAL, Odin starts making decisions based purely on the parameters of his programming, which puts the humans around him at risk. This is probably one of the best debut novels that I have read and one that has earned 4/5 stars from me.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should not have bothered finishing it and honestly was speed reading and skimming the tedious parts at the end. He lost me when he hooked up the human brain to the computer to humanize the computer. I was hoping for a good medical drama and the only good part was he did take risk in killing off people. A disappointment for me, but maybe not for someone who likes the role of computers and artificial intelligence. Kevin's dialogue was beyond absurd . With that said, I would try another book by this author because he knows his medical stuff.

[Brick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow start, as Ali O'Day, an incredibly accomplished neurosurgeon is conflicted and nervous, for reasons that take much of the book to be revealed. In spite of this off-putting characteristic, the story proceeds at a rapid pace and becomes gripping as it proceeds. The finale was well done, pure science fiction, but an elegant solution to the problems presented at this point.

An engrossing medical and technical thriller, building to gripping tension as it proceeds.

[Sean Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really got into this to start with: it was gritty, a bottle-show to be sure, but interesting nonetheless. Unfortunately the ending was very obvious and not very satisfying for me. Still, enjoyable enough.

[Tessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a decent thriller. I knew who did it from the beginning and I felt the plot twists weren't shocking enough for me and it was bizarre at times and didn't flow smoothly. But it was decent for a debut novel. I did like the medical terminology though. I understood all of it.

[Brittany Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a goodreads giveaway and its a great book! I really enjoyed reading it!

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story. Near the end, it got a bit too touchy feely, which seemed a somewhat about face from the rest. Still, a decent read if the genre appeals.

[Jan Marino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story! I loved that the author didn't dumb down the medical jargon and I found the story completely compelling. Highly recommend.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read, albeit a bit implausible. If you like hospitals, medicine and computers, you'll enjoy it. The computer part was a bit over the top -- more sci-fi than straight medicine.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome fast-paced thriller!

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars- better than my usual medical mysteries

[Charla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, very exciting and great ending....with all that technology has supassed recently this could very much be a reality! Will be looking for more from this author.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting medical mystery/thriller with some future medical technology.

[Annika · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay novel. Reminiscent of Dan Brown in that the story's time frame is unbelievable, but easy to keep reading.