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The Fifth Vial
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 save her career. . . . Four thousand miles away, in a jungle hospital in Cameroon, a brilliant, reclusive scientist, dying from an incurable disease that threatens to make each tortured breath his last, is on the verge of perfecting a serum that could save millions of lives, and bring others inestimable wealth. . . . In Chicago, a disillusioned private detective, on the way to his third career, is hired to determine the identify of a John Doe, killed on a Florida highway, with mysterious marks on his body.
Three seemingly disconnected lives, surging unrelentingly toward one another. Three lives becoming irrevocably intertwined. Three lives in mounting peril, moving ever closer to the ultimate confrontation against a deadly secret society with godlike aspirations and roots in antiquity.
Medical student. Scientist. Private eye. Three people who will learn the deeper meanings of brilliance and madness, truth and deception, trust and betrayal.
Three lives linked forever by a single vial of blood—the fifth vial.
Take a Deep Breath. . . .
In Boston, a disgraced medical student is sent to deliver a research paper that could save her career. . . . Four thousand miles away, in a jungle hospital in Cameroon, a brilliant, reclusive scientist, dying from an incurable disease that threatens to make each tortured breath his last, is on the verge of perfecting a serum that could save millions of lives, and bring others inestimable wealth. . . . In Chicago, a disillusioned private detective, on the way to his third career, is hired to determine the identify of a John Doe, killed on a Florida highway, with mysterious marks on his body.
Three seemingly disconnected lives, surging unrelentingly toward one another. Three lives becoming irrevocably intertwined. Three lives in mounting peril, moving ever closer to the ultimate confrontation against a deadly secret society with godlike aspirations and roots in antiquity.
Medical student. Scientist. Private eye. Three people who will learn the deeper meanings of brilliance and madness, truth and deception, trust and betrayal.
Three lives linked forever by a single vial of blood—the fifth vial.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2000
About the author
Michael Palmer
67 books251 followersMichael Stephen Palmer, M.D., was an American physician and author. His novels are often referred to as medical thrillers. Some of his novels have made The New York Times Best Seller list and have been translated into 35 languages. One, Extreme Measures (1991), was adopted into a 1996 film of the same name starring Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Gene Hackman.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 446 reviews
August 25, 2025
A thrilling treatment of a very tired medical thriller plot subject!
When I read the dust flap for Michael Palmer's 12th medical suspense novel, THE FIFTH VIAL and realized that it was about the illicit black market for transplant organs, I just about set it aside unread. Surely, Michael Palmer, himself an MD and an imaginative successful author of 11 previous medical thrillers could come up with a better plot idea than the hoary old chestnut of the black market trade in transplant organs! Well, the book was in my hands, my drink was already poured and the fire was lit ... I couldn't be bothered going back to my bookshelf for a second choice! And that, my friends, was a wonderful piece of serendipity!
Natalie Reyes, a medical student in Brazil for a conference, is attacked and hospitalized and loses a lung. Ben Callahan, a down on his luck, hard up private detective in Chicago, has been engaged by Organ Guard, anthropologist Alice Gustafson's watchdog agency, to investigate some apparent human rights violations and abuses in the procurement and transplantation of organs and tissues. Dr Joe Anson, a humanitarian, a doctor and brilliant researcher in Yaoundé, Cameroun, closes in on the completion of his research on Sarah-9, a drug that will save untold numbers of lives when it reaches world markets. But the race to complete that research may be lost to pulmonary fibrosis. Without a new lung, Anson's fate is all but sealed and the benefits of Sarah-9 will be lost to mankind.
OK, OK ... so Palmer's characters are a little bit overdone, a little bit stereotyped and cartoonish and little bit too heroic to be believable! But, the fact is, Palmer has also turned what could have been a potential rehash of old news into an exciting plot that moves at lightning speed with a techno-twist that will really raise your eyebrows. The ending, which ties up all the loose ends, is both brilliant and emotionally moving!
I was especially moved to see Michael Palmer's afterword in which he makes a personal plea to readers to become organ donors. For goodness' sake ... discuss the issue with your families, sign your organ donor cards, signify your intent on your drivers licenses, contact your local donor registries and make your death (which, much as we like to deny, is inevitable) all the more meaningful to the world surviving you. For what it's worth, this is also a personal sermon of sorts. I have asked my family, when I die, to give away every possible organ or piece of my body that will serve to make someone's life better and longer and to donate whatever is left to our local medical school for the purposes of teaching new doctors about anatomy. The best possible result of my death would having absolutely nothing left to bury or cremate!
Before all that has happened, you might take the time to read Michael Palmer's THE FIFTH VIAL. You won't regret it!
Paul Weiss
When I read the dust flap for Michael Palmer's 12th medical suspense novel, THE FIFTH VIAL and realized that it was about the illicit black market for transplant organs, I just about set it aside unread. Surely, Michael Palmer, himself an MD and an imaginative successful author of 11 previous medical thrillers could come up with a better plot idea than the hoary old chestnut of the black market trade in transplant organs! Well, the book was in my hands, my drink was already poured and the fire was lit ... I couldn't be bothered going back to my bookshelf for a second choice! And that, my friends, was a wonderful piece of serendipity!
Natalie Reyes, a medical student in Brazil for a conference, is attacked and hospitalized and loses a lung. Ben Callahan, a down on his luck, hard up private detective in Chicago, has been engaged by Organ Guard, anthropologist Alice Gustafson's watchdog agency, to investigate some apparent human rights violations and abuses in the procurement and transplantation of organs and tissues. Dr Joe Anson, a humanitarian, a doctor and brilliant researcher in Yaoundé, Cameroun, closes in on the completion of his research on Sarah-9, a drug that will save untold numbers of lives when it reaches world markets. But the race to complete that research may be lost to pulmonary fibrosis. Without a new lung, Anson's fate is all but sealed and the benefits of Sarah-9 will be lost to mankind.
OK, OK ... so Palmer's characters are a little bit overdone, a little bit stereotyped and cartoonish and little bit too heroic to be believable! But, the fact is, Palmer has also turned what could have been a potential rehash of old news into an exciting plot that moves at lightning speed with a techno-twist that will really raise your eyebrows. The ending, which ties up all the loose ends, is both brilliant and emotionally moving!
I was especially moved to see Michael Palmer's afterword in which he makes a personal plea to readers to become organ donors. For goodness' sake ... discuss the issue with your families, sign your organ donor cards, signify your intent on your drivers licenses, contact your local donor registries and make your death (which, much as we like to deny, is inevitable) all the more meaningful to the world surviving you. For what it's worth, this is also a personal sermon of sorts. I have asked my family, when I die, to give away every possible organ or piece of my body that will serve to make someone's life better and longer and to donate whatever is left to our local medical school for the purposes of teaching new doctors about anatomy. The best possible result of my death would having absolutely nothing left to bury or cremate!
Before all that has happened, you might take the time to read Michael Palmer's THE FIFTH VIAL. You won't regret it!
Paul Weiss
June 16, 2023
Vaaai, n-am mai citit un roman atît de prost scris din copilărie, cînd mă preocupa mult mai puțin forma narativă dacă cartea avea suspans. Desigur, nu citesc thrillere pentru stil, ci pentru amuzament (sau, cum ar zice unii, din lene intelectuală, care la mine se manifestă timp de 15-20 de minute în fiecare dimineață 😊), dar există un minimum de criterii care trebuie îndeplinite chiar și de autorii de cărți mai ușurele, ca să zic așa:
- în primul rînd, un oareșce talent narativ. La început mi-am spus că poate-i traducerea proastă, dar scuza asta n-a ținut decît vreo 50 de pagini. Romanul pare scris de un puștan de vreo 15 ani cu multă imaginație, dar fără prea multă aplecare stilistică;
- apoi, o oarecare credibilitate a caracterelor și a acțiunii, dar personajele sînt fie orbitor de pozitive, fie beznos de negative, iar anihilarea rețelei criminale trece pe lîngă verosimil ca acceleratul prin halte, semănînd izbitor cu fantasmagoriile conspiraționiștilor;
- în fine, o cît de cît rezonabilă coerență a firului epic, care aici se rupe și se înnoadă fără vreo logică aparentă.
Culmea e că, deși obiecțiile de mai sus m-au exasperat pe tot parcursul lecturii, nu m-am putut abține să n-o termin, așa că-i dau numai o stea de ciudă pe mine, nu pe ea :D :D :D
- în primul rînd, un oareșce talent narativ. La început mi-am spus că poate-i traducerea proastă, dar scuza asta n-a ținut decît vreo 50 de pagini. Romanul pare scris de un puștan de vreo 15 ani cu multă imaginație, dar fără prea multă aplecare stilistică;
- apoi, o oarecare credibilitate a caracterelor și a acțiunii, dar personajele sînt fie orbitor de pozitive, fie beznos de negative, iar anihilarea rețelei criminale trece pe lîngă verosimil ca acceleratul prin halte, semănînd izbitor cu fantasmagoriile conspiraționiștilor;
- în fine, o cît de cît rezonabilă coerență a firului epic, care aici se rupe și se înnoadă fără vreo logică aparentă.
Culmea e că, deși obiecțiile de mai sus m-au exasperat pe tot parcursul lecturii, nu m-am putut abține să n-o termin, așa că-i dau numai o stea de ciudă pe mine, nu pe ea :D :D :D
July 21, 2019
This book always had me thinking. Lots of twists and turns.
November 12, 2009
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 (who, let's face it, is an AMAZING writer), I greatly enjoyed this book. It was an excellent mix of adventure, puzzle-solving, romance (there is a little) and, of course, paranoia. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to solve mysteries and is interested in medical thrillers.
July 28, 2022
This was an audiobook I listened to. The narration was excellent.
An interesting tale with lots... and I mean lots... of plot twists and turns. The author wove a plethora of plot points together for a really spellbinding story. I really didn't know what was coming next!
What does an athlete/medical student, a renowned research physician with incurable lung disease, a secret group of "Guardians of the Republic" (known only by their Greek philosopher pseudonyms) the city of Rio de Janiero, the rain forest, and a clandestine transplant team protected by Brazilian military police have to do with illegal organ harvesting and murder?
Read the book and find out.
An interesting tale with lots... and I mean lots... of plot twists and turns. The author wove a plethora of plot points together for a really spellbinding story. I really didn't know what was coming next!
What does an athlete/medical student, a renowned research physician with incurable lung disease, a secret group of "Guardians of the Republic" (known only by their Greek philosopher pseudonyms) the city of Rio de Janiero, the rain forest, and a clandestine transplant team protected by Brazilian military police have to do with illegal organ harvesting and murder?
Read the book and find out.
February 23, 2010
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 have read this book but this is what I remember. The author explains some science in the midst of their tale: tissue typing, HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigens), data-mining and why these factors are important for organ transplant. The 'suspense' theme runs like any. I've recommended this book to many people.... Good - read !!
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 have read this book but this is what I remember. The author explains some science in the midst of their tale: tissue typing, HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigens), data-mining and why these factors are important for organ transplant. The 'suspense' theme runs like any. I've recommended this book to many people.... Good - read !!
January 1, 2012
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 not willing, but is captured or taken hostage. The book follows three main characters. Natalie Reyes is a medical student from Boston. She is sent to Brazil to give a paper at a meeting for her adviser. When she guest there she is taken prisoner and her lung is removed. Joseph Alston (?) is a doctor who practices in the jungles of Cameroon. He comes to need a new lung, and ends up being a perfect match for Natalie. He is not in on the scheme and demands to know who gave him the lung and what happened to him. Ben Callahan is a PI from Chicago, hired by a professor there who wants to investigate the illegal organ trade. Callahan and Reyes eventually meet in a remote Brazilian village Where Whitestone's transplants are done, far from the eyes of the law. The narrator is a bit corny, but not too bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2008
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.
September 30, 2023
I really hope that the theme of this book is purely hypothetical... I've read a Romanian translation - which I am 100% sure diminished the "sound" of the writing - but the subject totally took over me.
Imagine that you have done your blood tests, and this is the event that changes your life forever. You become a victim because you are the (almost) perfect match for a powerful organ receiver. And just like that, your life is over. You are kidnapped. And forced to be an organ donner. If you'll be alive, well, that's just your luck.
I totally recommend the book and if possible, in English.
Imagine that you have done your blood tests, and this is the event that changes your life forever. You become a victim because you are the (almost) perfect match for a powerful organ receiver. And just like that, your life is over. You are kidnapped. And forced to be an organ donner. If you'll be alive, well, that's just your luck.
I totally recommend the book and if possible, in English.
January 20, 2023
Wow! I am super impressed about this book. I found it accidentally in my local library and I just adored it! I readed it so fast, because it keeped me so engaged in the story. It's my first book about this subject and I frecking loved it! I highly reccomend this one!
Michael Palmer it's a very good writer that reminded me of Guillaume Musso as writing style but on a different subject - medical thriller.
Michael Palmer it's a very good writer that reminded me of Guillaume Musso as writing style but on a different subject - medical thriller.
February 7, 2013
It's too bad this excellent story had a somewhat disappointing ending, as if unfinished. Nonetheless, I give it an 8 of 10 stars for creativity, suspense and a couple of interesting lead characters who could still be flushed out.
February 7, 2021
"Tough is swimming against the stream and having the courage to be different."
The true physician is also a ruler having the human body as a subject, and is not a mere money maker.
--Plato, "The Republic," Book I
In respect of temperance, courage, magnificence, and every other virtue, should we not carefully distinguish between the true son and the bastard?
--Plato, "The Republic," Book VII
In what manner does tyranny rise?--That it has a democratic origin is evident.
--Plato, "The Republic," Book VIII
When he obtains the power, he immediately becomes unjust as he can be.
--Plato, "The Republic," Book II
Want more!!
The true physician is also a ruler having the human body as a subject, and is not a mere money maker.
--Plato, "The Republic," Book I
In respect of temperance, courage, magnificence, and every other virtue, should we not carefully distinguish between the true son and the bastard?
--Plato, "The Republic," Book VII
In what manner does tyranny rise?--That it has a democratic origin is evident.
--Plato, "The Republic," Book VIII
When he obtains the power, he immediately becomes unjust as he can be.
--Plato, "The Republic," Book II
Want more!!
January 3, 2015
In Michael Palmer's the Fifth Vial, he once again wrote us a fantastic medical thriller. In Boston, a disgraced medical student was sent to deliver a research paper to save her career. In the jungles of the Cameroon, a brilliant, reclusive scientist is dying from an incurable disease and is on the verge of perfecting a serum to save lives and bring others tons of wealth. And in Chicago, a disillusioned private detective was hired to determine the identity of a John Doe that was killed on a Florida highway. What bridged those three lives together was a single vial of blood, while they were in peril, they moved closer on unraveling the god-like secret society with antiquity roots. They dealt with deception and betrayal all the way.
June 25, 2012
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, exciting and tense. Can't wait to read the next one, though not sure I'm reading them in order.
October 15, 2012
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 illegal trade in organs. The whole plot is rather far fetched, but it is exciting.
May 25, 2007
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.
September 2, 2013
I had trouble getting into this because of the subject matter it was depressing, and yet there was no one to "care" about that was still alive, except the private eye. But he would be in the background a lot, and the other characters did not make an impression. I struggled through the book, thinking it might get better, but it only got worse. I won't be reading anymore Michael Palmer, not my cup of tea. I can see why Carol does not read his books.
July 10, 2008
Simple, unsophisticated read, of the kind that tells you what will happen, then walks you through the happening, followed by an explanation of what had occurred. The story is unimaginative (human organ harvesting administered by an evil council of scientists). If you are interested in medical thrillers, try Daniel Kalla and his 'Blood Lies'.
November 9, 2008
The description of this book got me really excited, but the book itself was a big diappointment. The writing is horrible and predictable. It's like the author is a smat person but can't write.
Okay, so I just looked at the author's background and it said he is supposed to be reallly good. Talk about disappointment! Now I trust critics even less.
Okay, so I just looked at the author's background and it said he is supposed to be reallly good. Talk about disappointment! Now I trust critics even less.
March 17, 2008
Don't waste your time.
January 20, 2018
I really enjoyed this book! Definitely it's own kind of niche as it lands in a medical thriller category? 3 characters seemingly unconnected each begin their stories with tragic/exciting starts. A medical student, a world renown Doctor/scientist, and a private investigator each are introduced to the black market of human organ trafficking. As the story unfolds I am wondering how in the heck are these connected. Palmer does an incredible job bouncing back and forth between characters without leaving huge moments of disconnect. Only during the final chapters are these characters aligned for a fantastic standoff. Moral code is questioned, huge decisions are made which leads to even bigger ethical issues, and although the ending wasn't entirely mind blowing (kinda saw it coming) still left me impressed with this novel.
August 21, 2021
A cincea fiolă, de Michael Palmer, este un thriller alert, cu un subiect pe care nu l-am mai întâlnit până acum în cărțile de beletristică.
Cu un început oarecum alambicat, acțiunea se clarifică pe măsură ce dai pagina. Și autorul te face să o dai repede! Câțiva termeni medicali mai dificili, în rest, limbajul este accesibil.
E genul de care care te face să îți pui întrebări, cum ar fi: când am fost ultima dată să-mi fac analizele de sânge? Oare mi s-a recoltat mai mult sânge decât trebuia? Oare dacă, în urma analizei sângelui, compatibilitatea mea cu altă persoană este de 12 la 12, viața mea ar putea fi în pericol? Bine, ultima întrebare mi se pare ușor absurdă. Asta nu înseamnă că nu ar putea fi așa.
Deși pe alocuri acțiunea este ușor trasă de păr, iar finalul: happyend-ul cărților romance, mi-a plăcut mult cartea.
O carte despre fenotipare, fiole cu dop verde, histocompatibilitate, punctaj de alocare pulmonară și etică medicală.
Cu un început oarecum alambicat, acțiunea se clarifică pe măsură ce dai pagina. Și autorul te face să o dai repede! Câțiva termeni medicali mai dificili, în rest, limbajul este accesibil.
E genul de care care te face să îți pui întrebări, cum ar fi: când am fost ultima dată să-mi fac analizele de sânge? Oare mi s-a recoltat mai mult sânge decât trebuia? Oare dacă, în urma analizei sângelui, compatibilitatea mea cu altă persoană este de 12 la 12, viața mea ar putea fi în pericol? Bine, ultima întrebare mi se pare ușor absurdă. Asta nu înseamnă că nu ar putea fi așa.
Deși pe alocuri acțiunea este ușor trasă de păr, iar finalul: happyend-ul cărților romance, mi-a plăcut mult cartea.
O carte despre fenotipare, fiole cu dop verde, histocompatibilitate, punctaj de alocare pulmonară și etică medicală.
February 2, 2023
my official score was 8.5/10, maybe 9, but goodreads doesn’t let me do that
- what a whirlwind of a book. release any idea of this being close to reality & just have fun with it. this is an epic novel of adventure & action & suspense & intrigue. I didn’t think I would have this much fun reading this book.
- the point of this book is to raise awareness & have a spectacular time doing it. it was a little confusing to get into the book, but once you’re in it, you’re in it.
- Michael Palmer does a good job of keeping the story going & keeping things interesting. I may read another one of his books, but not for a while. I can imagine this type of writing can get to be too much after a while.
- what a whirlwind of a book. release any idea of this being close to reality & just have fun with it. this is an epic novel of adventure & action & suspense & intrigue. I didn’t think I would have this much fun reading this book.
- the point of this book is to raise awareness & have a spectacular time doing it. it was a little confusing to get into the book, but once you’re in it, you’re in it.
- Michael Palmer does a good job of keeping the story going & keeping things interesting. I may read another one of his books, but not for a while. I can imagine this type of writing can get to be too much after a while.
July 12, 2017
The Fifth Vial came together in the way I expected it would, but a bit too much so. I found it cliche and predictable. However, the story line was unique and I enjoyed reading a mystery that wasn't just about trying to catch a dangerous murderer (although in a way this was, it just had a bigger backstory). Overall it was a good read, just a bit far-fetched and cliche.
August 29, 2017
Love a Good Medical Mystery!!!
Palmer wins again with a medical mystery that you absolutely cannot put down. Espionage, private detectives, & stolen organs all leading to a surprise ending that you could not foresee. Amazing book!!!
Palmer wins again with a medical mystery that you absolutely cannot put down. Espionage, private detectives, & stolen organs all leading to a surprise ending that you could not foresee. Amazing book!!!
February 27, 2023
From the few Michael Palmer books I’ve read, I’ve picked up that it takes about half of the book to build up to the actual story line. This part I dislike. But once you cross that line, the story is always so good! This book had a casual twist that could never have been predicted!
January 11, 2019
My 2nd book by Michael Palmer ! Loved it ! 5 Stars ! Please register as a LEGAL Organ Donor . I am registered . You can give LIFE after God takes you Home . It costs nothing and means so much to others. ❤️❤️🙏🙏
January 22, 2020
Para los amantes del thriller, este es un libro que engancha desde la primera página. Ya no pensarás igual de tus analíticas de sangre.
May 1, 2021
Ighhh, kinda ishhh...
March 19, 2023
The first duty of a book (or any form of entertainment, in my humble opinion) is to be … entertaining. Is to thrill, excite, horrify, and otherwise make us emote in however the author (or creator) intends. In that regard, Michael Palmer’s 2007 medical thriller, The Fifth Vial, more than exceeded at such a duty. It’s like the antithesis of the Hippocratic oath: Do all the harm, if it’s entertaining and makes sense for the story and the characters within it. The second duty, if one wants to have a second duty, is to inform and make one think differently, perhaps, about a subject. As someone already converted (I worked in the field), I can’t say Palmer succeeded with me, but I sure hope he planted a number of seeds in the heads of his readers who aren’t already part of the flock.
I’m speaking about organ, eye and tissue donation, which is at the heart (heh) of his book. Essentially, a cabal of renowned physicians and other medical personnel, who have taken to calling themselves The Guardians in the model of Plato and his idea of Philosopher Kings to rule over society, mainly the lower classes of the productive workers (sometimes called craftsman) and the auxiliaries (soldiers), have circumvented the organ allocation process through evil (but justified in their heads) means. It is from these lower classes organs are procured illegally through coercion, deception, and often, murder, for the Guardians of society, aka those this cabal think are people worth keeping alive for the betterment of society. It also doesn’t hurt when those Guardians pay them millions of dollars to do procure such organs.
Up against this cabal are the unlikeliest, yet loveliest, of heroes: Natalie Reyes, a medical student from Boston, who was on her way to the Olympics as a runner before she tore her Achilles and is a fierce, competitive type, as you might imagine; and Ben Callahan, a former teacher-turned-private detective, who wants to be in the mold of his favorite detectives from novels he’s read, but so far, he’s working suspected domestic affair cases. Both are downcast about their future prospects (Reyes nearly got kicked out of medical school for contradicting the resident in charge), and it is from that positioning they are thrust into the world of illegal organ trafficking and transplantation.
Ben is hired by a woman who works for the Organ Guard, an organization dedicated to tracking the illegal procurement and sale of organs. In fact, as Palmer notes at the end of the book, there is an actual organization like that, known as Organs Watch. I didn’t know that, although I’m not sure the organization still exists. The site at the University of California, Berkeley is not functional anymore. Nonetheless, Natalie is drawn into this affair when she is attacked after arriving in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She’s seemingly shot twice, left for dead (in nothing but her panties, which she weirdly never reckons with), and she later learns, they had to remove one of her lungs to save her life. An Olympic-level runner losing one of her lungs is devastating enough, but then she returns home and her mother’s house catches fire from an errant cigarette from the mother, causing damage to Natalie’s one good lung.
As it turns out, however, there is no record of any of that having occurred to Natalie in Rio, which leads Natalie back to Brazil, and through his detective work, Ben also ends up in Brazil, trying to track down the nefariousness to its source. All the while this is going on, we do have another “hero,” a genius doctor in Cameroon, Africa, who has developed a drug that could cure cancers. The Plato cabal wants the drug and the secrets behind it, but Dr. Joe Anson is guarded and paranoid about handing it over, for good reason as it turns out. He’s also suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, or in a phrase I hadn’t heard before, but paints the picture nicely, if horrifically, he’s “air hungry.” The Plato cabal force Dr. Anson’s hand at having a lung transplant to keep him alive and to get him to hand over the secrets. Being the genius he is, though, he learns of the deception and that his lung actually came not from a brain dead Indian man, but from … Natalie.
Now, one question I do have: Why was Anson so resistant to getting a lung transplant? And for her part, if it was necessary, Natalie, too? Obviously, it’s not ideal to be in a such a state of health to need a transplant, but if it was necessary, why were these two fearful of it? In any event, once Natalie and Ben learn of each other and their shared mission, and with the help of the locals in a Brazilian rain forest village, they are able to thwart the Plato cabal, and importantly, one of its signature figures, none other than Doug Berenger, Natalie’s longtime mentor. I figured he was dirty because at the beginning of the novel, he was the one who sent Natalie to Rio! Then helped her get back to Rio when she wanted answers! I would be remiss, if I didn’t point out, that the staging point of sorts for Natalie, Ben, and the locals helping them was a literal cave near the hospital in the rain forest. As in, Plato’s allegory of the cave, i.e., the juxtaposition between reality and our interpretation of it, perhaps Palmer’s way of saying, the reality of organ donation and our interpretation of it (the stubbornly persistent myths).
The book got a little too cute and hokey at the end for me when Dr. Anson, an incredibly righteous figure in his own right, took his own life so as to return his — Natalie’s — lung back to Natalie. That’s not right or ethical, either! But it’s a fictional story, so, I’ll grant the leeway. But I loved the Natalie and Ben characters; I always have fun with normal people thrust into high-stake situations and dealing with crap perpetually hitting the fan and rising to the occasion.
In the Author’s Note, Palmer makes the case for organ donation, with a few helpful points dispelling the myths around organ donation. He also provides links to sites with more information. I appreciated that. I should note as well, that throughout the book itself, given the illicit trade and transplantation of organs, the characters use the word “harvest.” In reality, organs, eyes (the corneas) and tissues are procured or recovered. They are not harvested.
Like I said, I hope people were as entertained by the book as I was (Palmer’s first duty), but that it also compelled them to become informed (his desired second duty) and even register as an organ, eye and tissue donor. You could save eight lives through organ donation, and upwards of 75 through cornea and tissue donation! If you’re in the United States, registering takes less than five minutes through registerme.org.
I’m speaking about organ, eye and tissue donation, which is at the heart (heh) of his book. Essentially, a cabal of renowned physicians and other medical personnel, who have taken to calling themselves The Guardians in the model of Plato and his idea of Philosopher Kings to rule over society, mainly the lower classes of the productive workers (sometimes called craftsman) and the auxiliaries (soldiers), have circumvented the organ allocation process through evil (but justified in their heads) means. It is from these lower classes organs are procured illegally through coercion, deception, and often, murder, for the Guardians of society, aka those this cabal think are people worth keeping alive for the betterment of society. It also doesn’t hurt when those Guardians pay them millions of dollars to do procure such organs.
Up against this cabal are the unlikeliest, yet loveliest, of heroes: Natalie Reyes, a medical student from Boston, who was on her way to the Olympics as a runner before she tore her Achilles and is a fierce, competitive type, as you might imagine; and Ben Callahan, a former teacher-turned-private detective, who wants to be in the mold of his favorite detectives from novels he’s read, but so far, he’s working suspected domestic affair cases. Both are downcast about their future prospects (Reyes nearly got kicked out of medical school for contradicting the resident in charge), and it is from that positioning they are thrust into the world of illegal organ trafficking and transplantation.
Ben is hired by a woman who works for the Organ Guard, an organization dedicated to tracking the illegal procurement and sale of organs. In fact, as Palmer notes at the end of the book, there is an actual organization like that, known as Organs Watch. I didn’t know that, although I’m not sure the organization still exists. The site at the University of California, Berkeley is not functional anymore. Nonetheless, Natalie is drawn into this affair when she is attacked after arriving in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She’s seemingly shot twice, left for dead (in nothing but her panties, which she weirdly never reckons with), and she later learns, they had to remove one of her lungs to save her life. An Olympic-level runner losing one of her lungs is devastating enough, but then she returns home and her mother’s house catches fire from an errant cigarette from the mother, causing damage to Natalie’s one good lung.
As it turns out, however, there is no record of any of that having occurred to Natalie in Rio, which leads Natalie back to Brazil, and through his detective work, Ben also ends up in Brazil, trying to track down the nefariousness to its source. All the while this is going on, we do have another “hero,” a genius doctor in Cameroon, Africa, who has developed a drug that could cure cancers. The Plato cabal wants the drug and the secrets behind it, but Dr. Joe Anson is guarded and paranoid about handing it over, for good reason as it turns out. He’s also suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, or in a phrase I hadn’t heard before, but paints the picture nicely, if horrifically, he’s “air hungry.” The Plato cabal force Dr. Anson’s hand at having a lung transplant to keep him alive and to get him to hand over the secrets. Being the genius he is, though, he learns of the deception and that his lung actually came not from a brain dead Indian man, but from … Natalie.
Now, one question I do have: Why was Anson so resistant to getting a lung transplant? And for her part, if it was necessary, Natalie, too? Obviously, it’s not ideal to be in a such a state of health to need a transplant, but if it was necessary, why were these two fearful of it? In any event, once Natalie and Ben learn of each other and their shared mission, and with the help of the locals in a Brazilian rain forest village, they are able to thwart the Plato cabal, and importantly, one of its signature figures, none other than Doug Berenger, Natalie’s longtime mentor. I figured he was dirty because at the beginning of the novel, he was the one who sent Natalie to Rio! Then helped her get back to Rio when she wanted answers! I would be remiss, if I didn’t point out, that the staging point of sorts for Natalie, Ben, and the locals helping them was a literal cave near the hospital in the rain forest. As in, Plato’s allegory of the cave, i.e., the juxtaposition between reality and our interpretation of it, perhaps Palmer’s way of saying, the reality of organ donation and our interpretation of it (the stubbornly persistent myths).
The book got a little too cute and hokey at the end for me when Dr. Anson, an incredibly righteous figure in his own right, took his own life so as to return his — Natalie’s — lung back to Natalie. That’s not right or ethical, either! But it’s a fictional story, so, I’ll grant the leeway. But I loved the Natalie and Ben characters; I always have fun with normal people thrust into high-stake situations and dealing with crap perpetually hitting the fan and rising to the occasion.
In the Author’s Note, Palmer makes the case for organ donation, with a few helpful points dispelling the myths around organ donation. He also provides links to sites with more information. I appreciated that. I should note as well, that throughout the book itself, given the illicit trade and transplantation of organs, the characters use the word “harvest.” In reality, organs, eyes (the corneas) and tissues are procured or recovered. They are not harvested.
Like I said, I hope people were as entertained by the book as I was (Palmer’s first duty), but that it also compelled them to become informed (his desired second duty) and even register as an organ, eye and tissue donor. You could save eight lives through organ donation, and upwards of 75 through cornea and tissue donation! If you’re in the United States, registering takes less than five minutes through registerme.org.
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