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The Society
At the headquarters of Boston's Eastern Quality Health, the wealthy and powerful CEO is brutally murdered. She's not the first to die --- nor the last. A serial killer is on the loose and the victims have one thing in common: all are high-profile executives in the managed care industry.
Dr. Will Grant is outraged by a system that cares more about money than about patients --- and he intends to do something about it. But his determination has attracted a dangerous zealot who will stop at nothing to make Will his ally. On the case is rookie detective Patty Moriarity. To save her faltering career --- and countless lives --- she will have to risk trusting Will, knowing he may be the killer she's hunting.
Dr. Will Grant is outraged by a system that cares more about money than about patients --- and he intends to do something about it. But his determination has attracted a dangerous zealot who will stop at nothing to make Will his ally. On the case is rookie detective Patty Moriarity. To save her faltering career --- and countless lives --- she will have to risk trusting Will, knowing he may be the killer she's hunting.
461 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 17, 2004
288 people are currently reading
1075 people want to read
About the author
Michael Palmer
68 books242 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 164 reviews
May 23, 2012
I always enjoy medical novels by this author. I feel so smart afterwards as if I can go into any E.R. and start spouting off medical lingo. Then again, I feel that way after watching an episode of House. Enough about me... the book is definitely worth picking up. It's primarily about a doctor a part of the Hippocrates Society who is against the big HMOs caring more about money and profits than the patients. There's a little bit of a romance brewing in the background which wasn't prevalent enough to be annoying. All in all, this author is always worth checking out. The ending was insane... in a good way.
January 10, 2015
In another early medical thriller from Michael Palmer, the Society, he tackled the subject of the Hippocratic oath in the medical society. When the CEO of the Eastern Quality Health was murdered, she wasn't the first one to die. With a serial killer loose and the victims had one thing in common: they were all wealthy in the managed care system. For Dr. Will Grant and member of the Hippocrates Society, he was outraged by the system that care more about their wealth than their own money. But he had brought the attention of a zealot who would do anything to make Will his ally. Together he worked with rookie detective Patty Moriarty, who would do anything to save her career, when they would work to stop this stunning killer, before both of their lives would be in peril.
July 24, 2015
I've read a number of Michael Palmer's novels, and have to say this is one of his best. Like most of his books he gives his opinion on some aspect of the medical field. Here he takes on the HMOs and how their controlling both the doctors and hospitals. In this novel the doctors form the Hippocrates Society which is a group against HMOs. Not only is this a thriller, but trying to figure out who is killing the CEOs of the HMOs makes it also a mystery. It's one of those novels that's hard to put down.
May 28, 2024
Good medical / crime novel. While a good read, some of the action and plot is not very plausible. Still, I like his writing and development of characters.
October 16, 2020
At first I wasn’t sure about it, but it didn’t take long for me to get into this. It was good, really really good. Situations arose, escalated, and unraveled quickly. If there was a dull moment in this book, I don’t remember it. I highly recommend, especially if you’re in a reading rut.
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March 13, 2017Ben Morales was shot in the head outside his home in Lexington. Marcia Rising was also shot in the head while going to her car after a meeting with the board members of Eastern Quality Health HMO where she was the CEO. She was more worried about her income and company profits than the patients for whom she was denying healthcare. Cyrill Davenport was the CEO of Unity Comprehensive Health. Cyrill was worried that his alcoholic wife had moved his car out of the garage where he had parked it. He got into his car parked on the street and drove 4 ft. before it exploded. These three were all heads of HMO organizations and they all died in an 8 week time period.
Patty Moriarity woke up when her phone rang. It was a friend that she went to the police academy with, Kristine Zurowski. Kristine found out that Patty was working with officer Wayne Brasco and she knew that he dismissed Patty as useless because she was female. Patty dressed and went to the crime scene after the call. Her father arrived shortly after she arrived to check on her. Brasco was taking credit for all of her ideas and she felt like she had been demoted when he was chosen to take the lead on the murders which she was already working on.
Will had been married and was now divorced with twins. He took on extra shifts at work because one extra shift was enough for 4 days payment of alimony. He worked as a team with 3 other doctors. He has started the Open Hearth Kitchen during his sophomore year in med school. 16 years later, the Kitchen was still serving the homeless and needy. It was a popular place for volunteers in the bad side of town. Will's children liked to help out.
Fredrickston Surgical Associates was a 4 person group with it's headquarters a block away from the Fredrickston General Hospital. James Katz was now in his 60's and had begun to overlook details causing problems with his patients. Susan Hollister was attractive in a bookish way and the others suspected that she had a girlfriend. Gordon Cameron was Scottish and flamboyant. The associates, with the exception of Susan, were members of the Hippocrates Society that was formed to take a stand against the HMO's. The HMO's were forcing the doctors to release patients before they felt they were ready to go home.
Will went to the Society meeting and found out that the doctor was sick that was supposed to debate a HMO executive, Boyd Halliday. Will was nominated to be his replacement. Will didn't want to until one of his patients was denied coverage by his HMO. He was told that the surgeries performed had to be approved before they were done and the patient was in a coma from a severe beating when Will began working on him in an attempt to save his life, which he did. Will wrote off as much as he could and instructed his wife to fight the HMO's to get them to pay the charges.
Patty attended the debate and found herself attracted to Will. She was all but off the murder cases now due to Brasco not including her in what was going on. She had given her business card to Will after the debate and decided to do some checking on her own to see if Will might be a suspect. She found out that Will had been in trouble for pushing a security guard at his college and had been involved in a sit-in protest. He had been a suspect in a bombing at the college that had killed a janitor. He was put in jail but not charged after a fight with his wife. She filed a restraining order on him and they later divorced.
Will was at work the next day when he received a phone call, presumably from the murderer. The voice was disguised with a machine and told him that he was a fellow soldier and they expected his cooperation. They told him to look in his desk and he found 2 cards that were similar to the ones left with the murder victims. His cards were C & N. E & R were left with the 1st victim, R & T with the 2nd, B & E with the 3rd. Will called the number on the card Patty had given him.
Patty came by to see Will and Brasco arrived a short time later. He reprimanded Patty in front of Will. Will was intimidated by and didn't like Brasco. After the police left, Will asked Patty to listen to him. He told her that he had signed copies of signed witness statements that his wife was the violent one. The cops didn't want to hear his side of the story. They took him into custody until others came forward and explained the situation and he was released. The security guard had been poking him with his nightstick when Will struck back. Again, Will had witness statements that the security guard had tripped and fallen. A PhD student had confessed to the bombing. Will wanted Patty to know he wasn't violent. Patty believed him. Will told her that it was her choice of whether or not to share the information with Brasco. Will also noticed that Patty wasn't married. They ended up growing closer to the point of sleeping together as Patty continued to work on the case after she was pretty much off the case.
Brasco and his superior officer had followed Patty and knew that she was sleeping with Will. They intended to use the pictures they had to blackmail her father. Brasco had her working on other cases when she found out that he had used a computer to disguise Will's voice and set up a meeting with the murderer using a phone number that they had gotten off the tapes of the phone taps. Patty got to the meeting place in time to see that Brasco was heading up a staircase that put him in full moonlight where he could easily be seen. She told him to get down and then headed up the steps. She knocked him off as a bullet grazed her head. She hit her head on a rock when she fell and saved Brasco's life and it put her in a coma due to the cracking of her skull.
Patty had called Will's attorney before she headed out to the meeting. Will had performed a surgery and been drugged. He fell into the patient and was being sued. He went to see an attorney that was known for suing doctors. The attorney agreed to help Will and talked himself in to the fact that the drugs were soaked into the soles of his tennis shoes. As he sweated, the drugs entered into his system causing problems. He lost his privilege to practice until it was all straightened out.
Just before he had all the drug problems, a woman who had once been a patron of The Open Hearth Kitchen and a drug addict, came into his office. Her HMO sent her to Susan and when she realized that Will was working in the same office, she requested that he take over her care. That went well until he had the drug problem and Susan ended up doing her cancer surgery. After the surgery, she had an allergic reaction to the drugs and she had new X-rays taken. Her husband noticed that a BB from where she had been shot as a child was missing from the cancer X-rays. This was mentioned to Will and he went to see the doctor who had read the X-rays. He pulled a gun on Will and Will left. He went back to his office and asked Susan to go back to his office with him to see if she could talk to him and maybe get some answers. They went back the next day and found him dead.
Will got a phone call telling him that the dead doctor had left him a present and Will didn't know what had happened to Patty and decided to go meet the stranger alone. He was followed and didn't realize it. He got a package of X-rays and headed back to his car when Boyd Halliday's assistant showed up with a gun asking for the envelope of Xrays. A gang ended up helping Will escape but Marshal Gold had an additional gun and killed the gang members. Will tried to get away but didn't. He handed off the envelope to Lionel, who he had asked directions of where the meeting place was. The directions were not for a road but rather for an alley so he needed to ask. Marshall tortured Will to find out what he did with the X-rays. That didn't work so they kidnapped Patty from the hospital after setting off a smoke bomb and everyone was being evacuated thinking it was a fire.
Patty was brought to the farmhouse where Will was. Boyd Halliday showed up and admitted to killing the other HMO leaders, there was 4 by now. Patty was still supposed to be in a coma so they saw her as no threat. Patty had done some more research on the dead executives and was fairly certain that there was a connection to the HMO run by Boyd Halliday and the dead people. A couple if the dead executives had blocked a sale of their HMO's to Boyd's HMO. She figured the murders were simply due to business deals. She had happened to be right.
Will figured out that Patty had woken up from her coma. He disconnected her tubes so that she could move if necessary. One of the guys torturing Will went with Will to get the X-rays from Lionel. They found Lionel and Will ended up distracting him and stabbing him. Will found out that the X-rays were all the same with different names. Boyd's HMO was using one cancer Xray for other women and there was a man's too, to cause doctors to operate and charge for surgeries where nothing was wrong with the patients. Susan had operated on Will's friend Grace when she didn't have cancer and an allergic reaction to her treatment had almost killed her.
He got back to the farmhouse where Patty had strangled one of the other guys with her feeding tube as he was trying to molest her. Patty got his gun and when Gold came back to check on her, she shot him just above his knee. Will went to the house to call 911 and came back with Susan having a gun on him. Marshall was Susan's boyfriend. She tried to force Will to work on Marshall. Patty caused a distraction and they ended up running out of the barn where they were being kept. They went to the farmhouse and thought about disrupting the old couple there until a phone call caused him to leave the house with his rifle. They knew that he wouldn't help them. They ended up getting to a tractor when Patty went back to the barn and discovered that Marshall had died.
They ended up driving the tractor to the road and then hiding in the woods until morning arrived. They got to the board room where Boyd was with the other executives of the HMO's where an executive had died. They were getting ready to sign documents allowing Boyd's HMO to take over their companies. Patty and Will showed up with Patty's father to arrest Boyd for the murders.
Will got to tell several women and men that they didn't have cancer. Will and Patty were still together several months later. Changes in the medical world took place. The HMO's were going out of business. Grace and her husband hunted Susan down and found her in Paraguay. Grace shot and killed Susan and then returned home.
Patty Moriarity woke up when her phone rang. It was a friend that she went to the police academy with, Kristine Zurowski. Kristine found out that Patty was working with officer Wayne Brasco and she knew that he dismissed Patty as useless because she was female. Patty dressed and went to the crime scene after the call. Her father arrived shortly after she arrived to check on her. Brasco was taking credit for all of her ideas and she felt like she had been demoted when he was chosen to take the lead on the murders which she was already working on.
Will had been married and was now divorced with twins. He took on extra shifts at work because one extra shift was enough for 4 days payment of alimony. He worked as a team with 3 other doctors. He has started the Open Hearth Kitchen during his sophomore year in med school. 16 years later, the Kitchen was still serving the homeless and needy. It was a popular place for volunteers in the bad side of town. Will's children liked to help out.
Fredrickston Surgical Associates was a 4 person group with it's headquarters a block away from the Fredrickston General Hospital. James Katz was now in his 60's and had begun to overlook details causing problems with his patients. Susan Hollister was attractive in a bookish way and the others suspected that she had a girlfriend. Gordon Cameron was Scottish and flamboyant. The associates, with the exception of Susan, were members of the Hippocrates Society that was formed to take a stand against the HMO's. The HMO's were forcing the doctors to release patients before they felt they were ready to go home.
Will went to the Society meeting and found out that the doctor was sick that was supposed to debate a HMO executive, Boyd Halliday. Will was nominated to be his replacement. Will didn't want to until one of his patients was denied coverage by his HMO. He was told that the surgeries performed had to be approved before they were done and the patient was in a coma from a severe beating when Will began working on him in an attempt to save his life, which he did. Will wrote off as much as he could and instructed his wife to fight the HMO's to get them to pay the charges.
Patty attended the debate and found herself attracted to Will. She was all but off the murder cases now due to Brasco not including her in what was going on. She had given her business card to Will after the debate and decided to do some checking on her own to see if Will might be a suspect. She found out that Will had been in trouble for pushing a security guard at his college and had been involved in a sit-in protest. He had been a suspect in a bombing at the college that had killed a janitor. He was put in jail but not charged after a fight with his wife. She filed a restraining order on him and they later divorced.
Will was at work the next day when he received a phone call, presumably from the murderer. The voice was disguised with a machine and told him that he was a fellow soldier and they expected his cooperation. They told him to look in his desk and he found 2 cards that were similar to the ones left with the murder victims. His cards were C & N. E & R were left with the 1st victim, R & T with the 2nd, B & E with the 3rd. Will called the number on the card Patty had given him.
Patty came by to see Will and Brasco arrived a short time later. He reprimanded Patty in front of Will. Will was intimidated by and didn't like Brasco. After the police left, Will asked Patty to listen to him. He told her that he had signed copies of signed witness statements that his wife was the violent one. The cops didn't want to hear his side of the story. They took him into custody until others came forward and explained the situation and he was released. The security guard had been poking him with his nightstick when Will struck back. Again, Will had witness statements that the security guard had tripped and fallen. A PhD student had confessed to the bombing. Will wanted Patty to know he wasn't violent. Patty believed him. Will told her that it was her choice of whether or not to share the information with Brasco. Will also noticed that Patty wasn't married. They ended up growing closer to the point of sleeping together as Patty continued to work on the case after she was pretty much off the case.
Brasco and his superior officer had followed Patty and knew that she was sleeping with Will. They intended to use the pictures they had to blackmail her father. Brasco had her working on other cases when she found out that he had used a computer to disguise Will's voice and set up a meeting with the murderer using a phone number that they had gotten off the tapes of the phone taps. Patty got to the meeting place in time to see that Brasco was heading up a staircase that put him in full moonlight where he could easily be seen. She told him to get down and then headed up the steps. She knocked him off as a bullet grazed her head. She hit her head on a rock when she fell and saved Brasco's life and it put her in a coma due to the cracking of her skull.
Patty had called Will's attorney before she headed out to the meeting. Will had performed a surgery and been drugged. He fell into the patient and was being sued. He went to see an attorney that was known for suing doctors. The attorney agreed to help Will and talked himself in to the fact that the drugs were soaked into the soles of his tennis shoes. As he sweated, the drugs entered into his system causing problems. He lost his privilege to practice until it was all straightened out.
Just before he had all the drug problems, a woman who had once been a patron of The Open Hearth Kitchen and a drug addict, came into his office. Her HMO sent her to Susan and when she realized that Will was working in the same office, she requested that he take over her care. That went well until he had the drug problem and Susan ended up doing her cancer surgery. After the surgery, she had an allergic reaction to the drugs and she had new X-rays taken. Her husband noticed that a BB from where she had been shot as a child was missing from the cancer X-rays. This was mentioned to Will and he went to see the doctor who had read the X-rays. He pulled a gun on Will and Will left. He went back to his office and asked Susan to go back to his office with him to see if she could talk to him and maybe get some answers. They went back the next day and found him dead.
Will got a phone call telling him that the dead doctor had left him a present and Will didn't know what had happened to Patty and decided to go meet the stranger alone. He was followed and didn't realize it. He got a package of X-rays and headed back to his car when Boyd Halliday's assistant showed up with a gun asking for the envelope of Xrays. A gang ended up helping Will escape but Marshal Gold had an additional gun and killed the gang members. Will tried to get away but didn't. He handed off the envelope to Lionel, who he had asked directions of where the meeting place was. The directions were not for a road but rather for an alley so he needed to ask. Marshall tortured Will to find out what he did with the X-rays. That didn't work so they kidnapped Patty from the hospital after setting off a smoke bomb and everyone was being evacuated thinking it was a fire.
Patty was brought to the farmhouse where Will was. Boyd Halliday showed up and admitted to killing the other HMO leaders, there was 4 by now. Patty was still supposed to be in a coma so they saw her as no threat. Patty had done some more research on the dead executives and was fairly certain that there was a connection to the HMO run by Boyd Halliday and the dead people. A couple if the dead executives had blocked a sale of their HMO's to Boyd's HMO. She figured the murders were simply due to business deals. She had happened to be right.
Will figured out that Patty had woken up from her coma. He disconnected her tubes so that she could move if necessary. One of the guys torturing Will went with Will to get the X-rays from Lionel. They found Lionel and Will ended up distracting him and stabbing him. Will found out that the X-rays were all the same with different names. Boyd's HMO was using one cancer Xray for other women and there was a man's too, to cause doctors to operate and charge for surgeries where nothing was wrong with the patients. Susan had operated on Will's friend Grace when she didn't have cancer and an allergic reaction to her treatment had almost killed her.
He got back to the farmhouse where Patty had strangled one of the other guys with her feeding tube as he was trying to molest her. Patty got his gun and when Gold came back to check on her, she shot him just above his knee. Will went to the house to call 911 and came back with Susan having a gun on him. Marshall was Susan's boyfriend. She tried to force Will to work on Marshall. Patty caused a distraction and they ended up running out of the barn where they were being kept. They went to the farmhouse and thought about disrupting the old couple there until a phone call caused him to leave the house with his rifle. They knew that he wouldn't help them. They ended up getting to a tractor when Patty went back to the barn and discovered that Marshall had died.
They ended up driving the tractor to the road and then hiding in the woods until morning arrived. They got to the board room where Boyd was with the other executives of the HMO's where an executive had died. They were getting ready to sign documents allowing Boyd's HMO to take over their companies. Patty and Will showed up with Patty's father to arrest Boyd for the murders.
Will got to tell several women and men that they didn't have cancer. Will and Patty were still together several months later. Changes in the medical world took place. The HMO's were going out of business. Grace and her husband hunted Susan down and found her in Paraguay. Grace shot and killed Susan and then returned home.
June 22, 2011
This book talks about the dangers of the American health care system. The story begins with a view into the life of a young surgeon, Will Grant.He is a divorced father of two children. The most astonishing fact about will is that he is a member of a secret society- The Hippocratic society. The main objective of this society is to recapture the society from the grips of the Managed healthcare industry.
At the same time, several MHO executives were murdered in a similar fashion. The killer phoned the police and the press that they Hippocratic society may have been involved in the killings. The first suspect in the in the case was will himself. It was left to lead detective Patty Moriarty to investigate Will. Upon searching his record, she noticed that he had several run ins with the police.
Patty began to sympathize with will and she joined forces with him to get to the root of the case. I believe that Patty was forced by her colleagues into believing he was a killer due to her naive nature,But soon she found out that he was not a killer.
This reveals a great deal about the human nature, because most people are very susceptible to taking other people's opinions as their own.
In the end, the killers were actually operatives of another larger managed health company, whose primary objective was to kill the CEO'S to force their companies to merge with he large corporation.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading books with a medical theme. In my opinion some of the parts of the book did not really sound plausible to me in real life. It also has enough twists and turns to prevent yo from even trying to miss a single sentence.
:::::The End:::::
At the same time, several MHO executives were murdered in a similar fashion. The killer phoned the police and the press that they Hippocratic society may have been involved in the killings. The first suspect in the in the case was will himself. It was left to lead detective Patty Moriarty to investigate Will. Upon searching his record, she noticed that he had several run ins with the police.
Patty began to sympathize with will and she joined forces with him to get to the root of the case. I believe that Patty was forced by her colleagues into believing he was a killer due to her naive nature,But soon she found out that he was not a killer.
This reveals a great deal about the human nature, because most people are very susceptible to taking other people's opinions as their own.
In the end, the killers were actually operatives of another larger managed health company, whose primary objective was to kill the CEO'S to force their companies to merge with he large corporation.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading books with a medical theme. In my opinion some of the parts of the book did not really sound plausible to me in real life. It also has enough twists and turns to prevent yo from even trying to miss a single sentence.
:::::The End:::::
February 17, 2016
I'm a bit biased, favorably, so not going into detail other than to say I love any well written medical thrillers, medical mysteries and/or true life medical stories as long as they are realistic and use medical jargon properly.(but not so simplistic as to make you feel like being talked down too) Nothing worse than the reader feeling like they are more knowledgeable about medicine then the author.
Michael Palmer is one of my favorites authors in this genre as he spent over 2 decades as a practicing ER and internal medicine Doctor so he adds the credibility and authenticity to his writing as well as keeping you on you guessing as to next move. he's great at putting that last minute twist into his ending to leave you with the "I never saw that coming" expression on your face.
If new to medical thrillers genre, I highly recommend starting with Michael Palmer and Robin Cook. Both get 2 thumbs up for me for interesting plots, realistic story lines and authentic medical usage that elicit trust from the medical side while still being written for the layman to understand when the medical terminology comes into play.
Michael Palmer is one of my favorites authors in this genre as he spent over 2 decades as a practicing ER and internal medicine Doctor so he adds the credibility and authenticity to his writing as well as keeping you on you guessing as to next move. he's great at putting that last minute twist into his ending to leave you with the "I never saw that coming" expression on your face.
If new to medical thrillers genre, I highly recommend starting with Michael Palmer and Robin Cook. Both get 2 thumbs up for me for interesting plots, realistic story lines and authentic medical usage that elicit trust from the medical side while still being written for the layman to understand when the medical terminology comes into play.
January 5, 2011
An excellent medical thriller about the danger of HMO's. While I think HMO's are a poor option for our medical crises, I still do not support socialized medicine and never will. Even though, I disagreed with the theme of the novel, I really enjoyed the thriller.
April 2, 2016
127th: THE SOCIETY by Michael Palmer
Chosen By: Joyce
Trivia Winner - Roberta
~COVE OPINION: C+, Above Average story
Discussed THE SOCIETY in the 6th episode of our Cove podcast - listen in!
Chosen By: Joyce
Trivia Winner - Roberta
~COVE OPINION: C+, Above Average story
Discussed THE SOCIETY in the 6th episode of our Cove podcast - listen in!
July 27, 2011
Lots of plot holes in this one. We never quite understand the motivation of the villain(s), and the ending is just weird. I won't even mention the romance angle, because it's clear that this is a consistent weakness in Palmer's books.
February 23, 2009
This was sorta good. I thought it fell apart at the end. He could have doen better, as he has in other books I've read.
January 27, 2011
pretty good mystery, still a little too actiony for my taste
August 27, 2012
It had potential but the writing was not that great, the characters were not that likeable and the torture stuff at the end really turned me off.
January 29, 2013
Entertaining, though some parts are predictable, but that doesn't take away from the story value.
February 9, 2017
This was a slow read for me. Some of the writing was tedious. I thought the last two pages were actually silly, even though I imagine they were meant to be a shocking ending.
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September 6, 2021In de vorm van een thriller, stevige kritiek op private zorgverzekeraars.
ISBN 978 90 229 8960 9 (7).
Nogmaals dit boek een vertaling van The Society uit 2004.
ISBN 978 90 229 8960 9 (7).
Nogmaals dit boek een vertaling van The Society uit 2004.
May 28, 2018
I was given this book as a gift, and decided to give it a try although i knew I probably would have issues with the premise of the story. This is an extremely poor demonstration of the political and administrative differences between traditional medical care and managed care. If this book is correct in its assumptions, all physicians practice only for the good of the patient, regardless of payment, sleep and consistently do good works and assist in working with the poor and homeless, from giving free medical care to working in soup kitchens. All physicians have no other outside interest, and forfeit everything, including their family life for the good of their patients. This is totally untrue or you would not see so many physicians living in mansions in Beverly Hills and other places. At the opposite extreme, anyone working in managed care are greedy, non medical, selfish individuals only caring about their own power and greed. This story would be laughable if it were not for the fact that many believe this tale is accurate. The murders are almost justified do to the greed of those in managed care.
As one who has worked in administering both types of medical care, I must say that no one in managed care making medical decisions is not a practicing physician or well qualified nurse. That HMOs contract with medical groups who administer and determine the level of medical care to provide a member/patient. Did managed care make mistakes in the early days, of course, but to lump everyone associated to managed care as evil, power hungry, somewhat dim witted, as well as essentially greedy and probably deserve to die, and all physicians as god like is also wrong.
The author indicated he spoke to many individuals prior to writing this story, I would doubt very much if his research went beyond his initial assertion that managed care was evil and never a source of good. He certainly did not research managed care, for his information on how managed care operates is extremely faulty and inaccurate.
As one who has worked in administering both types of medical care, I must say that no one in managed care making medical decisions is not a practicing physician or well qualified nurse. That HMOs contract with medical groups who administer and determine the level of medical care to provide a member/patient. Did managed care make mistakes in the early days, of course, but to lump everyone associated to managed care as evil, power hungry, somewhat dim witted, as well as essentially greedy and probably deserve to die, and all physicians as god like is also wrong.
The author indicated he spoke to many individuals prior to writing this story, I would doubt very much if his research went beyond his initial assertion that managed care was evil and never a source of good. He certainly did not research managed care, for his information on how managed care operates is extremely faulty and inaccurate.
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November 4, 2025Helmet 25/2025 Kirjan kannessa tai nimessä on käärme =>
📖 Michael Palmer, Salaseura 👍
Helmet -lukuhaaste viikko 25
Tämän viikon #helmetlukuhaaste2025 kohtaan ”Kirjan kannessa tai nimessä on käärme” valikoitui pitkään kirjahyllyssä viihtynyt, Michael Palmerin, Salaseura 👍 Luin tuon kirjan jo maaliskuussa, mutta postaus on näköjään jäänyt tekemättä…
Kyllä nämä lukuhaasteet on sitten ihan mahtavia, tämänkin helmen 💎 löysin kirjahyllyni kätköistä, kun valitsin kirjoja #hushyllynlämmittäjä haasteeseen! Kirjan ostin aikanaan heräteostoksena kauppareissulta 🛒 ja ihmettelen miksi en ole sitä vielä lukenut? 🤔
Michael Palmer on minulle uusi 🆕 kirjailijatuttavuus ✍🏻, hän on työskennellyt lääkärinä 🩺 ja kirjoittaa lääketieteellisiä jännityskirjoja. Salaseura oli mielestäni hyvin kirjoitettu ja jäin siihen heti jumiin, halusin tietää miten tapahtumat etenevät. Aluksi hieman karsastin takakannen esittelyssä mainittua sarjamurhaajaa, joka tuntuu innostavan amerikkalaisia kirjailijoita, mutta tässä kirjassa sitä ei onneksi hehkutettu niin kauheasti, vaikka toki oli osana tarinaa. En tunne amerikkalaista sairausvakuutusta ja se on saattanut muuttua kirjan kirjoittamisen jälkeen (2005) Hurja tarina, silä siinä on käytetty aitoja potilaskertomuksia vakuutusyhtiöiden kanssa eli kirja on osittain toteen perustuva.
Michael Palmer, Salaseura 👍
Sopii Helmet lukuhaasteessa 2025 kohtiin:
24 Kirjassa tehdään laittomuuksia
25 Kirjan kannessa tai nimessä on käärme
31 Kirjan päähenkilölle ura on tärkeä
39 Kirjassa etsitään ratkaisua arvoitukseen
📖 Michael Palmer, Salaseura 👍
Helmet -lukuhaaste viikko 25
Tämän viikon #helmetlukuhaaste2025 kohtaan ”Kirjan kannessa tai nimessä on käärme” valikoitui pitkään kirjahyllyssä viihtynyt, Michael Palmerin, Salaseura 👍 Luin tuon kirjan jo maaliskuussa, mutta postaus on näköjään jäänyt tekemättä…
Kyllä nämä lukuhaasteet on sitten ihan mahtavia, tämänkin helmen 💎 löysin kirjahyllyni kätköistä, kun valitsin kirjoja #hushyllynlämmittäjä haasteeseen! Kirjan ostin aikanaan heräteostoksena kauppareissulta 🛒 ja ihmettelen miksi en ole sitä vielä lukenut? 🤔
Michael Palmer on minulle uusi 🆕 kirjailijatuttavuus ✍🏻, hän on työskennellyt lääkärinä 🩺 ja kirjoittaa lääketieteellisiä jännityskirjoja. Salaseura oli mielestäni hyvin kirjoitettu ja jäin siihen heti jumiin, halusin tietää miten tapahtumat etenevät. Aluksi hieman karsastin takakannen esittelyssä mainittua sarjamurhaajaa, joka tuntuu innostavan amerikkalaisia kirjailijoita, mutta tässä kirjassa sitä ei onneksi hehkutettu niin kauheasti, vaikka toki oli osana tarinaa. En tunne amerikkalaista sairausvakuutusta ja se on saattanut muuttua kirjan kirjoittamisen jälkeen (2005) Hurja tarina, silä siinä on käytetty aitoja potilaskertomuksia vakuutusyhtiöiden kanssa eli kirja on osittain toteen perustuva.
Michael Palmer, Salaseura 👍
Sopii Helmet lukuhaasteessa 2025 kohtiin:
24 Kirjassa tehdään laittomuuksia
25 Kirjan kannessa tai nimessä on käärme
31 Kirjan päähenkilölle ura on tärkeä
39 Kirjassa etsitään ratkaisua arvoitukseen
March 1, 2020
the first thriller book I've ever read. i owned this book since early last year, actually tried to read this 3 times, but ended up dnf'd like 30 pages in. not like i find this book boring, but the first 100 pages, there wasn't much going on, and it just, a lot of medical terms that certainly my middle school couldn't comprehend. but after i went past through that, it just, a lot. the book is told in chapters, and there's like 34 chapters? in my edition, and i absolutely love the way palmer end each chapter. because you know shits certainly will go downhill at the end of the chapter, and you wondered what will happen, will it be any worst than the previous ones, and et cetera. i just LOVE the thrill that i got everytime i started a new chapter. each chapter is pretty short, and i feel like I'm reading/watching a movie when i read this. like every chapter is a great montage, and i can't help envisioned it as if I'm watching a movie. and about the managed health care, i feel like i will enjoy and understand this book more if I'm familiar with the health care system in america, but overall, i think it's a pretty solid book, and it certainly gives me thrill. and kept on my toes while reading this
April 28, 2024
Here is another well written and fast moving medical thriller by Michael Palmer. It is a quick, easy read. In fact, I had to limit my time spent with this book because at the same time I was also reading two other books by authors who could not resist the tendency to write too many words and include content that was not helpful to the book. I would have wanted to read this book in a single day. The only weakness I could find in this book was that of credibility. The heroes, Will and Patty, made a series of bad decisions that exposed them to professional disadvantage and indeed to the sudden loss of their health. Most ordinary people would not do that. I realize that the author had to do something to get them into a mess, so that he could get them out again. The final chapters of escape from the clutches of the criminals are absolutely over the top. Ordinary heroes would have been dead several times over. However, Palmer is such a skillful writer that these improbabilities just contribute to the fun of reading.
May 1, 2019
Very disappointing
While I enjoyed the premise of the book, the medical community fighting managed healthcare by insurance companies, the story itself was quite lame. I have no patience with leading female characters like Patty, a police detective fighting her way through the good old boy network, dItching all police protocol to protect a suspect who, it seemed like two seconds before, she was convinced was guilty as sin. All because she had the hots for him.
There were too many loose ends as well. While the doctor’s kids were mentioned periodically, they were not mentioned towards the end of the story. Also, the cop that Patty took a bullet for was never mentioned again other than he was unhurt while she lay in a coma. Seems to me like there should have been some sort of wrap up on that issue.
Not a bad book, per se, but definitely not great. Editor should have caught the loose ends and had the author make the changes.
While I enjoyed the premise of the book, the medical community fighting managed healthcare by insurance companies, the story itself was quite lame. I have no patience with leading female characters like Patty, a police detective fighting her way through the good old boy network, dItching all police protocol to protect a suspect who, it seemed like two seconds before, she was convinced was guilty as sin. All because she had the hots for him.
There were too many loose ends as well. While the doctor’s kids were mentioned periodically, they were not mentioned towards the end of the story. Also, the cop that Patty took a bullet for was never mentioned again other than he was unhurt while she lay in a coma. Seems to me like there should have been some sort of wrap up on that issue.
Not a bad book, per se, but definitely not great. Editor should have caught the loose ends and had the author make the changes.
January 7, 2019
A highly dedicated doctor against the growing managed care insurance companies fined himself suspended after collapsing during an operation with a fentanyl overdose. The doctor and the decetive investigation the serial murders of heads of the manage health organizations search for the reason he was overdosed as well as the identification of the serial killer. The plot takes many turns and twists and the murder is solved in the most unexpected way. A fast paced novel, hard to put down because you always want to see what is coming next.
October 28, 2017
Excellent book if wishful thinking
The author accurately describes the deplorable state of manage care as it exists today. The protagonist, Will, a practising MD is trying to bring awareness to this problem. Meanwhile a series of murders take place that bring him into contact with the police, especially when he is framed to appear to be the killer. In the end, through Will, a one payer system is likely to become law. We can only hope
The author accurately describes the deplorable state of manage care as it exists today. The protagonist, Will, a practising MD is trying to bring awareness to this problem. Meanwhile a series of murders take place that bring him into contact with the police, especially when he is framed to appear to be the killer. In the end, through Will, a one payer system is likely to become law. We can only hope
December 24, 2025
dalsia skvela kniha od Palmera, paci sa mi jeho styl pisania
smutne je zmyslanie poistovni, ktore maju vidinu len zisk, a co vsetko su pren schopne urobit
“Bože, obdar ma pokojom, aby som prijímala veci, ktoré nemôžem zmeniť, odvahou, aby som dokázala zmeniť veci, ktoré viem, a múdrosťou aby som ich vedela odlíšiť.”
“Pokiaľ fakty nie su v súlade s vaším presvedčením, tak ich zrejme nepoznáte všetky.”
smutne je zmyslanie poistovni, ktore maju vidinu len zisk, a co vsetko su pren schopne urobit
“Bože, obdar ma pokojom, aby som prijímala veci, ktoré nemôžem zmeniť, odvahou, aby som dokázala zmeniť veci, ktoré viem, a múdrosťou aby som ich vedela odlíšiť.”
“Pokiaľ fakty nie su v súlade s vaším presvedčením, tak ich zrejme nepoznáte všetky.”
June 18, 2018
Great!!!! And so true of the HMO's that have taken over our country!
The thought of someone sitting behind a desk and dictating what care a patient can and cannot get, without ever setting eyes on the patient is criminal. We, as patient's, must demand more from the medical insurance we pay dearly for.
Michael Palmer has hit dead on with this novel.
The thought of someone sitting behind a desk and dictating what care a patient can and cannot get, without ever setting eyes on the patient is criminal. We, as patient's, must demand more from the medical insurance we pay dearly for.
Michael Palmer has hit dead on with this novel.
May 5, 2019
Several high-profile execs of managed care have been murdered. Dr. Will Grant, outspoken critic of managed care, soon becomes a suspect. He works with Patty Moriarty, a young detective, being taken off the case by her bosses. Can they solve the mystery?
Okay. Not as good as some other medical mysteries.
Okay. Not as good as some other medical mysteries.
December 6, 2021
A serial killer is targeting the executive's of Healthcare Providers. At the same time Dr Will Grant is a member of the Hippocrates Society that aims to reclaim Healthcare putting it in the hands of medical professionals instead of Healthcare Providers.
A hard to it down medical, legal, crime novel the explores the health care system and the potential for abuse by insurance companies.
A hard to it down medical, legal, crime novel the explores the health care system and the potential for abuse by insurance companies.
July 8, 2023
This book gets 9.5 out of 10 for me. Very interesting plot, climactic ending and mostly satisfying denoument. Palmer does a better job than Robin Cook at tying up loose ends. I wish he had done so with 2 sexist detectives who had been giving a female detective (and co-protagonist) a hard time until she more than proved her mettle. I recommend wholeheartedly.
August 17, 2018
Man-o-man
I read Palmer many years ago but have just picked him up again..this one, though...I read morning, noon, and night. It will keep you interested until the end that you did not see coming!
I read Palmer many years ago but have just picked him up again..this one, though...I read morning, noon, and night. It will keep you interested until the end that you did not see coming!
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