Deep as the Marrow

by F. Paul Wilson

When the president of the United States decides to back the legalization of marijuana, organized crime decides he must die. But for them to succeed, he must die without blame on them. So they are going to make his friend--his personal physician--kill him.

First, they kidnap the doctor's daughter.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Horror, Detective, Medical

404 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1997

About the author

Francis Paul Wilson is an author, born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies. In 1981 he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller, The Keep, and helped define the field throughout the rest of the decade. In the 1990s he became a true genre hopper, moving from science fiction to horror to medical thrillers and branching into interactive scripting for Disney Interactive and other multimedia companies. He, along with Matthew J. Costello, created and scripted FTL Newsfeed which ran daily on the Sci-Fi Channel from 1992-1996.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A predictable story that you can see everything that will happen long before it does.
Not as good as any other book I’ve read by this author.

[Shawn Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the POTUS decides to push an agenda of legalizing drugs, the cartels decide to fight for their lives. The President needs to die, but it can't be an assassination.

Thank goodness his personal physician has a reason to do the deed.

Deep as the Marrow is different from other books I've read by Wilson. There is no hint of the supernatural in any way, it is a straight thriller. It is also a very well written one. Wilson effectively moves from POV to POV, each time allowing a bit more of the story to be revealed and developed.

I thought the way that the situations with the lowest rung of criminals involved were described were fascinating. It was presented as normal activity for those characters - that was the way their life was lived at the moment, even if they were planning to change. It was all very matter-of-fact.

The character of Poppy turned out to be one of my favorites. She started out very one dimensional, but developed well and incorporated the reveals about her past into current behavior seamlessly.

I also enjoyed the inclusion of the Jersey Pines into the story. It was nearly Deliverance in New Jersey, and a reminder that the entire state isn't just a big turnpike littered with urban foxholes and burned out factories. I really enjoyed that twist to the story.

[Dirk · Rating 2 out of 5]

F. Paul Wilson wrote a few horror books that I enjoyed back in the 80′s so when I saw this book from him at the library used book sale for 50 cents, I snagged it.

I wasn’t too impressed with it. It’s not a horror book, it’s a straight up thriller. Basically the President of the United States decides to push through a bill to legalize drugs and the South American Cocaine cartels decide they can’t allow this to happen, so they kidnap the daughter of the President’s oldest and best friend. Who is also his personal doctor. They tell the doctor he has to give the President a shot of some nasty stuff or they kill the daughter.

You can pretty much guess the rest of the plot. No real surprises. I was skimming a lot.

[Ensiform · Rating 4 out of 5]

When President Tom Winston unveils a plan to decriminalize all drugs, his boyhood friend and personal physician John VanDuyne is shocked. Others, such as the Colombian cartel, are outraged, seeing their livelihood at risk. So they kidnap VanDuyne's daughter to coerce him into either killing or sickening Winston, removing him from office. Unfortunately for the cartel, complications arise immediately: the little girl is epileptic, and the American snatch crew they've outsourced the job to includes a young woman with latent but very fierce maternal instincts.

Like the Repairman Jack novels by Wilson I've read, this thriller has a lot of twists and turns, feints and red herrings. Wilson makes all his characters rich with back histories and quirks, so you never know what stray piece of information will come back to affect the plot. For example, the overweight cartel boss still pines for his estranged wife, who never features in the book at all. Sometimes Wilson overshoots; he refers several times to the ferocity that comes over VanDuyne, apparently foreshadowing a showdown, but the good doctor never does any heroics himself. And making a character say "like" in her thoughts is distracting, not character development. Other than that, though, this is a thrilling page-turner with likeable characters and a despicable villain and a tortuous plot that whisks them from Washington to Atlantic City to the Pine Barrens. Wilson's medical degree gives an added touch of verisimilitude to the details of the plot, that do indeed involve bone marrow.

[Dan Banana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as some of his others but, an action and suspense filled story with solid characters. Overall enjoyable, mostly.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "Deep As The Marrow", the US President decides to push for the legalization of marijuana and other drugs. Naturally, high-ranking members of certain drug cartels become worried that their lucrative business will dry up. Therefore, they arrange for the six year old daughter (Katie) of the President's personal physician and best friend (John) to be kidnapped and to present John with an awful choice: medically (and secretly) kill the president or have his daughter returned in pieces!

This book is a straight non-paranormal political kidnapping thriller, unlike most of author F. Paul Wilson's other works (which I generally love to read). It describes (in a LOT of detail) the moral dilemma that John has to deal with, along with the growing moral difficulties the two unwilling caretakers (Poppy and Paulie) of the "package", and Poppy's subsequent attempts to do the right thing by Katie and eventually return her to her father. Overall, I'd give it 3 stars.

[Skock · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a recreational writer, I sometimes force myself to read writing that I don't enjoy simply to study what the author does and doesn't do that makes the story work.

This is one of those books, unfortunately.

I was greeted by very one-dimensional characters, dialogue written for a teen Disney movie, and an extremely predictable and simple plot. I was hoping F. Paul Wilson was a new author to the scene and, if he was, I would give him some credit as a new author for trying. But once I read reviews online saying this wasn't his first book I was surprised.

A few things on which I will commend him: the action scenes were intriguing. The plot wasn't a complete wash-out and had me interested enough to finish the book. But, overall, I wouldn't recommend this author, or--at least--the book.

[Roger Scherping · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting idea for a plot, that the president would be pushing to decriminalize all drugs. But that was just the background for the story of Katie, the daughter of the president's personal physician, who was kidnapped by a drug syndicate to get her father to poison the president. Originally I was concerned that it would be a tiring, gruesome kidnapping story (the kidnappers were going to send him her toe as a persuader to cooperate), but the author is very imaginative and the story was full of twists and turns that made it very interesting.

[Lisa Lilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is intriguing -- a very unusual kidnapping where the ransom is something other than money and must be paid by someone other than a relative of the victim. F. Paul Wilson makes two of the kidnappers very sympathetic, the pace is good, and there are a number of twists. I did not find the protagonist quite as interesting as most of his characters, but I still recommend this for anyone who enjoys suspense with overall good characterization.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hoping for a medical thriller, but this was more of a political thriller. The book focuses on Dr. John VanDuyne, physician to the President, and single father to a young daughter. When the President announces a plan to decriminalize drugs (though it takes a while to get that context from the early chapters of the book), a plan is launched to kidnap VanDuyne's daughter. The 'why' of it all is drawn out through the book, but bottom line, the only way VanDuyne is getting her back is to kill the President, specifically by taking advantage of a secret the two men have kept hidden throughout the President's rise to the office. The secret is a medical one and is alluded to in the title of the book, but really, it doesn't come into play as a main theme of the book. Instead, the plot is almost entirely centered on VanDuyne's efforts to get his daughter back, without alerting the authorities, as the kidnappers know she is not worth the trouble of keeping alive if she can't be used to bargain with VanDuyne for this specific favor. We also get the perspective of the bad guys, who operate in a multi-level criminal scheme but have never before involved a child in one of their jobs.
Overall, an OK book, but not what I was expecting and it dragged on at points, especially in the beginning.

[Arwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected better, based on the hype on the front and back covers regarding a previous book by this author. I honestly could have come up with this plot myself. It is not a medical thriller involving some obscure disease.

I will say that the development of Poppy's character was very well done and nicely paced. It was the best part of the book. Other characters were incomplete, and some were included for no apparent reason. The ending was rushed and predictable, however. I thought about putting it down about halfway through, but I'm retired so I finished it anyway. If you are busy, this book may not be worth your time.

[Assonta Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started wonderfully and I was fully invested by 1-3 of the book. Once things start rolling faster, it got so good. My biggest complaint is that it felt the book could have ended much much earlier. By the time I got to the last 7 chapters, I felt as if I was slogging through it so I could get to the inevitable end. Overall a good book and story, but as it starts to wrap up, it gets tedious

[Duane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love F. Paul Wilson and his believable stories. The background for the plot is a retelling of the history of the cartels. It also shows how deeply indebted government employees could be. Betrayal, love, hatred, greed, and suspense are all good adjectives for this book. I enjoyed the unexpected subplots and twists and turns as the story progressed. Overall an enjoyable worthwhile read.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would make a fantastic movie! And if Harrison Ford were younger he would be great as the JohnVanDuyne character. I pictured him while reading the book. This one had great characters and an intriguing plot. There were no slow spots and it was hard to put down to go make dinner. I even liked one of the criminals, who basically had a good heart.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting premise. The execution was almost perfect but there were a few lags that didn’t need to be there and some extra characters that could have just been side notes in stead of co stars.

Still a great book though!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tense and exciting, plausible and fluid.

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1997. A medical thriller laced with political intrigue and personal tragedy.

[Yelena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads a bit like a series of unfortunate events!

So many things gone wrong - sounds like a real-life lol

Otherwise, it is not a bad thriller.

[Moyra Mendham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Read in 2 days.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fine story indeed.

[1dkm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 3.5 stars. Not the best by Wilson, but still better than most books I have read by other authors. I like the message for sure, the good reads description seemed a bit overboard, but gets the idea across. Anyway, I would recommend this.book as it is entertaining and an easy and exciting read (as Wilson usually delivers).

[Oconnor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real page turner.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt rather mixed on this one. F. Paul Wilson is known for his works of horror--this one has no element of the supernatural but rather is a work of medical suspense/political thriller. American President Thomas Winston calls for the legalization of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroine. A Columbian drug lord, Carlos Salinas, is fearful he could succeed and destroy the very basis of the illegal drug trade. Salinas sets out to assassinate the president through his personal physician, John Van Duyne, having the doctor's six-year-old daughter kidnapped to force him to cooperate.

I got this book years ago and remember enjoying it, and was reviewing it recently to decide whether or not to cull it to free up space in my library. It wasn't a good sign that I couldn't remember a thing about it before opening the book again. I'm actually a proponent of drug legalization for many of the reasons Wilson lays out in the book. Nor do I feel it's very preachy in that regard, but I did feel the story was written more to argue for the pro-legalization position rather than growing organically from the premise. I might not have felt that way if so many details didn't feel dated. For instance, the president is counting on the support of Milton Friedman, the famous Nobel Prize winning economist and a former adviser to Ronald Reagan and famed conservative William F. Buckley of National Review. Both men did hold the views presented, but both are also very much dead.

Beyond that, I thought the plot got more and more convoluted and far-fetched as the book went along. I'm not saying this is a turkey. It's by and large a well-written book with likable characters, thought-provoking arguments, and a suspenseful climax. But not, I decided, a keeper.

[William Malmborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep as the Marrow was an exciting read, one that is a prefect example of what people want when sitting down with a suspense novel. Making this one even more enjoyable was the freshness with which it was told. Far too often suspense stories like this become too cliché and predicable, their authors tweaking a formula that works just enough to make the tale unique, yet far from original. F. Paul Wilson doesn’t do that with this one. Even better he doesn’t destroy the realness of the tale with unreal characters, and instead paints a landscape that everyday readers could project themselves into. Most impressive of all was the sense of understanding one has for the characters involved and the motivation behind everything they do, be it good or bad. At times this can be a bit scary because one finds themselves listening to the evil intentions of the opposition and nodding approval with their reasoning for the despicable acts, which in turn makes one wonder if they themselves would behave in such a way. Blending all this together, F Paul Wilson has created a magnificent suspense novel that never slows down and keeps the reader guessing throughout; the need to turn the page and continue reading so powerful that one will find themselves staying up long into the night, their minds never wanting to stop until that final page is turned.

[Tara Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book pulled me in immediately, and never let go. The characters ran the gamut from innocent to terrifying, and were superbly drawn. I really enjoyed the plot, which was interesting enough just based on the book’s back cover. But then halfway through the book the plot took on a life of its own, taking me for a roller coaster ride that had me on the edge of my seat. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, something I couldn’t see coming happened to drive the action in a new direction.

I think that the character of Poppy was my favorite. Though I didn’t identify with her, she was compelling to watch, especially as she rose to meet the challenges she faced and became a sort of hero. Snake, a villain, was horrifying in his casual evil. While he was riveting, I hated him.

This book lacks the .5 off a perfect rating because I was conflicted about this book’s bittersweet ending. While I liked it on one hand, it seemed a bit over the top, also. Yet I have to wonder if things had happened differently if I would have been as moved by the book, and I think the answer to that is no. My final conclusion is that something was missing, so I was left slightly unsatisfied. But I still highly recommend it!

[William Bentrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep as the Marrow by F. Paul Wilson

This is a stand alone book and not related to the Repairman Jack series. John is a physician whose best friend ends up being President. Their relationship is the source of the issues in this novel.

John and Tom (the President) have a friendship that dates from elementary school. Still fast friends, decades later, John finds himself as the President's personal physician.

The turning point in this idyllic bromance is defined by Tom's decision to decriminalize illegal drugs. Wilson does a great job pointing out the benefits of decriminalizing drugs. Noting it is a social issue that would be better served by legalization and the resulting taxation rather than filling the prisons with users who have, for the most part, never been abusers or criminals in any other way. Frankly Wilson makes quite a cognizant presentation on the legalization issue.

Regardless of the rationality of the arguments which do make a lot of sense, the process imperils the enormous profits of the drug cartels.

This leads to action that threatens John's family and it's well being.

This was a compelling story and well worth the read, I highly recommend.

Site: http://repairmanjack.com/

[Kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy F. Paul Wilson's forays into the political arena. Deep as the Marrow left me feeling like I'd missed out on something. It was a little LaNague, a little Jack, and I wished it had been just a bit more of one or the other.

Still, a very good read. F. Paul Wilson and political suspense fans will enjoy this book.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Medical thrillers were never my cup of tea. I'm more into the far out there kinda books. I bought this a while ago sheerly because it's my man F. Paul Wilson. This books is one hell of a page turner. Screw the crazy paranormal for now, this is one intense book! On page 232, good to see Gerry again too! Pleasant surprise!

[Jonah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely the worst F. Paul Wilson title I have read. No surprises here. Only for the hardcore Wilson completists.

A generic thriller that gets more ridiculous as it goes, piling absurdity upon coincidence upon cliche.

This is one book that you may effectively judge by its cover.

Blech.

[Beth Tidman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What lengths will a drug lord go to when his livelyhood is threatened with the possibility of drugs being made legal? What length will a person go to to protect a kidnapped child?

I was surprised that this political thriller didn't have even a hint of the supernatural.Well developed characters and a plot that kept the pages turning. Completely enjoyed this book.