Life Support Book Review

	Title:	Life Support
	Author:	Tess Gerritsen
	Published:	1997, Pocket Books
	No. of Pages:	369
	Cover Price:	$7.99 US

In her second novel, Life Support, Tess Gerritsen creates the story of Dr. Toby Harper, an ER physician who admits a man to the emergency room one evening who seems to have a serious infection of the brain. Before she can run tests and treat him, he disappears. Dr. Harper is, of course blamed for the man’s disappearance, and is considered by her superiors to have been totally irresponsible and negligible. Then when Dr. Harper discovers several other cases of similar brain infections, she sets out to find the cause of what she considers an epidemic. During her investigation, she finds she has enemies at the higher levels of the hospital; her medical practices are being scrutinized and she is on the verge of losing her job. During this time, a young prostitute finds she is pregnant, and tries to disappear in order to keep her child; while in hiding, she stays with another prostitute who is also pregnant, but is subsequently murdered. Although the two stories are told side by side, there doesn’t seem to be any correlation between the two. Dr. Harper discovers that there is an underlying evil connected to both the patients with brain infections and the pregnant prostitutes. Toby finds herself in imminent danger as she uncovers the secrets connected to the evil.

Gerritsen is a physician who practiced for many years before becoming a writer. Fans of medical thrillers will find themselves fascinated by this story. The hospital scenes seem true-to-life, due to plenty of factual medical information and medical scenarios which are woven into the plot. The book, however, is a fast read because of Gerritsen’s easy, no-nonsense style of writing. Most importantly, the book is entertaining.

This book was purchased with personal funds and no promotion was solicited from the author or publisher.

This book may be purchased from Amazon: Life Support

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