Before the proposed second meeting, Key is attacked. David meanwhile is discovered injured in the parking lot outside a five story building. Even though the police think David tried to commit suicide, Alex Caffey, David’s sister, thinks otherwise. She manages to convince one detective, Maura Kenton, that she knows her brother so well that she is certain he would never commit suicide. Without any significant physical evidence to suggest any crime, Maura can’t legitimately pursue the case further.

Alex decides to do her own sleuthing. She finds David was interested in the Caduceus Project, a group of physicians who are actively fighting the move toward national health care. Coincidentally, Victor Runyon, a physician at Gillette, is assigned to her brother’s case. She and Runyon have never gotten along and Runyon is one of the more vocal members of the Caduceus Project. She learns that four patients at Gillette have died recently after it appeared that they were well on their way to a complete recovery. The one thing, in addition to being patients under Dr. Runyon’s care, which these people have in common, is that each had a certain brand of caval filter put in place to reduce the chances of a pulmonary embolism.

Alex is convinced that Runyon for some reason has either not noticed that these filters are defective, or is deliberately putting his patients at risk. In either case he is guilty of malpractice. She is determined to expose her nemesis while trying to protect her brother against a possible similar fate.

Embolus is a great example of a medical thriller. It has all the desired elements. There is a nightmare involved, with plenty of surprises. The reader easily identifies with Alex and the terror with which she is presented. The reader knows much more than Alex, however, though not all the intricacies of the plot. There is much more emotion in this novel than in a more cerebral mystery story. The medical slant allows the author, a physician, to educate his readers about some aspects of the medical profession.

Gary Birken presents his audience with a page turner which is written on a level that most readers not medically well versed can easily understand Not only are some of the technical details of a trauma center discussed, but the ethics behind medical practice are also considered, allowing the audience some food for thought after the story is concluded The influence of politics on medicine and medicine on politics, with a short lesson on economics are all a part of the novel.

Though the characters are believable enough, they tend toward the stereotypical. Alex, though purportedly a well educated and clever individual, puts herself in danger without much thought. At one point in the story, she receives a phone call telling her that her mother, who lives in Florida, has been taken seriously ill. She does little to confirm that the phone call is legitimate, and rushes off to her mother’s aid, totally neglecting her responsibilities to her young daughter. In addition, there are the usual assortment of characters that appear in thrillers.

The medical facts in Embolus are delivered in simple enough language that the average person is not hampered in his enjoyment of the story.

--Andy Plonka