A review by brettt
Oath of Office, by Michael Palmer
2.0
Once he got a handle on his own substance abuse, Dr. Lou Welcome decided he would try to help others in the same boat. One of them was Dr. Jon Meacham, who one afternoon seems to snap, killing everyone in his office before shooting himself. Welcome knows Meacham was doing well and can't understand his rampage, so he does a little investigating to try to see what happened and salvage his own work with medical personnel in recovery in Michael Palmer's medical suspense thriller Oath of Office.
But then a number of people in the Washington, D.C. suburb where Meacham lived seem to make similar inexplicably reckless choices, and Welcome finds himself with more of a mystery than he thought. Throw in a high-level White House connection and this iceberg may have secrets that some folks wouldn't hesitate to kill to keep.
Palmer writes with a smooth style and has a pretty deft hand at weaving medical details into his narrative. He creates engaging characters and relationships between them, especially Welcome and his teenage daughter Emily. But he telegraphs a lot of his endgame and derails that story with a very late-page expository memo about the science behind his villain's scheme, and more than one twist in the plot relies on Welcome either being high-octane stupid or never having read a thriller novel before. Or maybe both. Palmer also teases a relationship that has no possibility of going anywhere and just manages to take up space. Oath isn't critical, but it's hardly ready to be up and about.
Original available here.
But then a number of people in the Washington, D.C. suburb where Meacham lived seem to make similar inexplicably reckless choices, and Welcome finds himself with more of a mystery than he thought. Throw in a high-level White House connection and this iceberg may have secrets that some folks wouldn't hesitate to kill to keep.
Palmer writes with a smooth style and has a pretty deft hand at weaving medical details into his narrative. He creates engaging characters and relationships between them, especially Welcome and his teenage daughter Emily. But he telegraphs a lot of his endgame and derails that story with a very late-page expository memo about the science behind his villain's scheme, and more than one twist in the plot relies on Welcome either being high-octane stupid or never having read a thriller novel before. Or maybe both. Palmer also teases a relationship that has no possibility of going anywhere and just manages to take up space. Oath isn't critical, but it's hardly ready to be up and about.
Original available here.