|
|
Ron Miller's DARK CORRIDORS VOL. 8, No. 36 |
|
Suspense thriller takes aim
at crooked HMO empire
By RON MILLER
of TheColumnists.com
Whenever I'm called
upon to review a book by somebody I know or work with, it's always
a little uncomfortable. What am I going to say if I think the
book stinks?
Can I, in good conscience, send readers out to buy it if I think
it's a dud?
Happily I didn't have to answer that question when I sat down to review "Vow of Vengeance," the new medical suspense novel by Ray Dreyfack, a regular contributor to this website, and his co-author Dr. Harold Mellin, a Florida gastroenterologist. It's one of those books I couldn't put down, reading it late one night that eventually turned into day with me still turning pages rapidly.
"Vow of Vengeance" is about a group of doctors and their associates who begin gathering damning evidence against a corrupt HMO known as Square Deal Health Options. If you've had any dealings with HMO's, you'll be aware that some of them place the bottom line over basic health concerns way too many times.
In this case, Square Deal goes far beyond what you expect an HMO to do, thanks to the steady pressure from above by its CEO named McIntyre, a vicious man who's been salting away millions in profits while insisting that costs be held down even if it means death to some patient-clients.
Worse yet, McIntyre has a disgraced ex-cop he keeps on the payroll as head of security. This man, who goes by the nickname The Lieutenant, is not listed on the company's payroll ;for obvious reasons. He does "special jobs" for McIntyre. You'll witness one of them if you read the sample chapter that accompanies this review.
McIntyre maintains voluminous files on nearly everyone--Senators and Congressmen who might get in the way of Square Deal's legislative agenda, physicians who might join up with the committee that's gathering evidence against the company and anyone of importance who might be blackmailed into leaving Square Deal alone to reap its profits.
The novel's hero is Dr. David Greene, who heads the committee looking into Square Deal's abuses. A widower, he has screwed up his own courage enough to keep going even after some of his fellow committee members start dying inexplicably. But he worries for the safety of his son, Chip, and the lovely Samantha, the mother of one of Chip's school friends, herself a widow because her own late husband was denied proper treatment by Square Deal.
Written with the help of Dr. Mellin, a medical authority who knows and understands the territory, "Vow of Vengeance" explores the all-too-real menace of too much control passing into the hands of bottom-line oriented medical administrators who force the real caregivers to toe the economic line. It's rich in solid medical background information and helps shine more light on the plight of America's collapsing medical health establishment.
But it's also a breathless thriller. You'll cringe as The Lieutenant goes after one bold committee member after another. Then you'll start rooting for the key people who finally get on his well-covered trail and start stalking him as he stalks others.
I've known for several years now that our own Ray Dreyfack is a superb fiction writer, despite his impressive background as a writer of books about the business world. Here he combines both interests and turns in, with the help of Dr. Mellin, a taut thriller that both informs and entertains.
This is a bargain at $15.95 for the trade soft cover edition available now through iUniverse. You can find it at www.amazon.com and can order it through most bookstores or directly from Ray Dreyfack through his email address: xraydrey@aol.com.
©2007 by Ron Miller. This column first posted Sept. 3, 2007.
Ron
Miller is a former nationally syndicated television columnist
and the author of "Mystery! A Celebration," the official
companion book to PBS' "Mystery!" series. He currently
writes about television mysteries for MYSTERY SCENE magazine.
You can comment on this column online. Please address your message to either "The Editors" or Ron Miller. To send an email, click here and don't forget to mention Ron's name: talkback@thecolumnists.com
|
|
|
Archives |
|
|