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Critical Conditions
Stephen WhitePsychologist Alan Gregory is brought in to evaluate 15-year-old Merritt Strait after her attempted suicide. The teenager has had a complicated life: her stepsister is dying from a heart ailment that might be helped by an experimental treatment, but that treatment isn't covered by the family's HMO. When the head of said evil HMO is shot and killed, the evidence points toward Merritt as the prime suspect. Alan, along with his police friend (and Merritt's uncle), Sam Purdy, begin an investigation that will expose blackmail, extortion and dark family secrets. The usually reliable Dick Hill gives a disappointing performance; his overall delivery is so low-key and measured that he doesn't bring the energy necessary to spark this thriller to life. A Signet paperback. (July)
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In his sixth suspense novel, White (Remote Control, LJ 1/97) and his protagonist psychologist Alan Gregory take on managed healthcare and come up with another compulsive read. A 15-year-old girl attempts suicide and turns mute, her two-year-old sister is dying from a rare disease while her health insurer won't pay for expensive experimental treatment, and the doctor who heads the insurance company is found shot to death. While Gregory treats the teenager and consults with police, his cop friend Sam Purdy (an in-law of principals in the case) has to keep his distance, and complications mount. White ties up all the loose ends, concerning death threats, blackmail, murder, extortion, and suicide, after a spine-tingling chase through the conveyor system of the new Denver airport. But he leaves strings dangling regarding his appealing cast of continuing characters (such as Gregory's wife Lauren's health and neighbor Adrienne's love life), guaranteeing anticipation for number seven.
-?Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.