Contagion. A deadly epidemic... carefully engineered

More about the book

From the master of the medical thriller comes a gripping tale of a deadly epidemic fueled by sinister sabotage—a cautionary narrative for the millennium amid colliding health care giants. After losing his Midwestern ophthalmology practice to a for-profit medical corporation and suffering a family tragedy due to a commuter airline crash, Dr. John Stapleton's life crumbles. Transitioning from a once-promising career to a jaded cynic, he retrains in forensic pathology and relocates to the cold, indifferent maze of New York City. Stapleton believes he has moved past pain, but a series of virulent illnesses, culminating in a deadly outbreak of a rare influenza strain, ignites his suspicions. The outbreaks are traced to hospitals and clinics controlled by the same corporation that took his practice, leading him to suspect a catastrophic conspiracy: could the for-profit giant be systematically eliminating its more costly patients? As he seeks the truth, Stapleton forms an unlikely partnership with Terese Hagen, an art director from a Madison Avenue advertising firm. Together, they uncover a Machiavellian plot behind the contagions that reveals even darker implications of managed health care, highlighting the risks faced by consumers in this new era.