Oath of Office (edition 2012)

From the book jacket:
"Dr. Lou Welcome is a 42-year-old ER doc in Washington D.C., who lost his medical license for an alcohol and drug addiction and, subsequently, lost his marriage as well. After five sober years, Lou is hired as a part time case-worker for the D.C. Physician Wellness Office (PWO), monitoring docs with mental illness. He advocates for his favorite client, Dr. John Meacham, to return to practice, only to have Meacham blow up at a patient and murder five people before shooting himself. Lou’s efforts to help Meacham are hindered by a series of unexplainable mistakes and bizarre behaviors in Meacham’s community.

First Lady Dr. Darlene Mallory is a pediatrician and wife of 2-year president Martin Mallory. She is trying to help her friend Russ Evans, who resigned as Secretary of Agriculture after an indiscretion in a motel with an underage woman. Evans claims to have been set up and Darlene believes him. She is contacted by a mysterious man who claims to have proof of Evans’ innocence and that Evans was forced out of office because of his policies against genetically modified food. Against her husband’s wishes, she sets out to clear Evans’ name.

Darlene’s efforts bring her together with Lou, who has become convinced that people are being adversely affected by the rapidly growing corn being produced and harvested by a huge, powerful corporation. Their feelings for one another intensify as they race against the clock, trying to stop a massive shipment of the genetically modified corn bound for worldwide distribution."

This could have been a hard-hitting condemnation of Monsanto and other companies pushing genetically modified food at any cost. However, it came off a little hokey. The thought of the "monster" termites was really gross. The dialogue didn't flow. And Dr. Welcome was a sort of an idiot detective even though he wasn't supposed to be. As much attention as he paid to some people's behavior that helped move the story forward, he completely ignored other glaringly odd behavior that could have kept him out of danger and just made dumb, illogical decisions. ( )

I really enjoyed this book as the storyline was very inventive and could possibly happen. ( )

Dr. Lou Welcome had been to his own personal hell and back. Addicted to booze, his license revoked, losing his wife and nearly his daughter; Lou had nothing else to lose but millions to gain if he could just stay sober. A friend named Cap helped as his AA sponsor and boxing buddy. Due to his lapse Welcome was committed to helping other docs who were suffering the same issues. Through a group called Physician Wellness Office, Lou shores his stories and helps. Or so he thought.
Dr. John Meacham, someone Lou had been working with and who was showing great strides, suddenly kills his staff, patients in the waiting room and, ultimately dies himself. What went wrong? He lived in King’s Ridge, a small area outside of Washington, DC catering to well-to-do folk. He seemed to have snapped and he wasn’t alone. In the White House, the First Lady was trying to keep control as the President began what was becoming a daily tirade. He was running for re-election and was passing on all appearances to sit in the Oval Office and “stew.” The patient who originally set off Meacham’s rampage because she wouldn’t lose weight; gives herself a tummy tuck with disastrous results. Something’s not right.
What do all these folks for different lifestyles and locales have in common? I was as surprised as you will be when you read the end of this book. Any Michael Palmer book will grab you and hold on until the end of his newest story. This one does a better job than some because, believe me, once you start this you’ll want to finish it and also not want to because it’s that good. ( )

Good medical mystery about gentically modified food causing people to go crazy. Hero lou was good but it got gross in parts ( )

Michael Palmer, master of the medical thriller, tries his hand at political drama. Dr. Lou Welcome, a recovering addict and mentor to other physircians, discovers that one of the docs he's counsoled has gone on a killing spree in his office. When confronted with his decision to recommend the doctor return to practice, Lou maintains that something else was at play in the killing spree. Something that causes rational people to behave bizarrely.

Meanwhile the First Lady is contacted about suspicious actions in the Department of Agriculture. She discovers that a childhood friend, once Secretary of Agriculture, may have been framed to remove him from his position. Her investigation leads her to Lou and the two are off!

Good premise, but Palmer fails to develop the plot as well as he usually does. A combination of too many jumps in logic and too much predictability. ( )