Ken McClure

After reviewing Lost Causes at the weekend I felt like I needed to re-read a better example of McClure's work, so pulled out, electronically, Wildcard which is the third book in the Steven Dunbar series. We're thrown straight into the action when a man becomes violently ill on a flight from Africa, bleeding from every orifice of his body. Soon others who came in contact with the man fall ill and die. The government think they are in the clear until other cases start appearing all over the show more country - Manchester, Perth, Wales - all wildcards with no know source of the illness. Will Steven Dunbar figure out the connection between the wildcards before the whole country is infected? What will the personal cost be?

Wildcard is a wonderfully paced read which takes you straight into the action, with the unveiling panic on the aircraft, and the action and suspense hardly lets up until the final page. McClure carefully balances story progression with holding enough of the truth back to keep you guessing into the last few chapters, and weaves in a beautifully bitter-sweet sub-plot which reveals some stark truths about Dunbar. The medical information contained in the book is spot-on, ensuring that the story is believable throughout; a hallmark of McClure's work. The only downside I can see is that it is so fast-paced that reading the book only takes a matter of hours and leaves you wanting more.

Overall this is a fantastic example of the medical thriller genre, which is so well written that fans of the genre and non-fans alike are likely to find it an engrossing and enjoyable read. show less

An easy read while on holiday, but the further I read into the book the less I felt I connected with it.

The theme of underhand practices in a transplant ward was interesting but there was too much low level detail of the main characters travels & thought process. For a doctor, an ex military man & a government investigator he had quite a knack for missing the obvious! Also, naming the animal research intitute Vane Farm seemed odd, given that only 60 miles from where the novel is set the show more there actually is a wildlife park named Vane Farm. (my local knowledge admittedly, but there must have been many Scots reading this making the same connection) show less

This is what I call a plain tale well told. It is a told story with very little show of the main character's thoughts and feelings.

'Donor' is very much a man's book in that a lot of men enjoy a straightforward story without all the 'mushy, soppy introspective bits.' This does not stop it being a good story, a medical mystery with the main character being an officer in the medical crimes unit. Something which really ought to exist.

The pace is fast, the writing clean and simple and the plot show more without subplots. It's a nice quick read and a book anyone who likes mysteries would enjoy. I'd recommend it for those awkward teenage boys who sneer at most books. This would keep them reading.

No star rating until I get a private system which does not affect the author's sales. show less

This is a very scary book indeed, because it is based on a real incident in the author's past,the reality of a medical researcher trying to deal with drug companies who aren't really interested in curing disease, but are much more interesting in making money by having people take patented drugs for the rest of their lives. And if the patent on a drug has run out, the drug company can block research into new uses the might be of wonderful humanitarian use. Having worked in a biochem lab show more myself, and majored in biochemistry, I know that McClure has the story exactly right, with the politics of research grants spot on. The story is not a happy one, but well worth reading and very hard to put down, as you keep rooting for the main character to succeed in his fight to cure cancer. show less