The Drone Virus

Rating:
Summary: Very frightening
Review: I've read more than a few of these publish it yourself novels, and have discovered a rather surprising fact: most of them are pretty darn good. I've seen a few that barely clear the bar due to abundant typographical errors, plot problems, or unconvincing character development; but the majority of the novels I read were definitely books that a big publishing house could easily pick up for wide distribution. Gerald Clarke's "The Drone Virus" is a novel that falls in the "darn good" category. Here's a book that is, at various times, a medical thriller, a technological thriller, and a murder mystery. That's quite a batch of ingredients mixed in the same bowl, but under the rock steady stewardship of Clarke--who is an ophthalmologist and a computer technician by trade--the result is an enormously entertaining novel that manages to scare anyone who has ever had to deal with the frightening, many headed hydra that is the health care industry. When I think about computer viruses, I think about losing my hard drive on my PC. I'm vaguely aware that hackers can disrupt important computer networks with viruses. But I never considered the implications of a bug placed inside an MRI scanner. Clarke shows us how easily someone could do this very thing.

Stephen Rogers has a lot going for him. Once upon a time he was a successful financial trader in Chicago, one of the best in fact, who could make millions for himself and his clients with minimal effort because he has the canny ability to successfully navigate his way through the high pressure world of stock trading. Rogers even possessed the know-how to build a special computer program with the help of his friend Tony Chang, a program that every other trader with a seat on the exchange paid big bucks for in order to increase their profit potential. Sadly, God threw our hero a couple of curveballs that changed his life forever. First, his wife Lauren perished in a gang shoot out at the supermarket several years before the story starts, leaving Stephen with a daughter and a broken heart. Second, his daughter Jamie came down with a serious case of cancer that nearly took her life. Only with the help of Doctor John O'Brien, a leading cancer specialist and the innovator of a new genetic therapy aimed at deactivating cancer cells, did Jamie Rogers pull through her harrowing ordeal. She still has to go back to the Children's Hospital for check ups, and it is during one of her visits to the hospital when Stephen Rogers's life takes a further turn for the worse.

Jamie Rogers must undergo an examination in the hospital's new, state of the art MRI scanner, a rather mundane procedure for the most part, so Dr. O'Brien can see if she is cancer free. Something terrible happens to Jamie during the scan, something that causes her to suffer continuous seizures. After his daughter expires from this sudden malady, Stephen devotes his life to discovering what cost him his only child. He can't help but blame the new scanner since Jamie slipped into seizures during the procedure. Everyone at the hospital, from John O'Brien to his doctor daughter Colleen O'Brien to administrator Derek Sloane, dismisses Rogers's accusations as pure fantasy. How could an MRI scanner cause irreversible brain damage and seizures? Besides, the hospital's pathologist Dr. Krupper did an autopsy and found that the cancer had reemerged. As tough as it is to accept, the case of Jamie Rogers appears to be closed--or is it? As Stephen Rogers applies the tenacity he once exhibited on the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange to solving the mystery of his daughter's fate, he uncovers one sinister machination after another. Other children experienced fatal injuries during a trip through the MRI machine. Moreover, the hospital administration will seemingly do anything to gain FDA approval for their machine. Something sinister is going on in "The Drone Virus."

Clarke's novel is more than a by the numbers mystery yarn. The author makes his opinions about the current state of the health industry quite clear throughout the story. According to "The Drone Virus," the corporate mentality of profit/loss has overtaken our hospitals, subverted the fundamental belief that people come first when health is an issue, and turned physicians into employees whose primary function entails seeking out research grants and prestigious awards. Power politics in a medical research facility is a dog eat dog world, with doctors carrying out vendettas against other doctors because of conflicting research goals and findings. Ultimately, it is the patient that suffers from the overemphasis on profit and the vicious backstabbing going on outside the ward. Many of the health care professionals in "The Drone Virus" are so concerned with their own position and problems that they simply refuse to believe Stephen Rogers when he claims something is wrong with the scanner. Only when the evidence becomes overwhelming does the motivation for profits come to light in particularly nasty ways.

I can think of only one small thing in the book that I found confusing. Surprisingly, my bewilderment had little to do with the medical jargon or computer lingo, both of which Clarke does an excellent job of explaining even to this science idiot. The problem I had concerned the character of Marilyn. We meet her at the beginning of the book and see her pop up several times throughout the story, but Clarke never explains her relationship to Stephen Rogers. At first I thought she was his wife, then his girlfriend, before finally figuring out that she was just a friend who wanted something deeper from Rogers. It's nitpicky, I know, but it did bother me. This problem aside, I loved the book. Hopefully, the movie will come out on DVD next year.


Rating:
Summary: An emotionally powerful medical thriller
Review: The very idea of having an MRI scan is unpleasant - you're stuck inside this big old tube, unable to move, for one thing; more importantly, though, it means something is not right somewhere in your body. What if, on top of all these other troubling issues, the MRI scanner might kill you? What if it killed your child? That is just what happens in the compelling medical thriller The Drone Virus. Blending science with a moving elaboration of the very heart of humanity, Gerald Clarke has produced a truly memorable medical thriller for the 21st century.

This novel really grabs you by the throat from the very beginning because the victims are children. First, a hard-up case with constant seizures dies inside the machine - no one really seems to care because the kid was just a poor throwaway of society. Soon thereafter, though, Jamie Rogers dies. Get your tissues ready because hers is a heart-breaking story. Jamie was a cancer survivor, thanks to the genetic therapy techniques being developed by Dr. John O'Brien at Daley Children's Hospital. She seemed perfectly healthy when the docs chose to do an MRI scan, then she began suffering horrendous seizures during the test. Her father's grief soon turns to anger, as he is convinced the machine somehow killed his daughter. Of course, the doctors and hospital administrators refuse to consider such a crazy idea, and Jamie's death is officially determined to be a result of the cancer returning to her brain. Stephen Rogers refuses to give up his new quest, however, even if it threatens the burgeoning romantic relationship he has going with Dr. Colleen O'Brien. His computer whiz kid of a former coworker looks into the matter for him, coming up with the idea that a virus might have infected the system - a very special, hard-to-detect one called a drone virus. Of course, proving it is all but impossible, especially since Stephen and his buddy can't legally examine the machine's computer code. Of course, grieving fathers seeking justice for their dead children are a pretty determined lot.

Don't worry about getting lost amid the science, medicine, and computer issues that mold the shape of this story. Gerald Clarke proves himself to be as good a writer as he is a knowledgeable doctor and software expert; he carefully guides reader through the technical details as they evolve. Besides, you will be breathless as a result of all of the action that takes place. Stephen had no idea he would find himself staring a sinister, greed-filled conspiracy in the face, a group of heartless men who aren't afraid to stop his private investigation at any cost. You also have the roller coaster relationship between Stephen and Colleen as well as plenty of heroic fireworks to capture your rapt attention. What stands out the most, however, is the attitude and behavior of many of the medical professionals involved in this tragedy. Colleen became a doctor for all the right reasons, but several of her peers come across as inhuman and certainly inhumane, caring only for money, power, or glory while viewing sick children as pawns in their sick games of self-interest.

At first glance, the notion of an MRI scanner being infected with a virus that actually kills patients seems a little out there. In the able hands of Clarke, though, Stephen Rogers' crazy notion gets feet and runs like the wind. The fact that you get to know these sick children as well as you do makes their fatal experiences with the scanner personal tragedies that really affect you as a reader. Sadness easily builds into fury, however, as things progress and you find out exactly what is going on here. To say this novel is compelling would be a vast understatement. If you enjoy a good medical thriller, Gerald Clarke has got the very prescription you need in the form of The Drone Virus.

Rating:
Summary: a really Good Book
Review: this is the Kind of Book that feels like a Movie with so much suspense&Drama that you can't leave your seat awaiting what shall come next.Gerald Clarke does a very good job building up tension&Drama throughout this book.you can't predict what shall happen next that is the mark of a strong writer.