Omega

Rating:
Summary: A MARVELLOUS AND UNUSUAL THRILLER
Review: I picked this book up at the airport desperate for something to take my mind off the horrors of the transatlantic read-eye. As it turned out, I chose wisely. From the book's jazzy streetwise opening to its deeply troubling conclusion I was utterly absorbed - and quite reluctant to get off the plane - definitely a first for me. If I had to say what I loved most about this book I would say its simply the writing. Lynch's characters sparkle with wit and every one of them stands out in their own right. You simply can't say that about 9 out of 10 other thrillers, even the well-plotted ones. I'm on the look-out for Mr Lynch's work from now on. Great stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Carries the medical thriller into a whole new league
Review: Set in a racially-divided and cash-strapped city of Los Angeles 'Omega' follows trauma surgeon Marcus Ford as he races to uncover the truth behind a revolutionary new drug that is only rumoured to exist. At stake are the lives of a fast-growing number of trauma patients and - ultimately - that of his own daughter. The twists and turns of Ford's story make for brilliant (if at times traumatic!) entertainment, but what is most impressive about this book is the way it seizes on what seems to be a genuine crisis: namely, that we may be heading for a medical dark age because our old armory of drugs has been rendered obsolete by anew generations of bacteria. The arrival in the USA just this month of a seemingly invinincible superbug shows just how on-the-money Lynch is. Riveting, original and deeply alarming

Rating:
Summary: Endless and Slow
Review: The story behind this book is what first caught my attention; overuse of antibiotics. It's a serious problem in today's society. The book is about a string of drug-resistant antibodies that are running loose in LA. The doctor, who is trying his hardest to fight this problem, faces a multitude of problems trying to find an answer. There is supposedly a cure, but only Dr. Ford can determine how much he's willing to sacrifice just to find the cure. It's a long and drawn out book that could have been about 200 pages shorter. The plot has been done to death by so many other authors. Don't bother with this one.