Journal Entry 1 by seethroughfaith from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi Finland on Sunday, January 02, 2011

This is the 2nd book I've registered in 2011. In honour of Turku being the current European Capital of Culture this year I've used a special sticker (in Finnish)

I bought this novel for myself just before Christmas - and really like Robin Cook's style of writing.

Product Description

It's been more than thirty years since New York City medical examiner Jack Stapleton's college graduation and almost as long since he's been in touch with former classmates Shawn Doherty and Kevin Murray. Once a highly regarded ophthalmologist, Jack's career took a dramatic turn after a tragic accident that destroyed his family. But that, too, is very much in the past: Jack has remarried—to long-time colleague and fellow medical examiner Laurie Montgomery— and is the father of a young child.

A post-mortem on a young college student who had recently been treated by a chiropractor, leads Jack to investigate alternative medicine. What makes some people step outside the medical establishment to seek care from practitioners of Eastern philosophies and even faith healers?

Jack's classmate Shawn Doherty is now a renowned archaeologist and biblical scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. He has recently obtained permission for a final dig beneath Saint Peter's in Rome—despite a long-standing grudge against the Catholic Church—and has made a startling discovery with huge ecclesiastical and medical implications.

When Kevin Murray, now Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, gets wind of Shawn’s findings, he’s desperate to keep them from the public. Kevin has strong political ambitions within the Church, but his association with Shawn threatens to undermine them. Kevin turns to his old friend Jack to help protect an explosive secret—one with the power to change live forever.

 

Journal Entry 2 by seethroughfaith at Turku, Varsinais-Suomi Finland on Sunday, January 02, 2011

This was a very good read. I really like the way Robin Cook makes medical dilemmas come alive. This one dealt with some of the issues of unscrupulous charletons in the field of healing - including religious and also alternative medicine (in this case chiropracters). While I know both to have been a real source of healing, I have also known both to be misguided - so the topic was of interest to me.

What was new - and somewhat suprising to me - was that this novel read a bit like a Dan Brown, and I didn't really know what to make of it. Some of the church background information was detailed - but because of my studies in Christianity - it felt a bit boring /superficial - though quite possibly really imporatant background for the more usual lay readers who might be looking only for a medical suspense story.