The novel Marker is by the master of the
medical fictions,Dr Robin Cook.He is now on leave from the Massachusets Eye and Ear Infirmary. He has 24 previous novels in his credit.
Dr Laurie Montgomery and Dr Jack Stapleton are medical examiners of the Office of The Chief Medical Examiner.Dr Laurie came across a series of medical examinations which did not reveal any cause of death.She strongly believed them to be a part of
murder series since they all were healthy young patients who had minor surgical procedures and died on the following post operative day.More over all were from the same hospital- The Manhattan General.No one else other than herself admitted this.She did not have a pathology, microbiology or toxicology report to support her assumption.As her mother had carcinoma
breast ,Laurie undergone a serological test for BRCA 1 gene marker which
used to run in familiesThose who are BRCA 1 positive , the chances of developing carcinoma breast in them are high.In the meanwhile she become pregnant, though her affair with Jack has ended up in some mishaps.She used to have lower abdominal pain.At times it become severe.Upon this frustration,she is harassed by her seniors for her conclusion that all the six Manhattan cases are murder.Surprisingly,all were health insurance holders from Americare.Similar cases were reported from another hospital which were investigated by Dr Roger under Laurie’s request.She had an ectopic pregnancy which burst one day and she was now ended up in Manhattan General for surgery.According to her,after the surgery she is going to be a victim of her “own series killer” because she fits all criteria.Here comes Jazz,the haughty , arrogant surgical ward nurse, who was asked to murder Dr Laurie with her usual chemical agent, pottassium chloride.When it is injected into peripheral arm vein,instantaneous death with heart failure occurs.When she injected potassium chloride into Laurie,Dr Jack, now recognizing all the facts,came and rescue Laurie.The Americare itself imposes Jazz to murder the young healthy ones,only because they are positive for markers for any of the chronic diseases like breast cancer, myocardial infarction as they all cost the Americare a lot for treatment options.Dr Robin Cook used his medical knowledge and put it into a wonderful story that thrills the reader at every point of the saga.The stress on Dr Laurie , the way Jazz accomplish her mission,the investigations made by Dr Roger to help Laurie,and confrontations of Laurie with Jack ,all will remain in the reader’s mind with an ever green beauty.
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