Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Early Review - Political Suicide by Michael Palmer


Dr. Lou Welcome, last seen in Michael Palmer’s “Oath of Office”, returns for another adventure in “Political Suicide.” For those who are not familiar with Dr. Welcome, he, like the author, works for the Physician Wellness Office (PWO). It’s a place where doctors who need help with support in their recovery from mental illness, behavioral problems, and drug and alcohol abuse get the help they need in order to begin their long road back to normality and out from under the stigmatism of being considered failures. When not attending to his own recovery from amphetamine and alcoholism abuse thanks to his sponsor and friend Cap, Welcome works in the ER of Eisenhower Memorial in D.C.

Welcome receives a phone call from his friend Dr. Gary McHugh stating that he is about to be arrested for the murder of an important and very popular Maryland Congressman named Elias Colston. Dr. McHugh, affectionately known as the “society doc,” only real crime seems to be his inability to keep his own marriage running smoothly instead of sleeping with another man’s wife and diving into the bottle at the worse moment possible. That doesn’t seem to stop the overbearing police from immediately naming McHugh as their chief suspect and pushing hard for his conviction.

Dr. Lou firmly believes in his friend's innocence and ends up working alongside a very reluctant and angry Attorney named Sarah Cooper who despises doctors and what they represent. Dr. Lou and Sarah must put away their differences and attempt to find the person who really murdered Congressman Colston before time runs out.

Political Suicide is an interesting political/thriller that includes the military and abuse of power within the ranks of the Marines itself as well as certain members of the Department of Defense. There are some interesting tertiary characters like Papa Steve, Edith Harmon, and Judy Lemon. I especially liked Edith because she’s a former investigative reporter who lost her sight, yet, hasn’t given up on her ability to live her life while trying to find the person responsible for sending her down the road to permanent blindness.

Political Suicide will keep you on your seat until the very end of the story. The only real problem I had with the entire story was the ending itself. It’s as though Palmer has left it open for another round with Dr. Lou, Sarah, and Edith. If this is fact, then I am definitely looking forward to seeing how Dr. Lou and Sarah end up getting along.


Author - Michael Palmer
Title - Political Suicide
Publisher - St. Martin's Press
Release date - December 11, 2012

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