An entertainingly detailed dive into the darker aspects of the modern medical world.
Lee offers a medical thriller about remedies that may cause more harm than good.
This third book in the Dr. Lin Medical Thriller series follows Toxic Minds (2025) with another adventure in modern medicine. Dr. Mark Lin is a hospital-based internist in California. During the course of his “stressful, high-paying job,” he sees people in all sorts of dire circumstances. At the beginning of the story, a young man named Hector Lucero is undergoing hemodialysis. Even though Hector is only in his 20s, he suffers from bilaterial kidney failure. After Dr. Lin talks with Hector, he suspects that a weight-loss supplement called Motileaf that Hector ingested might have something to do with it—Motileaf is the same product that Hector’s parents used to take before they both died while still in their 40s. Another of Dr. Lin’s patients is Robbie Dickerson; he weighs 500 pounds and has recently developed unexplained breathing problems. He also happens to be taking a new weight-loss drug called Naxipil, which Dr. Lin thinks may be causing some adverse effects. At a local conference put on by the makers of Naxipil, he’s hounded by sales reps. As the narrative unfolds, Dr. Lin sees more patients who may be suffering from complications from either Motileaf or Naxipil. One is a supposedly natural substance typically bought by people who put their faith in herbal remedies; the other is a hot new prescription that could wind up being as dangerous as the 1990s fen-phen scare. It will take a levelheaded, intrepid physician to get to the bottom of it all. Like any good physician, Dr. Lin is meticulous and patient in his work. He doesn’t jump to conclusions about what Motileaf and Naxipil might be doing to his patients—he needs to get all his facts straight first. After all, as he points out, “correlation does not imply causation.” He states early on, “I need more info on Naxipil, not to start prescribing it, but to see if no doctor ever should.” And so, he builds his case carefully.
Lee dispenses a lot of medical information along the way, such as in the description of a patient who suffers from “peripheral arterial disease, hepatic artery stenosis, and then fatal intestinal infarction.” It all adds up to a realistic if sometimes sluggish thriller. Dr. Lin has a lot to uncover, but he’s not exactly racing against the clock as he does things like chat with his neighbors (who happen to be retired health care workers) or attend a hockey game with a drug rep. (The latter activity includes the drug rep saying of the Anaheim Ducks, “I went to the game where they won the championship and hoisted that big trophy”; this is bland stuff.) Still, the main plot following the two possibly dangerous medications makes for an enticing read as Dr. Lin, up against both the cutthroat pharmaceutical industry and the unregulated herbal supplement market, fights to uncover the truth and stay alive in the process.
An entertainingly detailed dive into the darker aspects of the modern medical world.Pub Date: March 8, 2026
ISBN: 9798244284508
Page Count: 343
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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