Resistant by Michael Palmer

"It is not our nature to suffer, and most of those who are offered government handouts in place of effort will take them."

My reaction to this third book in the Dr. Lou Welcome series probably was a bit affected by the fact that I had just finished watching Part I and Part II of ATLAS SHRUGGED (author: Ayn Rand) on Netflix. Both have a theme centering on political philosophy: the 100 Neighbors organization in RESISTANT want the government to end entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare and they intend to do this by holding them hostage to a lab-created organism that is resistant to any antibiotic treatment. Unfortunately, this "doomsday germ" has mutated and is now out of control, is spreading rapidly, and their scientists are unable to find a treatment. The "good guys" at the CDC haven't been able to develop an effective agent either.

Dr. Lou Welcome (recovering alcoholic and drug abuser) gets involved with the desperate search to stop the 100 Neighbors and find a cure when his best friend and mentor, Cap Duncan, breaks his leg while trail running. After a heroic mountainside save by Dr. Lou, Cap acquires the infection with the bacteria while in the hospital. The race is on to find some sort of treatment before Cap loses his leg and his life to the deadly bug.

The action in this medical thriller involves a large measure of suspension of disbelief that a middle-aged doctor who is board certified in Internal Medicine and ER - could possibly have the physical stamina and training to do all the things that he does in this novel -- in short, readers are to believe he can outsmart evil rogue FBI agents and physically outlast the homegrown terrorists in several amazing escape from death scenes. I don't think I'm telling any spoilers when I say that, despite the fact that Dr. Lou is no James Bond, he manages to outmaneuver and baffle the evil organization and save the day. Coincidences notwithstanding, he's just too clever for the 100 Neighbors and their cohort.

I've not read the first two books in this series, and since the author's unfortunate and untimely death, it's not likely that there will be a #4. As a standalone it works well enough to give fans of the suspense action novel a taste of the medical-related thrills they're looking for. Would make a great beach read!

3.5 stars - a fast, entertaining 3rd book in the series:
Oath of Office
Political Suicide

 

Amazon Vine ARC paperback.