Steven H. Jackson

Death Of A Cure by Steven H. Jackson (Rating 3 1/2)

Synopsis: (portion from book's back cover) Death Of A Cure is a novel of mystery, suspense, and action. The murder of one good many by a respected colleague is more than a crushing personal deception, it is an unequaled violation of the trust of thousands afflicted by a horrible disease.

In a first person account, the brother of the murdered man, a military surgeon born to wealth and accustomed to success, is thrust into the rose of homicide investigator. Quickly, discovering that his skills as a detective are frustratingly insufficient, he calls upon a woman from his past for help. Together they unravel layers of evil and organized deception revealing that the rue work of this healthcare charity has little to do with curing the terrible disease born by a trusting constituency.

My Thoughts and Opinion: Within the first four (4) pages of this book, the mystery begins and had this reader wondering "who is it". The author has the unique writing style of using the more difficult use of first person (1st) perspective throughout the entire story line. I was, however, a bit disappointed after those first four pages. The next 1/3 of this book was a mix of extreme detailed events that bordered on boredom for this reader. Once getting past that portion, the mystery began again. The author also had the ability to convey, with his words, certain graphic situations within the story line. I also found that even with the large cast of characters, it was easy to see who the "who is it" was. It was a good read but this reader, and this is my opinion only, found it lacked a consistent page turning mystery novel.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars… (plus d'informations)

This is a story of military surgeon Lt.Colonel Thomas Briggs who gets the notification that his brother, Dr.Ronald Briggs has committed suicide. He has a hard time believing that his brother would do that so he starts his own investigation along with the help of a friend, FBI Agent Marilena Riggati.As he digs for clues to explain his brothers death he is drawn to the organization his brother worked for. Dr.Briggs was a research scientist and was close to a cure for an as yet incurable disease. Thomas and Marilena continue to dig for clues and are in danger themselves from someone out to stop them from finding out what actually happened to Dr.Briggs.They find that everyone is not who they appear to be and all have secrets of their own.The work that Dr. Briggs had done for a cure is sabotaged by people who are only looking out for themselves with the belief if there was a cure, then they would be without the money,from the fundraising, that they currently have access to. The story has everything in it to make it a hard to put down book. Murder, mystery, greed and lots of romance make this story come together nicely.The characters are very believable and the story line well researched. This is an edge of your seat thriller. Hopefully in the future there will be more novels by this author.If you like to read a good edge of your seat medical murder mystery this is for you..excellent read.… (plus d'informations)

Death of a Cure by Steven H. Jackson is a book that normally I would not pick up without someone recommending it to me. Since I teach middle school, most of my books are Middle Grades or Young Adult in nature. Recently I vented about the reading program I must teach in school this year. The author read my post and asked if I would be willing to preview his book and review it. I checked it out and decided it had a premise that sounded promising so I agreed. My review follows.

Dr. Ronald Briggs works for an organization trying to find a cure for a disease called CID. Now that he has found some success in finding the cure it is snatched from him. The story opens with the violent action of someone demanding the disk that contains the information about the cure while holding him at gun point. As Dr. Briggs body slams into the pavement his last thoughts are of the cure and how it will die with him. Enter Dr. Thomas Briggs. A Marine Surgeon, Thomas is on assignment when he gets the message of his brother’s death. He flies to New York and like a bull in a China shop begins investigating. He brings in a long time friend and part-time girl friend, FBI agent Marilena. He needed her to head the investigation into his brother’s death. Not for one moment did he believe that it was a suicide. He knew that sometimes you needed to use a little finesse when dealing with people. This was something he was not good at. On their first night together they are almost run down by a yellow cab. That was my first hint that Thomas may be right about his brother’s death. I had my own ideas about who the murderer was. I was so wrong. book kept me turning the pages one after another. I was very pleased with the character development, the subtle romance that was building. The author even had me guessing about the romance. Would it develop or not? The book was well researched. Not just anyone could write about a not-for-profit organization. I was taken into the world that sometime is a little more than what is portrayed on the surface. The medical information was not grotesque but detailed and informative enough to keep me reading. Although, had it been a grotesque , detailed oriented book that dealt with the issues of someone falling from a building, and the effect it has on the body, I would still have read it. Call me weird. You are talking to someone who spent her summers reading her sisters nursing books for pleasure. I believe this book would appeal to many people; those who are looking for a corporate thriller, those looking for a killer in the medical field and those who just like to read. The plot and the characters were well fleshed out. I look forward to reading many more novels by this author. It is definitely books like this that pull me back from my Middle Grades/ YA books and into the world of the adults. I can’t wait to share this book with many teachers at my school.… (plus d'informations)