About this title: Dr. Brian Holbrook thinks he can keep his life under control--as long as he continues to prescribe himself high doses of painkillers. But his secret is soon discovered, and he loses his medical licence and his job. Then Brian is offered a job at the Boston Heart Institute researching a miracle drug, and he thinks his prayers have been answered. Brian is mistaken.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 03/1998
ISBN-13:9780553105230ISBN:055310523X
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. Previous Owner's Inscription. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 03/1998
ISBN-13:9780553105230ISBN:055310523X
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 03/1998
ISBN-13:9780553105230ISBN:055310523X
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 416 p. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780553576627ISBN:0553576623
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Excellent condition. Very light edge and corner wear. No marks. Tight binding. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 448 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780553576627ISBN:0553576623
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Nice soft cover, lightly read, light shelf wear to cover, creases on spine, light slant to book, stk #2298L6. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 448 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Book Club Edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1998
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Nice hard cover, lightly read, light shelf wear to dust jacket, small water mark on top edge near spine & on top of dust jacket spine, stk #2499n8. 310 p. read more
Description: Good. CT-Spine is well creased. Covers show wear a the edges and corners. Average Reading copy. Pages tanning. Used books may have price stickers. Most orders ship on the next business day. read more
"Miracle Cure: About a former cardiologist who lost his job due to a prescription painkiller addiction originating from an old football injury. And, his father (his football coach, of course) has, rather conveniently for his son the cardiologist, pretty extensive heart problems. And, some big drug company has developed a drug to magically reverse arteriosclerosis. That's pretty much all you need to know. Seriously.
Although I'm really into medical dramas/thrillers I had a lot of problems with this book. A lot of them were just personal preferences I guess, but the quality of the writing wasn't quite what I was expecting. I guess it was kind of easy to tell this guy is a doctor first, and a writer second.
All of his medicine was factually correct, but the writing definitely felt a little novice. Now, I don't know how long this guy's been writing or anything, and I don't care enough to look it up, but if I knew nothing else about him I'd say this would have to be one of his first novels, to give him the benefit of all of my doubts.
It was far too much work to remember all of the names of hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies and rehab centers straight from all of the names of his characters which had purposely, and annoyingly strange names. He tried far too hard to make sure this novel was racially equal. Most of them were completely unnecessary anyway, or if they were needed only for a moment, they definitely did not need the detailed description that was spent on them.
I thought that the medicine part was very interesting, but the politics were exceptionally dull. The first half was actually very good, my only complaint was that of the main characters, Dr. Brian Holbrook and his father Jack Holbrook. Usually, I love father-son relationships described in books. Typically there's a lot of drama and tension between them which makes for very interesting reading, but that may just be me. Also, this is heightened by a strain on the relationship caused by an impending health crisis, which this one definitely had in spades. But the fact that these guys were your typical, "All-American, football-loving, 6 foot gronk sized guys with macho complexes" was really annoying to read about. But I hate those types of guys anyway.
And, it bothered me that in an attempt to make his protagonist flawed, and human, he ended up creating the most self-restraining, good natured, well-spoken and upstanding recovering addict I have ever encountered in literature. Completely implausible, I'm sorry. And even if you argue that he was all of those things before he became an addict, it's still so unrealistic that a football jock would be smart enough to become a cardiologist. It just doesn't happen.
Also, the dialogue was really unrealistic, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. When the characters use the same phrases as the narrative, that's just bad writing. I hate when you can tell one person wrote the entire thing, it should always feel like there are multiple personalities in your book, as you're writing about different characters. It just seemed extremely unlikely to me that a 38 year old man would give a one worded reply as: "Nonsense." Um, it's supposed to be the 90's not the 1900's.
All in all, this book possessed a lot of elements I really like in a novel. Unfortunately they were just poorly done. If you're a fan of medical, slightly political thrillers that are interesting if a touch predictable, then you're sure to at least slightly enjoy Miracle Cure. If you're not as picky as I am anyway."
"One of those "medical" mysteries...I like the way the author writes. A new heart drug is about to be approved by the FDA and the main character finds out all the testing is bogus. The ending gets a little bit hokey but overall a good read. Gives you a little bit of insight in to what goes on for a drug to be approved for use."
"This was a great read about a young Doctor, Brian who is trying desperately to get his life back in order after becoming addicted to pain killers and losing his medical license. When Brian's father is admitted into Boston Heart Institute for chest pains, Brian is unexpectedly called in to another patients room to help a fellow doctor diagnose a dying patient. With a correct diagnoses in place, the chief of medicine is impressed and offers Brian a job at the hospital. Filled with excitement Brian accepts; what he doesn't know is that he has just stepped into a very dangerous hospital conducting drug trials and doing whatever it takes to get their miracle drug approved by the FDA. A great medical thriller with twist and turns all along the way!"
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