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The Fifth Vial
by Michael Palmer
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Wheeler Publishing (2007-02)
ISBN: 159722409X
EAN: 9781597224093
Dewy Decimal #: 813.54
Hardcover: 612 pages
SKU: BA091615
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Exactly as shown, Ex Library copy with usual stamps and stickers. Book is bound strong, has little wear and text is clean and unmarked.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
From the blockbuster, eleven-time New York Times bestselling author comes a novel of medical suspense that begins with these chilling questions: Who ends up with the blood samples you routinely give for tests? What else are they being used for? Why don’t you know?
Take a Deep Breath. . . .
In Boston, a disgraced medical student is sent to deliver a research paper that could save her career. . . . Four thousand miles away, in a jungle hospital in Cameroon, a brilliant, reclusive scientist, dying from an incurable disease that threatens to make each tortured breath his last, is on the verge of perfecting a serum that could save millions of lives, and bring others inestimable wealth. . . . In Chicago, a disillusioned private detective, on the way to his third career, is hired to determine the identify of a John Doe, killed on a Florida highway, with mysterious marks on his body.
Three seemingly disconnected lives, surging unrelentingly toward one another. Three lives becoming irrevocably intertwined. Three lives in mounting peril, moving ever closer to the ultimate confrontation against a deadly secret society with godlike aspirations and roots in antiquity.
Medical student. Scientist. Private eye. Three people who will learn the deeper meanings of brilliance and madness, truth and deception, trust and betrayal.
Three lives linked forever by a single vial of blood—the fifth vial.
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Customer Reviews
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Surprisingly Titillating!
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-10-23
[If you wish to skip this first paragraph, you may. It is just a soapbox issue and non essential to the review, but indeed pertinent to the book's contents.]
Some may find the predication of this book a bit "unrealistic" on two levels, because as Simon Cleveland explained in his review, "The story is unimaginative (human organ harvesting administered by an evil council of scientists)." I must deride at this debauchery! In life I have found that the masses, even the most scholarly and degreed man, can remain fervently myopic and ascetic to the existence of certain probabilities. For instance, there is a preponderance of well documented books that are explicit in identifying that there do exist secret societies in the world, be they past or present. And, with no reservation one should be able to acknowledge that their actions have been/are nefarious, hence the need for inconspicuousness. Is it so psychologically perplexing to KNOW that, yes, there are simultaneously existing pernicious entities in the world: 1) One that is ignorant, schooled well in the fundamentals of their archaic religious ideologies, poor, carries around an AK-47 ready to die for the greater "good" and desires to control the world. The belief in this entity's existence is obviously ubiquitous and achieved quite facilely with aid from the Chaos Merchant (media); and the more inconspicuous, not to mention, quite omnipotent 2) One that is exponentially or moderately intelligent, wealthy, very cultured in the zeal to retain the economic dynasty that they were bestowed at birth, desires to control the population by chemical, medicinal and tyrannical means, controls a broad range of the global economic network when amalgamated with their commensurable conspirators and retains all this power by any means necessary. Some may actually find the "belief" or knowledge of the second example quite comical, and would assume that only the intellectually destitute could believe that there are people in the world like that in existence. Actually, I would argue that the adverse of the former sentence is true.
[Stepping off my soapbox]
Is human organ trafficking really an "unimaginative" idea, or is it just an explicitly elucidative profession of the atrocious actions that man will endeavor for his avarice? Apparently, human organ trafficking is not something that resides in the realm of fiction that Palmer's book does, maybe not to the extent of a secret society controlling the trade and allocation of said items; but, however, I would not rule that out. Try searching more information on the subject and you will be surprised that these events do occur in and around the areas that Palmer's book takes you.
Now, as for the book's contents, it is the overall amalgam of four individual stories-of which in the end converge-that are apart of a synergetic mass. There is the medical student that cannot seem to mitigate the consistency and contiguity of unfortunate bearings in her life, which gets more malignant through the progression of the book; the private detective that cannot seem to find his purpose in life, is exhausted of his profession, has a non-existent love life with surmounting debt and bills; a veteran doctor with a declivity in health due to his pulmonary disease that has created a drug treatment that is nearly commensurate to the cure for cancer in relation to its desired purpose. He is regretful and apprehensive about turning over the final analysis of his work to the company that has a substantial portion of ownership of his drug due to funding his research; and lastly, a secret society of doctor's that has a hegemony over the allocation and distribution of human organs. Through the labyrinth of this amalgam of stories each gets closer and closer to merging with every subsequent chapter. There are sequences of action, but it is not action-packed, and is thrilling and suspenseful more than anything else. I have to say as well, through the book there are a few surprises that I had not seen coming, and due to those entertainment ensued. To sum the book up, it is basically a medical mystery with a dash of realistic possibility.
To me, one of the most interesting attributes of this book is its multifariousness. There are a myriad of settings around the world that the stories unfold. Most intriguing is the diversity of the characters, there is a vast disparity of racial, ethnical, professional, economical and in some cases intellectual backgrounds. Also, I must praise Palmer for his ability to write well from the perspective of a female character that is the eventual heroine of the book. Psychologically speaking, typically you would have a male writer write about a male character, which is the image that he would most likely identify himself with, and vice-versa. This book definitely portrays the fact that women can be strong, courageous and heroines as well.
The only real frustration I had with the book is some of the things that the main character did with one decrepit lung is a stretch of the imagination for me. I am not a pulmonary physician, but the strenuousness of events that the character was exposed to, and had to endure, would probably have killed someone in reality before the subsequent could ensue. So to accept that the things that she did was/is quite arduous for me to believe or accept. Especially, when much of the book is indeed based in what could be feasible, and highly probable.
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Makes you think and gives you a little chill
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-10-07
This book is an excellent read. Palmer writes three simultaneous stories at the same time that unite for the climactic finish. By now, all review readers know the story is about the illegal trafficking of human organs. The difference is how Palmer has developed the means by which the samples are taken, tested and the determination made regarding the organ allocation giving the reader the feeling that this can happen (or may already be happening) in our everyday world. This book is an excellent page turner from the very beginning easy flowing with a 'cut to the chase' story telling style. This book is worth it simply because it makes you think.
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Primary Care MD
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-08-26
I read a lot of medical thrillers and I loved this book! I think it is very good because it is so realistic. Michael Palmer weaves a great tale of suspense mixed in with medical facts.
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Unsophisticated
Rating  (2)
Date: 2008-08-01
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Simple, unsophisticated read, of the kind that tells you what will happen, then walks you through the happening, followed by an explanation of what had occurred.
The story is unimaginative (human organ harvesting administered by an evil council of scientists). If you are interested in medical thrillers, try Daniel Kalla and his 'Blood Lies'.
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WOW - that's all I can say
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-06-23
I read this book in only a few days. I couldn't put it down. Granted, I am a medical provider and I have a special interest in the subject matter. In undergrad, I took an upper level philosophy class - biomedical ethics since I was going into medicine. We had to write a big paper and I chose the topic weighing pros and cons of US citizens paying 3rd world country citizens for their organs. So maybe both of those made the book more interesting for myself, but I don't think so. Is it a little over the top? Yes. But what good thrilling mystery isn't? You will enjoy it.
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