Life Support

Former romance author and medical doctor Tess Gerritsen is writing in a new genre: medical suspense. Advertised as her "first novel," Harvest jumped onto the New York Times bestseller list and thus legions of new fans were introduced to the work of this talented author. Gerritsen's second thriller, Life Support, is as moving as any of her romances. Dr. Toby Harper works the night shift in an emergency room. More comfortable with the steady horror and tedium of emergency care than with a normal lifestyle, Toby alienates herself socially from her peers and from her sister. She spends her daytime hours alone with her mother who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When elderly Alzheimer's patients from the same retirement home start dying mysteriously, Toby is the only one suspicious enough to investigate. As a result she finds herself, her mother, and her own sanity at risk.

The overnight ER rotation at Springer Hospital is a calm one, which suits Dr. Toby Harper just fine. While Toby is fiercely proud of the stripes she earned as a resident in a big-city ER, she's come to appreciate the pace at Springer. But no hospital could have been prepared for the man Toby admits one quiet night. Delirious and in critical condition from a possible viral infection of the brain, he barely responds to treatment. And then he disappears without a trace.

Under fire from the hospital administration for literally losing a patient, and fearful that she's missed a life-threatening diagnosis, Toby knows she must find the patient. Her hunt is intensified when a second delirious patient dies in the hospital's care. But even more chilling is the discovery that the infection can only be spread through direct tissue exchange.