M and M: A Thriller
by John A. Peak
from St. Martin's Minotaur
When a severely injured infant is brought into the hospital, the nurse bypasses the on-call doctor and immediately calls Vicki. Vicki's years spent practicing law make her the best choice for dealing with such questionable cases. The mother claims the injuries are the result of a fall she took while holding the child, but the injuries tell another story. Vicki notifies the police then plunges, single-mindedly, into what she knows will be a long, frustrating, and exhausting battle with nature. Vicki will not allow this patient to fall into the hospital's statistics officially known as "morbidity and mortality," the M and M.
The police arrest and charge the mother for child abuse. Then she apparently commits suicide while out on bail. Vicki is not satisfied, and, with the help of her friend Detective Tim Murphy, she stubbornly traces the murder of the child's mother to a sinister, criminal network that becomes a personal threat to her.
Blood Relations
by John A. Peak
from Thomas Dunne Books
Mortal Judgments
by John A. Peak
from St Martins Pr
Vicki Shea, a sharp San Francisco malpractice lawyer with a medical degree, has just been approached with what promises to be her most challenging--and deadly--case. Arnold Jones, an orthopedic surgeon with an unblemished record, faces an expensive lawsuit from the estate of his wealthy client, a famous lingerie designer whose accidental death during a routine surgery has the experts confounded. But Jones knows he wasn't at fault and refuses to let his insurance company settle.
Against the advice of her colleagues, Vicki takes on the case. Risking the odds, she begins her inquiry and uncovers much more than she bargained for. When a number of key people involved in Vicki's investigation die mysteriously and she almost meets with several untimely "accidents" herself, Vicki realizes she may be gambling with more than just the odds. Millions of dollars are at stake, and someone is willing to do anything to make sure Vicki doesn't discover the truth.
John Peak, a well-known medical malpractice lawyer and author of Spare Change (which Publishers Weekly deemed "a smashing first novel") and Blood Relations, writes his most important book yet. A heart-pounding thriller, Mortal Judgments explores the realm of sheer terror and invites the reader into a thrilling world of accessible and engrossing legal and medical detail.
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