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Автор Робин Кук
Robin Cook
Crisis
A book in the Jack Stapleton / Laurie Montgomery series, 2006
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgements
As usual in writing my fact-based novels, I've had to rely on friends and acquaintances to answer my innumerable pesky questions. It was especially important for
John W. Bresnahan, investigator, Division of Professional Licensure, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Jean R. Cook, psychologist
Joe Cox, J. D. , LL. M. , tax and estate-planning attorney
Rose Doherty, academician
Mark Flomenbaum, M. D. , Ph. D. , Chief Medical Examiner, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Peter C. Knight, J. D. , malpractice attorney
Angelo MacDonald, J.
D. , criminal law attorney, former prosecutorGerald D. McLellan, ID. , family law attorney, former judge
Charles Wetli, M. D. , Chief Medical Examiner, Suffolk County, New York
This book is dedicated to the contemporary medical professionalism as promulgated by the Physician Charter, in hope that it takes root and flourishes… Make way, Hippocrates!
The laws of conscience, which we say are born of nature, are born of custom. – MONTAIGNE
Prologue
Autumn is a glorious season, despite its frequent use as a metaphor for approaching death and dying. Nowhere is its invigorating ambience and riotous color more apparent than in the northeastern United States. Even in early September the hot, hazy, humid days of the New England summer are progressively replaced by crystalline days with cool, clear, dry air and azure skies. September 8, 2005, was a case in point. Not a cloud marred the translucent sky from Maine to New Jersey, and within the macadam maze of downtown Boston and the concrete grid of New York City, the temperature was a comfortable seventy-seven degrees Fahrenheit.
As the day drew to a close, two doctors coincidently and reluctantly fumbled to pull their ringing cell phones from their belt clips in their respective cities. Neither was happy about the intrusion. Each was fearful that the melodic ring would herald a crisis that would require their professional attention and presence. An inopportune interruption, as both individuals were anticipating interesting personal evening activities.
