Paulo J Reyes Sledgehammer

Sledgehammer

Paulo J Reyes

iUniverse, 2005, $24.95

ISBN: 0595784542

A year ago, a DUI killed his beloved wife Leana, leaving ER physician Dr. Max Kroose to raise their two preadolescent children alone, except for their nanny Esmeralda. After dropping the kids at school, Dr. Kroose expects a normal day of traumas and tragedy. As always, ER is overwhelmed, so when his son takes a nasty spill at school, but is okay, he has no time to pick him up.

A patient arrives with strange symptoms, that remind Max somewhat of smallpox, yet seems more powerful than a disease most people thought had been eradicated. As the clock ticks, Max becomes increasingly convinced that they are dealing with a lethal strand of smallpox. He fails to persuade the skeptical bottom line hospital administrator, Kilgorn, to arrange mass vaccination to prevent a pandemic spread. His only chance resides with his friend, a bio-weapons researcher, but even if he somehow receives help, Max knows that the potential for spreading, has walked out the hospital door numerous times.

This is a gut wrenching medical thriller, that centers on how relatively easy the spread of a bio-weapon can occur in this country. Max keeps the storyline realistic and together, as he goes from the daily troubles of a single dad who has had no time to mourn his loss, to fears for his two children and others from a stalking killer. His frustrations mount as he fails to convince anyone that vaccination is needed, as the health system calculates the cost as greater than the risk. Paulo J. Reyes provides a SLEDGEHAMMER to a system that set up to insure mass failure when (not if) the crisis happens.