Miracle Cure Mass Market Author: Visit Amazon's Harlan Coben Page | Language: English | ISBN:
045123491X | Format: EPUB
Miracle Cure Mass Market Description
From Publishers Weekly
Coben ( Play Dead ) adroitly applies the fundamental rules of thrillerdom (offer a raft of potential villains; keep the action moving at breakneck speed) in this highly entertaining novel about a conspiracy apparently designed to prevent the development of a cure for AIDS. When one of a trio of research scientists on the brink of coming up with an AIDS antidote dies, it looks like suicide, but TV journalist Sara Lowell and her husband, NBA star Michael Silverman, who are friends of the clinic's founder, think otherwise. Their suspicions are confirmed when several clinic patients, including the son of a U.S. senator, are murdered. A televangelist with his own agenda, Sara's prominent physician father, and a high-ranking government official all seem intent upon derailing the AIDS research, a situation that becomes most personal when Michael is diagnosed with the disease. Police lieutenant "Twitch" Bernstein, a closet homosexual, ultimately comes face-to-face with the person responsible for the killings. The final revelation of the identity of the master conspirator comes as a real surprise. This page-turner also raises some interesting questions about medical research and its funding.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
YA-- Coben casts a dynamic, beautiful, and successful woman, Sara Lowell, and her handsome and famous sports figure, Michael Silverman, as his main characters. Their friend, Dr. Harvey Riker, takes them into his confidence when he tells them that his medical clinic has discovered a cure for AIDS. To his horror, his cured patients are being murdered by a serial killer dubbed the Gay Slasher by the media. Sara's father is in stiff competition with Riker for funding of his cancer clinic and her sister, Cassandra, is romantically involved with the doctor. When Michael collapses on the basketball court and is diagnosed as HIV positive, tracking down the murderer and supporting Riker's clinic take on new dimensions for Sara. This is a fast moving mystery that's sure to capture YAs' attention, especially in light of today's headlines.
- Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, VACopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
- Publisher: Signet; First Signet Printing edition (September 27, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 045123491X
- ISBN-13: 978-0451234919
- Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
- Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
MIRACLE CURE is one of Harlan Coben's first novels, written in 1991 when he was in his mid-to-late twenties. The novel is essentially a fast-paced whodunit about a series of murders involving the recipients of an experimental AIDS vaccine. This book is now out-of-print and almost impossible to find. I'm a big fan of Coben's work, and I was lucky enough to track down a very old copy of this novel in my local library.
This novel did very little for Coben's writing career. MIRACLE CURE didn't sell very well, and it would be another four years before Coben wrote his next novel, DEAL BREAKER, which introduced Myron Bolitar. I recently read an interview with Coben where he openly admitted that this novel was bad.
MIRACLE CURE isn't exactly terrible, but it is easily the worst written novel I have ever read by Coben. The characterization in this book is pretty cardboard, and most of the dialogue is rather stilted and flat. The plot is slow-paced at the beginning, and then quickly spirals out of control toward the end, with one overblown plot twist after another.
This is also the most political book written by Coben, with a very strong gay-rights stance and many barbs aimed at religious conservatives who oppose AIDS funding (in fairness, there's a twist at the end that will probably annoy a lot of liberals too). I'm guessing that some of the political views taken by Coben in this book were probably quite daring at the time. Unfortunately, some of the scenes in this book are overly preachy, which may even annoy readers who agree with Coben's beliefs.
I was also somewhat surprised by some of the rather graphic sexuality and language in this book.
Harlan Coben's first two novels Play Dead (1990) and Miracle Cure (1991) were published by a small publishing company called Judy Piatkus. Obviously this publisher wants a substantial amount of money now that Coben is one of the top and highest selling modern authors, to give up the rights to these two stories but we've just seen Play Dead re-released so there is hope for Miracle Cure to come out by a mass market publisher in the future. Coben's current publisher doesn't even acknowledge these two books exist in the previous novels lists at the front of their books. This means the first miracle is you find out these two novels exist, and the second is that you can get yourself a copy. You should though, they are both very good novels.
Miracle Cure isn't quite in the masterpiece league of his debut novel Play Dead or what he achieved with Tell No One and the other independent storyline (non Myron Bolitar) novels, but it is still a very good novel. Written when the paranoia of AIDS was at its height and before it crossed massively into the heterosexual community and many people saw it as a homosexual or drug addict disease, Coben through his characters argues adamantly that funds need to be allocated to find a cure for this disease. Unfortunately 19 years after this story was published we still haven't found a cure, but this book asks the question of what would happen if we had and a powerful bigoted element of society who did whatever it took to stop that cure being known.
Like with Play Dead (and later the Bolitar novels) one of the main characters is a basketball star.
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