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Oath of Office  By  cover art

Oath of Office

By: Michael Palmer
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
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Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of A Heartbeat Away and The Last Surgeon comes a shocking new novel at the crossroads of politics and medicine.

What if a well respected doctor inexplicably goes on a murderous rampage? When Dr. John Meacham goes on a shooting spree, his business partner, staff, and two patients are killed in the bloodbath. Then Meacham turns the gun on himself.

The blame falls on Dr. Lou Welcome. Welcome worked with Meacham years before as a counselor after John's medical license had been revoked for drug addiction. Lou knew that John was an excellent doctor and deserved to be practicing medicine, and fought hard for his license to be restored. After hearing the news of the violent outburst, Lou is in shock like everyone else, but mostly he's incredulous. When he begins to look into it further, the terrifying evidence he finds takes him down a path to an unspeakable conspiracy that seems to lead directly to the White House and those in the highest positions of power.

©2012 Michael Palmer (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about Oath of Office

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    1 out of 5 stars

Corny!!

If you listen to this book you will know why I said it is corny! and it really is. Not only that, it is terrible. I agree with the previous review, that it is disjointed. It is also not really a medical mystery, although characters are MD's. Also a forced romantic part and a silly politcal angle. I can't believe Palmer wrote this.

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47 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Worst Book Ever from Palmer

Any additional comments?

This was as disjointed as a book can be. No character development, unbelievable story line that was so far out there, I couldn't stay focused on the book. ( Really, the first lady bit!) I was appalled that Michael Palmer, who has written some good medical mysteries in the past put his name on this one. Don't bother wasting your time.

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46 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not too believable

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Story started off pretty good and then went down hill. Having the Presidents wife on the caper, corn making people crazy. It got out of hand. Performance was good.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Flat As Imitation Cola

You've drunk the stuff... Looks like Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper, maybe smells like one of them - and then you taste it. Ewwwww! There's no there - there. And that's the problem with "Oath of Office". Palmer is an imitator, good enough to get published, even good enough to have an audience of franken-writing people guzzle it, But for folks like me who've ingested the Pepsi, Cokes, and Dr. Ps for years, the book is like a sugar-free doughnut with all the gluten, trans-fats, and most of its taste excised. Think of it as say... Robin Cook's med-thriller plotting and narrative after lipo-suctioning away too much muscle.

Palmer's frank in the ending interview in explaining that his knowledge of politics is Google-grazing thin. And yet, this is supposed to be a political thriller. Instead it's an off brand of Hubris Cola, all looks and smell but a gassy tease that leaves my taste buds really frustrated. Ditto the pointless action sequences sufficient to create the weight of a novel.

I cared about no one in this cast in spite of Robert Petkoff's journeyman voices. The only one surprised over who-dunnit, or why-dunnit is Dr. Lou Welcome the novel's half-dimensional hero. This book stirs at ideas with an itsy-bitsy swizzle stick. Perhaps doctors should keep to doctoring, or at least write about doctoring and leave geo-political existentialism to people who do that? Or, as Dr. Palmer admits in his interview, he's careened around through extra-curricular interests a lot and has settled upon political thriller writing because some of his best friends do it.

Judging by all the books he's had published, well, he's found an audience. And maybe there's such an appetite among people who like Robin Cook's medical thrillers that they're easily sated between Cook's books?

Dunno... But just as I've learned to pass when a server offers me Milly's Cola instead of Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. P... This experience with Michael Palmer's flat characters and clattering action scenes... leaves me yearning for the truthiness of writers who either know what they are writing about, or have learned to fake it.

Beware, this book's the Milly's Cola of franken-novels.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Don't genetically modify our food!

"Oath of Office" deals with an important issue that threatens to detrimentally affect our health. I thank Michael Palmer for bringing it to light in this novel. Big-Pharma and Big-Agriculture are genetically modifying our food without our knowledge. Here in California, we recently had an election proposition that would have required food manufacturers to label their genetically-modified products, so that we consumers could, at least, make a choice. Of course, the proposition was defeated, thanks to the vast sum of money that the corporations spent to fight this sensible, if modest, proposal. Most people do not know that -- unless they are organically-grown -- 𝙖𝙡𝙡 of the corn and soy beans now produced in the U.S. have been genetically modified. By corollary, that means that all non-organically grown livestock have been fed those genetically-modified foodstuffs. Many of our other food crops have had foreign genes inserted into their D.N.A., in order to boost production and provide pest resistance. In "Oath of Office," Palmer provides the example of a corn crop that has had the gene from irradiated termites inserted into its D.N.A. Far-fetched? Not really. Unless you are only buying organic, you have probably already been eating tomatoes carrying pig genes. Nobody knows yet exactly what this genetic tampering with our food may do to us in the long run, because the experimental testing is being done on us right now. Only time will tell how this reckless manipulation is going to affect us. In "Oath of Office," Palmer postulates that the altered corn crop begins affecting people's brains, altering their decision-making faculty. The resulting plot provides an exciting thriller, with a message: Don't let greed overwhelm good sense. Robert Petkoff, the narrator of this audiobook, has a good voice and good acting chops. I recommend "Oath of Office" to fans of medical thrillers. As other reviewers have mentioned, this novel may not top Palmer's oeuvre; but it is definitely not a snore, either.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Very disappointed

This story was so predictable and simplistic I couldn't even finish it. Michael Connelly has written some good stories, so I really was not expecting such a terrible plot, but this is what I would expect from a mid-level high school kid.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very Timley Choice Of Subject

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

There is a lot of timley information on genetic engineering in this cliff hanger novel.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I tried to turn off my ipod to save some of the story for later but couldn't do it. Had to listen to the whole thing in one gulp!

Have you listened to any of Robert Petkoff???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my first time listening to this reader. He has a wonderfully expressive voice. He makes the novel into a performance rather than someone reading from pages of a book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This is a book that could be true, it could actually be happening as we go about out daily lives, unaware or not wanting to be aware of what is being done to our food supply. Not a laughing matter although the sarcasm expressed by Dr. Welcome was an enjoyable way to lighten up an otherwise terrifying plot.

Any additional comments?

Michael Palmer is a wonderfully informed person which makes his books realistic and enjoyable.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Couldn't Put it Down

What made the experience of listening to Oath of Office the most enjoyable?

Michael Palmer does it again...along with a great reader..you can't go wrong.
Loved it

What did you like best about this story?

It's a could happen type of thing...Greed for money oversteps bounds

What does Robert Petkoff bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Entertaining reader from the start

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book makes you think

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love Michael Palmer, but not this book!

Genetically modified food -- REALLY??? It certainly cannot be classified as a "Medical Thriller." I am a huge Michael Palmer fan and have read every one he has written, mainly because I enjoy him so much. Not so with this book. It just was not very good. It reminded me of a second-rate author and I wondered whether it might actually be a collaboration rather than a Michael Palmer original. I was surprised that at least one person rated it 5.0. Apparently, that person does not read much Michael Palmer and know how good he can be. Given the chance, you might pass on this book. At best, you should put it at the bottom of your listening list. There are a lot of others that are much better.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Beyond Fiction

I like Michael Palmer and can usually handle "far out" scenarios in any sort of fiction. It is, after all, fiction, but this story made the protaganist seem down-right stupid. Seriously - he's almost murdered - but then goes back to the scene - not once - but twice - and somehow convinces himself that he shouldn't call authorities or any sort of back-up.

Nevertheless I was entertained by the story and in spite of their lack of common sense - even liked the characters. The subject matter was intresting and it could have been a great book - but the events played out in a rush and unfortunately there was an unfinished feeling at the end. Almost felt like a set up for a sequel.

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