Political Suicide

By: Michael Palmer

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

From The New York Times bestselling author of Oath of Office comes a gripping thriller at the crossroads of politics and medicineDr.

Lou Welcome, from Palmer's bestselling Oath of Office, is back in this heart stopping medical thriller. A desperate phone call embroils Lou in scandal and murder involving Dr. Gary McHugh, known around the Capital as the "society doc." Lou has been supervising McHugh, formerly a black-out drinker, through his work with the Physician Wellness Office.

McHugh has been very cavalier about his recovery, barely attending AA and refusing a sponsor. But Lou sees progress, and the two men are becoming friends. Now, McHugh has been found unconscious in his wrecked car after visiting a patient of his, the powerful Congressman Elias Colston, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Soon after McHugh awakens in the hospital ER, Colston's wife returns home to find her husband shot dead in their garage. She then admits to the police that she had just broken off a long-standing affair with McHugh.

Something about McHugh's story has Lou believing he is telling the truth, that the Congressman was dead when he arrived and before he blacked out. Lou agrees to look into matters, but when he encounters motive, method and opportunity he is hard pressed to believe in his friend - that is until a deadly high-level conspiracy begins to unravel, and Lou acquires information that makes him the next target.

©2012 Michael Palmer (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Another bang-up story by Michael Palmer

What made the experience of listening to Political Suicide the most enjoyable?

Showing again the tenacity, resourcefulness and perserverence of an ER Doc, Michael Palmer has given us another thriller.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Political Suicide?

The keen analysis by Dr. Lou Welcome when describing the motive to Papa Steve.

What about Robert Petkoff’s performance did you like?

Everything

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Bring on more stories about Dr. Welcome!

Exciting thriller.

Where does Political Suicide rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's unlike any I've read previously.

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

For the most part. Although I have to honestly say that the subject matter was very
disturbing to me.

Ahhhh Michael Palmer

Not really like the rest of his novels......but pretty good overall......I'm looking forward to a new one.....

Medical / Military / Political / Legal Thriller

With "Political Suicide," Palmer returns to his likable protagonist, Lou Welcome, from his prior novel, "Oath of Office." Only, you don't necessarily have to listen to "Oath of Office" first, as "Political Suicide" tells a new story. Palmer does, sometimes, fetch afar for his plots; and I am hoping that he has done so, again, with this one. I don't want to believe that a plot like this one could actually be hatched in the upper echelons of power. Without giving away any surprises -- in deference to those who don't like "spoilers" -- this story deals with a despicable way of leveling the playing field in the war on terror. Medicine -- Palmer's usual theme -- plays only a subsidiary part here, demonstrating Palmer's gradual move toward the political-thriller genre. Some of the characterizations in "Political Suicide" do stretch credibility a bit -- like lawyer Sarah Cooper's sudden transformation from nasty to nice -- but the cute plot twist at the end of the story ameliorated that weakness to a certain extent for me. As with "Oath of Office," narrator Robert Petkoff does a good job reading us "Political Suicide," clearly distinguishing all the characters from one another with different voices and accents. If you like thrillers, and don't mind suspending disbelief just a bit, I recommend "Political Suicide" to you.

Not As Good As The First One

I enjoyed Oath of Office and thought this would be a good follow-on story. The medical portions are pretty good but there are some pretty glaring errors in the military portions. The whole story was a bit of a stretch with some serious lack of judgment from the two main characters. I'm not completely put off and may try some of Michael Palmer's other novels. This one was just kind of ho-hum for me though. The narration was good and that's what kept me listening to the end.

Decent

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Interesting characters, decent plot, some elements frustrating (as I couldn't believe the main character ER doc could be so naive, but overall held my interest during long drives.

Great Listen

Great listen. As usual a great Michael Palmer book. I think you’ll enjoy it as I did.

Another Michael Palmer Thriller!

Great audiobook! The storyline was perfect. I love Michael Palmer's writing style. The narrator was very good also. Very enjoyable and highly recommended!

Good book

Suspenseful and exciting. It kept my attention all the way through. Some of it was a little unrealistic but I still enjoyed the story.

Loved the conspiracy....

I listened to this on audio with narrator Robert Petkoff proving himself to be a master narrator.

The characters in this book is believable and is stereotypical enough to be familiar and at the same time unique enough to be interesting and human.

The conspiracy is intense. The story and plot line fast and logical. The medical part is for once underplayed and instead the conspiracy is at the foreground.

I liked the psychological aspect explored and the new friendships formed and the medical aspect being an integral part of the bigger story.

Some characters were eccentric and I loved that. The cat named Diversity was a very nice touch indeed.

All in all world building, character building and plot timing was exceptional. The narrator made a production out of the book that added to the story line and both the book and the narrator get a 5 * review from me.

WaAr