A body is dragged from the river, and the ME's office finds he's died from natural causes, and already been embalmed. The same day, Dr. Jack Merlin's roommate Kevin Hoover goes missing. A year later, Kevin's body is found in the Gross Anatomy lab, about to be dissected by medical students. Who is switching bodies of murder victims with those donated to science? ADA Tory Welch is on the case, and in danger from those who'd rather she didn't solve it.
First time author Dr. James Tucker has an excellent premise, some well-developed characters (and some not-so-well developed ones), and the medical background necessary to write a novel based in a hospital and a medical school. Unfortunately, his knowledge of sentence structure, pacing, and the judicial system are quite lacking. The first half of the novel went well, and I was pleased that his female lead managed to extricate herself from an attempted rape situation without being rescued by the hero, but the book quickly soured for me after that, when she immediately jumped into bed with said hero. First of all, the sex was cringe-inducingly poorly written, and second of all, I don't know of any victims of rape or attempted rape whose first inclination is to engage in sexual activity. (And I've worked in that field, so I should know.) The story then builds to an extremely shaky scenario which one assumes will be the climax to the tale. Sadly, it is not, for Tory must be put in another dangerous situation that Jack can then rescue her from (by some incredibly unbelivable [and I mean confusing, not shocking] means). The only thing I can say in favor of the ending is that the body-switcher did not end up being whom I thought it was.
An okay first try, though, Tucker. Those not well informed about law enforcement or....um...sentences...might find this book entertaining. ( )