Remember that urban legend about the guy who gets drunk in Vegas, passes out, and ends up waking up in a bathtub full of ice with a huge scar, only to find out that he was drugged and his kidney stolen? You've probably heard some version of that story. Michael Palmer's The Fifth Vial is a sophisticated take on that story. A young medical student, Natalie Reyes, travels to Rio de Janeiro to attend a medical conference. While in a cab, she is kidnapped. As she tries to escape, she is drugged and shot. When she wakes up, she finds that she has been unconscious for days and has lost a lung from the gunshot. Upon returning to the states, she begins to suspect something is amiss and as she begins to investigate her stay in Brazil and uncovers something much more sinister.
This is a fast-paced, action-packed story that should satisfy fans of medical thrillers and those who enjoy a good conspiracy. I listened to this book on CD and really did not like the narrator. His accents were terrible and I had some trouble distinguishing the characters. Despite this, I did listen to the entire book, which says a lot for the book. Normally, if I don't like a narrator, I stop listening within 10 minutes. But the book held my interest enough to overlook the narrator. A few aspects of the story seemed a little absurd and the Epilogue wrapped things up a little too neatly for my taste, but it's a good thriller nonetheless.
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