Listening In

Annie Morgan is recovering from giving birth six weeks ago when she learns that new neighbors are moving into the expensive house across the street. When she notices that the couple have a toddler with them, she is elated because her suburban Boston neighborhood has no children except hers. She quickly becomes friends with the woman who just moved onto the block. Both set of parents have baby monitors and Anne discovers that when she moves her monitor to Channel B, she can hear everything that goes on in the Shield's house. Anne cannot stop herself from listening in, but soon learns something about the husband, David that frightens her. Not only is he cheating, he appears to be involved in an illegal medical practice in Mexico. He is apparently involved with miscarriages in order to obtain fetal brain cells to be used in a dubious treatment for Parkinson's disease. Annie risks her life to end David's nefarious practice even as she also knows most people will find it hard to believe that someone of his sterling reputation could do anything as dastardly as she claims he is doing. Sorrell Ames is a wonderful new talent on the medical thriller scene. The action is non-stop, but it is the characters that make the book. Readers will feel as if they know and care for all of them, even the bad guys, who deserve a torturous punishment. Several questions on medical testing and fetal tissue research leave the audience with much to ponder. LISTENING IN rivals the best of Palmer and Crichton because the novel allows the layman to understand medical terminology and technology while careening through a fast-paced story line. Harriet Klausner