The Silent Sleep of the Dying

This is a fantastic read populated with Hogarth-type characters and vignettes of both extraordinary and everyday events told in entertaining, graphic and articulate fashion. Sound pathology combine with science to tell the very grimmest of tales. The Silent Sleep of the Dying illustrates the top notch of International crime fiction.

Wow! This book was impossible to put down from page one! The loathesome crimes make your skin crawl, and the ruthlessness of the criminals is unmatched. McCarthy's plot is well crafted, and the characters grab you into their world of lies, blackmail, and sex. His writing...ah! his writing. This is the sort of novel that makes you stop every few pages or so to read a sentence or paragraph out loud to the person you're sitting next to. The medical-based plot is clearly explained; although my science background makes my description of its clarity somewhat suspect. I enjoyed the fact that his characters are named after famous people in medicine--Eisenmenger, a famous German cardiologist; Flem(m)ing, the discoverer of penicillin; Bochdalek, the physician who described a type of diaphragmatic hernia, etc. Even the names of some of the companies described in the plot are named after famous syndromes (Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, etc). It's wonderful to find a new author, especially one of McCarthy's talents. One caveat--read his first novel starring Eisenmenger and Flemming--A Feast of Carrion--first since a great deal of information about why our protagonists have the nightmares they have comes from this first book. Also, some spoilers are present in the second book that make reading the first one slightly less surprising. A great thriller--find it and read it!

Keith McCarthy's medical thriller, "The Silent Sleep of the Dying," deals with a deadly virus that is created in a secret lab in a remote area of Scotland. An accidental fire destroys the lab, and the scientists who collaborated on the project go their separate ways. Two years later, one of these scientists, Millicent Sweet, suddenly becomes violently ill and dies an excruciating death. This dramatic beginning sets the stage for a complex tale of greed, blackmail, and murder. Millicent Sweet's father, Raymond, asks a lawyer named Helena Flemming to look into his daughter's death. Helena enlists the aid of an old friend, John Eisenmenger, a former forensic pathologist, to help her with her inquiries. In addition, Inspector Beverley Wharton, an aggressive and ambitious woman who is persona non grata with her superiors, investigates the case without her boss's permission or knowledge. McCarthy ratchets up the tension nicely as Helena and John make some startling discoveries, most notably that a pharmaceutical company called Pel-Ebstein may have played a crucial role in the events leading to Sweet's death. There is also a particularly nasty villain who pops up throughout the book, destroying anyone who gets in his way. For all of its merits, "The Silent Sleep of the Dying" does have a few weaknesses. First, McCarthy assumes that his readers already know the history of Helena and John, both of whom are emotionally wounded individuals. A little more background would have fleshed them out more satisfactorily. In addition, the ending is a bit unrealistic and melodramatic. Still, the book has a great deal to recommend it, including some fascinating characters who are struggling not only with the important people in their lives, but also with the internal demons that plague them. McCarthy delivers plenty of thrills, and readers who love medical suspense will find "The Silent Sleep of the Dying" action-packed and exciting.