Your Heart Belongs to Me, by Dean Koontz

This audio book was read by Malcolm Hillgartner, and was 8 hours and 33 minutes long.

As a long time Dean Koontz fan, I will read anything he produces. But that doesn't mean I will always like it. This one had its problems, but it was still a page turner.

This is the story of a 34 year old dot com millionaire who discovers that he has an incurable heart condition and needs a transplant. He finds a good surgeon, gets on the transplant list, and is encouraged by his perfect girlfriend to just let this happen. She knows he will try to manipulate his place in line for a new heart, and he agrees to trust his current doctor.

This would be a fairly simple story if the girlfriend did not have a disturbing back story that causes our protagonist some discomfort. Her twin sister was taken off life support by her own mother after getting counsel from a right to die advocate who collects mummified remains. The mother is now romantically involved with this ghoul, and this feeds the paranoia of a heart patient with enough money to manage his fears and the people around him.

This is a Koontz morality tale with a twist. I wish the characters had been a little more compelling, and that the villain had more substance. I give it 2 stars

Marker, by Robin Cook

This audiobook was obtained from Netlibrary.com through the Alachua County Public Library. It was 16 hours and 7 minutes long, and was narrated by George Guidall.

Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton are both doctors with the Medical Examiner's office. They determine cause of death by day and are lovers by night. Right about the time that Laurie decides that she has no future with the noncommittal Jack, she takes notice of some unusual deaths at a particular hospital. The deaths have no apparent cause. Everyone else is willing to call them an anomaly. But the decedents are all relatively young people who came in for pretty ordinary surgeries. She begins to suspect foul play.

Laurie comes under a lot of pressure to bury her suspicions. To infer that someone is murdering patients at a prestigious hospital with a low death rate could create problems for the reputation of the medical staff there. Her only ally is the handsome, charming doctor who is the director of personnel at that hospital, who wants to get involved with her.

I know this sounds like a soap opera, and some of it is. It also sounds like the typical Robin Cook novel: young, good-looking doctor with strong ethics runs afoul of rich, powerful, greedy medical community. But Cook has been doing this for a long time, and knows just how much relationship fog to give a book without losing sight of the fact that he is writing a thriller. This is one of his better ones, and I give it 3 stars.

Kill Me, by Stephen White

This audiobook is available in the Alachua County Library, came on 10 discs, and was read by Dick Hill. It is part of the series that features a psychologist named Alan Gregory, except that Alan only has a bit part in this novel. The story is about one of his patients.

The main character tells his story, but never his name. He is rich, white, middle-aged male who has made a boatload of money in the medical technology field. He is a charismatic, athletic risk-taker, and his days are numbered. He has an aneurysm in his brain, but that is probably not what is going to kill him.

He has insured himself against suffering, some time before he knew of his condition, by contracting the services of a shadowy organization that promises to kill him before he becomes physically or mentally incapacitated. He refers to them as "The Death Angels", but this odd insurance company has no listing on the NYSE, no business cards, and no legal standing. They are sincere, well-meaning, fastidious in their agreements and how they keep them, and deadly. Our nameless hero got hooked up with them through a friend whose wife lingered long as she waited to die. They have a mutual friend who recently went too long without oxygen on a cave-diving trip, and now he's a vegetable. Our man does not want this to happen to him, so after much consideration he applies for this service.

It was almost delightful to hear the language of this arrangement for "end of life services". It's very legal-sounding, with all the bases covered and the contingencies laid out. There are all kinds of rule that the Death Angels conscientiously follow, including the one that says this service is irrevocable. You have made this decision while you were in your right mind. It was intended to protect you from the indecision you would have when you are impaired.

The rest of this book is about our man's attempts to get out of the deal when he has some unfinished business land on his doorstep. This group of merciful assassins is resourceful, well-equipped, and quite determined to earn their premiums.

For all of its nuttiness as a concept, this is really a very thoughtful story. It is the best this author has created, and the narration is mesmerizing. Entertaining, suspenseful and philosophical, this is a 4 star novel. It includes a forward by the author which tells what true story inspired him.