
Murders at Hollings General
by Jerry Labriola, M.D.
Imprint: STRONG Books
Publisher: Publishing
Directions, LLC
Publication Date: October 1, 1999
Price: $19.95
Finished size: 6 x 9
Total Pages: 357
ISBN: 1-928782-00-0
Library of Congress Catalog Number:
99-70735
Binding: Casebound
Cover: 4 color, hardcover
Cover Designer: Deena Quilty
Cover Photo: Boden/Ledingham/Masterfile
Copy Editor: Roberta Buland
Layout Designer: Ellen Gregory
Thematic and Communication
Consultant:
James
K. Kelly
Master (Exclusive) Distributor:
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800-507-BOOK
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STORY LINE
Murders at Hollings General is a medical mystery involving a series of
bizarre homicides at a major teaching hospital in New England. The
protagonist, Dr. David Brooks, is an engaging if somewhat quirky
doctor/amateur sleuth who confines his practice to making afternoon house
calls for other physicians. To date, his investigative experience is limited,
but he is pressed into probing the hospital deaths by his police detective fianc�e', Kathy Dupre. And their relationship becomes the stuff of a sub-plot
woven into the main story line.
From the opening scene in which a surgical patient (the hospital's Chairman
of the Board) is brutally killed on the operating table by an imposter
surgeon, to David's last brush with death at the hands of latter-day samurai
warriors, the protagonist faces a parade of conflicts. Suspense is enhanced
through a story concept rooted in situational uncertainties, plot twists and
unforeseen murder victims. As applied to each suspect, the opportunities
and means for murder solidly exist, but it is in the area of motives--romantic
entanglements, ties to foreign drug cartels, job terminations, hospital
rivalries and power struggles--that the bulk of tension and conflict resides.
David's search takes him into a world of martial arts, fortune tellers,
Japanese daggers and the dispensing of illegal drugs from the back of an
ambulance. In one major scene, he becomes trapped in his Mercedes convertible
which is wrapped in barbed wire and in tow up a cliff for certain deposit over
the other side. But this and other perils merely harden his resolve to find
the killer.
The novel's main characters are:
1. Dr. David Brooks: Six-five, floppy mustache, floppy bow tie, black belt
in karate, gun aficionado.
2. Kathy Dupre: David's fianc�e'. Police detective. Petite, striking and
independent.
3. Nick Medicore: Kathy's newly arrived superior. Ambivalent about David's
role in the investigation.
4. Bernie and Robert Bugles: Half-brothers and sons of the murdered
Chairman of the Board. Linked to drug cartels of Istanbul and Cartagena.
5. Alton Foster: Hollings General's administrator with a surprising past.
6. Musco Diller: Runyonesque cabby and world-class pickpocket.
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