Life Support

New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen weaves authenticity into another novel of searing medical suspense, as a dedicated woman doctor probes into the cause of a mystifying and lethal outbreak.
The quiet overnight shift at Springer Hospital ER suits Dr. Toby Harper just fine -- until she admits a man in critical condition from a possible viral infection of the brain. The delirious man barely responds to treatment -- and then disappears without a trace. Before Toby can find him, a second case occurs, revealing a terrifying fact: the virus can only be spread through direct tissue exchange. Following a trail of death that winds from a pregnant sixteen-year-old prostitute to her own home, Toby discovers the unthinkable: the epidemic didn't just happen -- someone let it loose....

Former romance author and medical doctor Tess Gerritsen is writing in a new genre: medical suspense. Advertised as her "first novel," Harvest jumped onto the New York Times bestseller list and thus legions of new fans were introduced to the work of this talented author. Gerritsen's second thriller, Life Support, is as moving as any of her romances. Dr. Toby Harper works the night shift in an emergency room. More comfortable with the steady horror and tedium of emergency care than with a normal lifestyle, Toby alienates herself socially from her peers and from her sister. She spends her daytime hours alone with her mother who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When elderly Alzheimer's patients from the same retirement home start dying mysteriously, Toby is the only one suspicious enough to investigate. As a result she finds herself, her mother, and her own sanity at risk.