#54 - The Fifth Vial

This was my first book by Palmer and I loved it! It was very gripping and very scary to think that this might actually be able to happen. I plan on picking up more of his books soon. Here is a synopsis copied from Barnes and Noble:

From the blockbuster, eleven-time New York Times bestselling author comes a novel of medical suspense that begins with these chilling questions: Who ends up with the blood samples you routinely give for tests? What else are they being used for? Why don’t you know?..

Take a Deep Breath...
In Boston, a disgraced medical student is sent to deliver a research paper that could save her career. . . . Four thousand miles away, in a jungle hospital in Cameroon, a brilliant, reclusive scientist, dying from an incurable disease that threatens to make each tortured breath his last, is on the verge of perfecting a serum that could save millions of lives, and bring others inestimable wealth. . . . In Chicago, a disillusioned private detective, on the way to his third career, is hired to determine the identify of a John Doe, killed on a Florida highway, with mysterious marks on his body.

Three seemingly disconnected lives, surging unrelentingly toward one another. Three lives becoming irrevocably intertwined. Three lives in mounting peril, moving ever closer to the ultimate confrontation against a deadly secret society with godlike aspirations and roots in antiquity.
Medical student. Scientist. Private eye. Three people who will learn the deeper meanings of brilliance and madness, truth and deception, trust and betrayal.
Three lives linked forever by a single vial of blood - the fifth vial.

My progress in the 100 Book Challenge so far:

1. An Idiot Girl's Christmas - Laurie Notaro - 142 pages
2. The Missing - Chris Mooney - 360 pages
3. All the Numbers - Judy Merrill Larsen - 269 pages
4. The Quickie - James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge - 274 pages
5. The Darkest Evening of the Year - Dean Koontz - 354 pages
6. Plea of Insanity - Jilliane Hoffman - 598 pages
7. When Madeline Was Young - Jane Hamilton - 274 pages
8. Sunshine - Robin McKinley - 405 pages
9. Spying in High Heels - Gemma Halliday - 318 pages
10. I Am Legend - Richard Matheson - 312 pages
11. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer - 563 pages
12. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City - Kirsten Miller - 380 pages
13. The Husband - Dean Koontz - 415 pages
14. Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb - Kirsten Miller - 369 pages
15. Plum Lucky - Janet Evanovich - 166 pages
16. Blood Rites - Jim Butcher - 372 pages
17. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - 245 pages
18. Let the Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist - 513 pages
19. The Spellman Files - Lisa Lutz - 368 pages
20. Little Stalker - Jennifer Belle - 333 pages
21. Watchers - Dean Koontz - 352 pages
22. Lost and Found - Carolyn Parkhurst - 289 pages
23. Dead Beat - Jim Butcher - 396 pages
24. Steve & Me - Terri Irwin - 273 pages
25. Bright Lights, Big Ass - Jen Lancaster - 385 pages
26. Curse of the Spellmans - Lisa Lutz - 407 pages
27. Bleeding Kansas - Sara Paretsky - 431 pages
28. Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison - 416 pages
29. The Abstinence Teacher - Tom Perrotta - 358 pages
30. The Good Guy - Dean Koontz - 493 pages
31. The Double Bind - Chris Bohjalian - 368 pages
32. Dork Whore - Iris Bahr - 216 pages
33. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer - 629 pages
34. Monkeewrench - P. J. Tracy - 404 pages
35. Diablerie - Walter Mosley - 180 pages
36. After Dark - Haruki Murakami - 191 pages
37. Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella - 389 pages
38. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson - 246 pages
39. Heart Sick - Chelsea Cain - 324 pages
40. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay - 292 pages
41. Ice Trap - Kitty Sewell - 340 pages
42. The Bad Place - Dean Koontz - 381 pages
43. All We Know of Heaven - Jacquelyn Mitchard - 310 pages
44. The Dollmaker - Amanda Stevens - 376 pages
45. Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris - 214 pages
46. The Senator's Wife - Sue Miller - 306 pages
47. The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber - 895 pages
48. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay - 303 pages
49. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips - 293 pages
50. Earthly Pleasures - Karen Neches - 311 pages
51. Proven Guilty - Jim Butcher - 406 pages
52. Such a Pretty Fat - Jen Lancaster - 379 pages
53. Obedience - Will Lavender - 287 pages
54. The Fifth Vial - Michael Palmer - 372 pages

My progress in the Suspense/Thrillers Challenge so far:

1. serial killer - The Missing by Chris Mooney
2. crime thriller - The Quickie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
3. psychological thriller - The Husband by Dean Koontz
4. legal thriller - Plea of Insanity by Jilliane Hoffman
5. techno thriller - Monkeewrench by P. J. Tracy
6. hard boiled - Diablerie by Walter Mosley
7. private detective - The Bad Place by Dean Koontz
8. cozy - Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris
9. hitman thriller - The Good Guy by Dean Koontz
10. supernatural thriller - Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay
11. medical thriller - The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer