From Publishers Weekly
Fast plotting, thorough research and a swaggering-cop style elevate this sixth novel from Dreyer, known for Brain Dead (1997) and other standard medical/serial-killer thrillers. "SWATBabe" Maggie O'Brien is one tough broad. As a new tactical emergency medic for the city and county of St. Louis, Mo., trauma nurse at Blymore Memorial and part-time firefighter medic, she has to be. This single 26-year-old overachiever lives, loves and plays hard to release the pressure found in her work and in her stormy relationship with her abusive father, ex-cop Tommy "the Terminator" O'Brien. When one of her favorite mental patients, Montana Bob, a former top FBI agent, becomes a casualty in what should have been a fairly routine call, O'Brien finds her name on "The List" at Blymore-the hospital's wall where names of troublemakers are scrawled by medical personnel to relieve tension. Her gut instinct leads her to start investigating people on the list with a link to Montana Bob who have turned up dead, but no one wants to hear her suspicions, since they may implicate her own beloved colleagues. Soon O'Brien discovers she's being prepped as the "fall gal" when a series of inexplicable ER deaths appear to be caused by her. O'Brien makes a complex, conflicted heroine, defiantly macho and yet so scarred by family violence that she refuses to use a gun even when doing so could save the lives of those she loves.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Maggie O'Brien, a nurse and medic on a SWAT team, is an overachiever. She's trying to get out from under her father's thumb--both physically and emotionally. But Maggie tries too hard to fit in. While on a hostage call, she uncovers a deadly plot and soon becomes a pariah in the ER, the morgue, and the police department as she investigates who is killing patients. Laural Merlington's characterization of O'Brien's tough exterior and tender interior is well done. Her pace keeps up with the action and suspense. Her vocal changes for O'Brien's insolent father and other hard-nosed city cops are believable, as well. D.L.M. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
With a Vengeance FROM THE PUBLISHER
Maggie O'Brien, a nurse and medic on a SWAT team, has a longing to heal, a thirst for justice, and a chip on her shoulder. She lives in the shadow of her father, a famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) cop. A great deal is expected of Maggie - after all, she's Tommy O'Brien's kid. Maggie wants to put as much distance between herself and her father as possible, but is she more his daughter than she wants to admit? The question hits home when Maggie feels the desire - like anyone who deals with the worst elements of society - to dispense her own brand of justice. Soon she finds evidence that someone else may be acting on that desire. A killer is waiting and watching from the hospital halls and from the shadows. Maggie's search for the truth is a searing tour through the shades of gray between the impulse to heal and the urge to punish.
FROM THE CRITICS
Romantic Times
After an absence, powerhouse author Eileen Dreyer explodes back onto the suspense scene with a book that will leave you breathless. Nobody does hospital thrillers better than Dreyer. Treat yourself to a transfixing and emotionally powerful read.
Publishers Weekly
Fast plotting, thorough research and a swaggering-cop style elevate this sixth novel from Dreyer, known for Brain Dead (1997) and other standard medical/serial-killer thrillers. "SWATBabe" Maggie O'Brien is one tough broad. As a new tactical emergency medic for the city and county of St. Louis, Mo., trauma nurse at Blymore Memorial and part-time firefighter medic, she has to be. This single 26-year-old overachiever lives, loves and plays hard to release the pressure found in her work and in her stormy relationship with her abusive father, ex-cop Tommy "the Terminator" O'Brien. When one of her favorite mental patients, Montana Bob, a former top FBI agent, becomes a casualty in what should have been a fairly routine call, O'Brien finds her name on "The List" at Blymore-the hospital's wall where names of troublemakers are scrawled by medical personnel to relieve tension. Her gut instinct leads her to start investigating people on the list with a link to Montana Bob who have turned up dead, but no one wants to hear her suspicions, since they may implicate her own beloved colleagues. Soon O'Brien discovers she's being prepped as the "fall gal" when a series of inexplicable ER deaths appear to be caused by her. O'Brien makes a complex, conflicted heroine, defiantly macho and yet so scarred by family violence that she refuses to use a gun even when doing so could save the lives of those she loves. (Mar. 17) Forecast: A 10-city author tour, plus blurbs from Nora Roberts, Tami Hoag, Robert Crais and Tess Gerritsen, should help lift Dreyer close to bestseller territory. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Maggie O'Brien was destined to be a police officer. Raised by Tommy "The Terminator" O'Brien, formerly one of St. Louis's finest, Maggie is a crack shot and a member of the local SWAT team. However, she is also a nurse and refuses to carry a gun. Trying to juggle the dangers of police work with the pressures of working in an understaffed hospital police ward, Maggie and her fellow nurses blow off steam by keeping "The List," a log of patients who have committed particularly despicable crimes. When Jimmy Krebs torches his four-year-old son after a 12-hour hostage standoff, his name makes The List. Then, Jimmy suddenly dies in the hospital-and Maggie discovers that other List members have also died mysteriously. Dreyer, a real-life trauma nurse, infuses her tale with the same authentic details that enlivened her Brain Dead, and she keeps the plot moving. Fans of Tess Gerritsen will enjoy; recommended for most popular fiction collections.-Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, IN Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
AudioFile
Maggie O'Brien, a nurse and medic on a SWAT team, is an overachiever. She's trying to get out from under her father's thumb—both physically and emotionally. But Maggie tries too hard to fit in. While on a hostage call, she uncovers a deadly plot and soon becomes a pariah in the ER, the morgue, and the police department as she investigates who is killing patients. Laural Merlington's characterization of O'Brien's tough exterior and tender interior is well done. Her pace keeps up with the action and suspense. Her vocal changes for O'Brien's insolent father and other hard-nosed city cops are believable, as well. D.L.M. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
Turbocharged thriller from the romantic-suspense author (a.k.a. Kathleen Korbel) of 1997ﾽs Brain Dead (her hardcover debut). Trauma nurse Maggie OﾽBrien joins the SWAT team as a medic the same summer that all hell breaks loose in St. Louis. Heat and a cicada infestation have brought every nutcase, wife beater, child abuser, and cop killer out of the woodwork. People are dying like flies. First case is a doozy: former FBI agent Montana Bob has gone crazy, beset by paranoid fantasies about angels of death in dark uniforms. He takes as hostage Maggieﾽs true love, Sean Delaney, a supertough and sexy cop whoﾽs nonchalantly munching on a candy bar when heﾽs finally rescued. Later, Montana Bob dies in the ER for no apparent reason. Later still, an hours-long hostage stakeout turns violent when a drunk sets his four-year-old son on fire. Anyone would agree that Jimmy Krebs deserved to die instead of the boy, but his injuries werenﾽt fatal. Just why is it that he and some of Maggieﾽs other patients end up in the morgue within a few hours of entering the hospital? Did their names appear on The List, an informal record of perps, suspects, and repeat offenders that the cops and medical personnel scribble on a hospital wall? No use asking Maggieﾽs dad, a cop with a hair-trigger temper who left the force under mysterious circumstances. Maggie has no reason to trust him: her mother committed suicide, and father Tommy ("The Terminator") OﾽBrien has gone through six more wives since. Heﾽs a staunch believer in toeing the thin blue line, and heﾽs not talking. Maggieﾽs colleaguesﾽincluding the flamboyantly gay Dr. Allen Fitzmaurice and fellow trauma nurse Jeannieﾽdonﾽt seem to know a thing. But the press ison to the story. Can the cityﾽs first female SWAT medic actually be a cold-blooded murderer? Only Maggie can find the real killer as things lead to a shattering, unpredictable climax Nonstop action and a tough babe with a heart. Top-drawer. Author tour
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