Just before his 50th birthday, life begins to unravel for Dr. Harry Corbett of the Manhattan Medical Center. Not only is his beautiful and talented wife, Evie, scheduled for serious neurosurgery but Harry believes that he will die on his birthday like his father and grandfather. Nothing happens as the doctor fears. Instead, his wife is murdered, and, after confessing to an affair with her, Harry's archenemy, Casper Sidonis, accuses Harry of having killed her. The most dimwitted cop in recent fiction arrives on the scene and agrees with Sidonis. From this somewhat far-fetched beginning, Palmer (Natural Causes, LJ 2/1/94) creates a suspenseful, entirely credible tale of health insurance fraud and behind-the-scenes hospital politics. Palmer, who manages to find new and more frightenting themes for his medical thrillers, gets better with each book.