A Heartbeat Away: A Thriller - Softcover

New York Times bestselling author Michael Palmer delivers
a novel at the crossroads of politics and medicine in this
shocker of a thriller.

On the night of the State of the Union address, President James Allaire expects to give the speech of his career. But no one foresees the horrific turn of events that leads him to quarantine everyone in the Capitol building.

"Exhilarating...breathtaking...stunning in its realism and truly terrifying."―Suspense Magazine

A terrorist group calling itself "Genesis" has unleashed a highly contagious virus into the building, and the only one who fully knows its deadly consequences is the president himself. Desperate, he turns to virologist Griffin Rhodes, whose alleged theft of the microbe landed him in a maximum-security federal prison. Griff knows he's innocent but is forced to barter with the government: his attempt at a cure in exchange for his release.

"If medical thrills are what you're after, Palmer delivers."―Booklist

Meanwhile, there's not a second to lose while everyone in line for presidential succession is trapped inside the building―except for the Director of Homeland Security, the so-called Designated Survivor for this event. Now, with enemies both named and unnamed closing in, and the security of the entire nation at stake, Griff must unravel the mysteries of this virus as one by one those imprisoned in the Capitol begin to die...

Michael Palmer (1942-2013) wrote internationally bestselling novels of medical suspense, including The First Patient, The Second Opinion, The Last Surgeon, A Heartbeat Away, Oath of Office and Political Suicide. His book Extreme Measures was adapted into a movie starring Hugh Grant and Gene Hackman. His books have been translated into thirty-five languages. Palmer earned his bachelor's degree at Wesleyan University, and he attended medical school at Case Western Reserve University. He trained in internal medicine at Boston City and Massachusetts General Hospitals. He spent twenty years as a full-time practitioner of internal and emergency medicine. In addition to his writing, Palmer was an associate director of the Massachusetts Medical Society Physician Health Services, devoted to helping physicians troubled by mental illness, physical illness, behavioral issues, and chemical dependency. He lived in eastern Massachusetts.