YA-- Coben casts a dynamic, beautiful, and successful woman, Sara Lowell, and her handsome and famous sports figure, Michael Silverman, as his main characters. Their friend, Dr. Harvey Riker, takes them into his confidence when he tells them that his medical clinic has discovered a cure for AIDS. To his horror, his cured patients are being murdered by a serial killer dubbed the Gay Slasher by the media. Sara's father is in stiff competition with Riker for funding of his cancer clinic and her sister, Cassandra, is romantically involved with the doctor. When Michael collapses on the basketball court and is diagnosed as HIV positive, tracking down the murderer and supporting Riker's clinic take on new dimensions for Sara. This is a fast moving mystery that's sure to capture YAs' attention, especially in light of today's headlines.-- Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Manhattan AIDS researchers hold off announcing the discovery of a cure for the disease until they find who is murdering their prize patients--in a medical thriller by the author of Play Dead (1990). Dr. Bruce Grey, who is supposed to be on vacation from his AIDS research clinic, slips back into New York in disguise and checks into a hotel, where he is promptly tortured and pitched from a window. The killer is a hulking sadist with a taste for Armani suits who has previously killed two of Dr. Grey's case studies on orders from someone in a group of very powerful gentlemen who, for various reasons, want to keep Dr. Grey's miraculous cure from reaching the public. The cabal includes a senator whose own son is a secret patient at the clinic; a spectacularly odious televangelist whose sermons would have to be reworked if AIDS were beaten; a villainous federal-health bureaucrat; and a physician whose cancer research keeps losing funds to the higher-profile disease. The same doctor is father to two gorgeous daughters--one a slightly crippled network news star married to an NBA star who has been diagnosed with AIDS and whom the clinic is trying to save, the other a nymphomaniac who has developed a big crush on Dr. Harvey Riker, the late Dr. Grey's partner in research. Meanwhile, closeted gay NYPD homicide detective Max Bernstein is the policeman on the beat. Lt. Bernstein enlists the help of the reporter in sorting it all out. Time is of the essence since the basketball star has been kidnapped from the clinic and spirited to Bangkok, where there are no anti-AIDS shots. Lurid, formula medical thriller--enhanced by celebrity look- alikes, rich and famous scenery, and shadowy sex.

Coben is the author of one previous novel, Play Dead ( LJ 4/1/90). His new effort is an uneasy stew of contemporary American types: beautiful good girl who is a TV news celebrity; her sister, beautiful bad girl with a heart of gold; handsome basketball star stricken with AIDS; selfless doctor who may have discovered that disease's cure; totally evil contract killer; and hypocritical TV evangelist. These types and others are stirred into a pretty unbelievable story that ranges from New York City to Washington, D.C. to Bang kok and amasses an impressive body count. Despite such drawbacks, Coben keeps the reader's interest by fleshing out the stereotypes a little bit and moving the plot fast enough to overcome the more incredible aspects. A marginal purchase for public libraries.-- A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Coben ( Play Dead ) adroitly applies the fundamental rules of thrillerdom (offer a raft of potential villains; keep the action moving at breakneck speed) in this highly entertaining novel about a conspiracy apparently designed to prevent the development of a cure for AIDS. When one of a trio of research scientists on the brink of coming up with an AIDS antidote dies, it looks like suicide, but TV journalist Sara Lowell and her husband, NBA star Michael Silverman, who are friends of the clinic's founder, think otherwise. Their suspicions are confirmed when several clinic patients, including the son of a U.S. senator, are murdered. A televangelist with his own agenda, Sara's prominent physician father, and a high-ranking government official all seem intent upon derailing the AIDS research, a situation that becomes most personal when Michael is diagnosed with the disease. Police lieutenant ``Twitch'' Bernstein, a closet homosexual, ultimately comes face-to-face with the person responsible for the killings. The final revelation of the identity of the master conspirator comes as a real surprise. This page-turner also raises some interesting questions about medical research and its funding. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved