Two secret societies vie for control of the ultimate medical miracle–Panacea–in the latest novel by New York Times bestselling author F. Paul Wilson.Medical examiner Laura Fanning has two charred corpses and no answers. Both bear a mysterious tattoo but exhibit no known cause of death. Their only connection to one another is a string of puzzling miracle cures. Her preliminary investigation … investigation points to a cult in the possession of the fabled panacea–the substance that can cure all ills–but that’s impossible.
Laura finds herself unknowingly enmeshed in an ancient conflict between the secretive keepers of the panacea and the equally secretive and far more deadly group known only as 536, a brotherhood that fervently believes God intended for humanity to suffer, not be cured. Laura doesn’t believe in the panacea, but that doesn’t prevent the agents of 536 from trying to kill her.
A reclusive, terminally ill billionaire hires Laura to research the possibility of the panacea. The billionaire’s own body guard, Rick Hayden, a mercenary who isn’t who he pretends to be, has to keep her alive as they race to find the legendary panacea before the agents of 536 can destroy it.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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I’m glad to have Wilson writing more suspense novels that solid enjoyment. Kind of a silly statement since the vast majority of his work falls into that bucket. In my case, it was exactly what I needed and I’m very happy with the book.
Laura Fanning is a medical examiner who finds a weird connection between two corpses she has examined. Both bodies are in perfect condition other than being dead. She soon finds herself pulled into a search by a terminally ill billionaire to find the legendary panacea which will cure all ails. She is joined on her quest by Rick Hayden, an ex-Navy Seal who was also hired by the billionaire.
Going into this book, I knew that there were two more sequels in the The ICE Sequence books, so I wasn’t exactly sure how it would end. And up to about two-thirds of the way through, I thought it was going to be a massive cliffhanger. Instead Wilson does his usual talented job and closes the novel up in a clean, respectable manner. Similar to the Repairman Jack series, you can tell further adventures are coming. However, at least at this point, there is no massive evil entity trying to destroy the world as there was in Repairman Jack. PANACEA is a Done In One. The continued continuity will be coming, I’m sure. There were a couple minor things that I wasn’t crazy about in this novel. There were a couple characters that were too good to be true; they had all the right answers at the right time and guided our heroes along their quest. Yes, they were both explained later in the book but it still struck me as too convenient at the time. The story was a tad too formulaic also. Heroes travel to foreign country, defeat some trap and/or bad guys, find a clue that has them travel to yet another foreign country and do it all again. It was fine and worked but one more country would have been it! An excellent start for a new series by Wilson. I look forward to the future novels.
The dialogue between characters and possibilities discussed…So much food for thought.
Have read many of F. Paul Wilson’s books and this is a great one. His ideas and plot are always original. Definitely a page-turner!
I am usually a romance or cozy mystery reader, but really enjoy F Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack Series. That said, some of the books might be over the top for some, you definitely have to like SciFi for his books. I like his characters, and the plot was different. For Repairman Jack fans, this might be a great new series, and can’t wait for the next in series.
I am a huge F. Paul Wilson fan. I especially loved his Repairman Jack novels. I was very sad when he stopped writing them. I was happy when I read the review of this book, and I enjoyed it. It cannot replace the Repairman Jack books, but it is entertaining.
If this were my first foray into this author’s works, it may not have been so bad, but after reading many of the Repairman Jack books, it’s hard to believe that this is the same author. The dialogue is often painful and the plot(s), here and in The Void Protocol both, are predictable to the point of being embarrassing.
The author, F. Paul Wilson, is a great writer as well as being a medical doctor and scientist. His work usually has elements of his knowledge visible in it. It also is the work of a very talented writer. This was clearly a first book in a series that he didn’t carry forward, for which we all should be sorry, as this, as a stand alone book, is a wonderful starter, as well as a great solitary book. Buy this book and read it. Time very well spent.