FLAWLESS
Joshua Spanogle
Delacorte Press
Thriller
ISBN-10: 0385338546
ISBN-13: 9780385338547

FLAWLESS heralds the return of Dr. Nate McCormick, the somewhat acerbic protagonist of ISOLATION WARD. Joshua Spanogle could have taken the easy way out, keeping McCormick firmly ensconced in Atlanta. Instead, the author moves him across the country to the San Francisco Bay Area, where McCormick’s past embarrassments collide with his present notoriety to create a whipsmart thriller that will be as current 10 years from now as it is today.

The events of ISOLATION WARD were a double-edged sword for McCormick, providing him much fame but little fortune. Seeking work and hoping for love, he follows Dr. Brooke Michaels, his romantic interest, to northern California, the scene of one of his greatest embarrassments. He is not there long before he is contacted by Paul Murphy, a former friend from medical school who is frantically asking for help from McCormick due to McCormick’s newfound reputation as a straight shooter.

Murphy’s request, however, draws McCormick deep into the belly of cosmetological research and into the circle of the Chinese triads. McCormick discovers that patients of a clandestine plastic surgery clinic are experiencing miraculous results, only to subsequently contract hideous, cancerous tumors that cause permanent disfigurement --- and worse. The patients are also being threatened with death if they report the problem or attempt to seek treatment.

While not a perfect protagonist, McCormick is a very real one. He often makes things worse rather than better, even as he doggedly pursues a trail that leads him to some very unexpected places and at great personal cost.

Spanogle has created an extremely interesting and complex character in McCormick. Not entirely likable yet ultimately admirable in spite of himself, McCormick is a smart guy who is full of heart, sometimes more than is good for him or for those around him. His research into Bay Area culture --- particularly that of the triads, tongs and youth gangs, whose influence extends far beyond San Francisco’s Chinatown --- is first rate, with Spanogle providing one of the most understandable explanations of the complicated interrelationships among the three groups that I can recall reading.

And while FLAWLESS contains a resolution to the dilemma presented therein, McCormick’s own personal life is far from resolved by book’s end, setting up a premise --- not to mention a demand --- for a follow-up novel. While McCormick may be difficult to classify, his quirks, strengths and weaknesses undoubtedly will continue to make Spanogle’s series worth following.

    --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.

© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.

Back to top.