Allen Wyler - Dead Ringer

Praise for Allen Wylers Thrillers

DEAD END DEAL is a medical thriller of the highest order, reviving the genre with a splendid mixture of innovation and cutting-edge timeliness. Neurosurgeon Allen Wyler knows of what he writes, and the result is a thriller that equals and updates the best of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton. His latest is terrifying, riveting, and a masterpiece of science and suspense.

Jon Land, best-selling author of STRONG AT THE BREAK

DEAD END DEAL by Allen Wyler is a masterful medical thriller, intelligent, ferociously paced, scary as hell, ripping with suspense, and filled with fascinating (and horrific) details that only a neurosurgeon-turned-writer like Wyler could provide. If you like the medical thrillers of Robin Cook or Michael Crichton, you will absolutely love DEAD END DEAL.

Douglas Preston, author of THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE and co-creator of the PENDERGAST NOVELS

The gritty, graphic details of cutting-edge surgical procedures, capped with an exciting conclusion, should keep fans of the genre riveted.

Publishers Weekly

With its lightning-paced excitement and fascinating science, DEAD HEAD has everything you could hope for in a medical thriller!

Tess Gerritsen, author of THE MEPHISTO CLUB

In the tradition of Robin Cook, Wyler takes us behind the scenes to show us things the medical establishment doesnt want us to see. DEAD RINGER builds a high-speed plot on a startling but all-too-plausible premise. This is the stuff nightmares are made of.

Joseph Finder, New York Times Bestselling Author of PARANOIA and BURIED SECRETS

The suspense builds and builds in this riveting pageturner. Its a skillful merging of the medical thriller and political thriller... Tom Clancy meets Tess Gerritsen!

Kevin OBrien, New York Times Bestselling Author of THE LAST VICTIM and KILLING SPREE

Youll be asking the nurse to swab your forehead when youre admitted into this tense medical thriller exposing DEADLY ERRORS. Wyler does for hospitals what Benchley did for the ocean.

Joe Moore, co-author of the international best seller THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY

Wyler writes a fast-paced thriller, which reawakens your scariest misgivings about the Medical-Industrial Complex and the profit motive corrupting the art of healing.

Darryl Ponicsan, author of THE LAST DETAIL

DEADLY ERRORS has a fascinating and frightening premise that gives it the potential to be a best seller in the Robin Cook mold.

William Dietrich, author of HADRIANS WALL

This is an up all night pass into troubled places that only hardworking doctors know about; a turbulent world of trusting patients and imperfect humans struggling with the required image of perfection. Only a gifted surgeon like Allen Wyler could craft such a wild and wonderful best-of-the-breed medical thriller!

John J. Nance, author of PANDORAS CLOCK and FIRE FLIGHT

Wylers debut novel is both an engrossing thriller and a cautionary tale of the all-too-frequent intersection of high technology and higher greed. Its a message all of us better pay attention to, or face the consequences.

Mark Olshaker, author of EINSTEINS BRAIN, UNNATURAL CAUSES, and THE EDGE; co-author of MINDHUNTER, JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS

A LLEN W YLER

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

DEAD RINGER

Astor + Blue Editions LLC

Copyright 2012 by Allen Wyler

All rights reserved including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof, in any form under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by:

Astor + Blue Editions, LLC

New York, NY 10003

www.astorblue.com

Publishers Cataloging-In-Publication Data

Wyler, Allen. DEAD RINGER1st ed.

ISBN: 978-1-938231-14-8 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-938231-12-4 (epub)

ISBN: 978-1-938231-13-1 (epdf )

1. Neurosurgeon DoctorThrillerFiction 2. Body SnatchersFiction 3. Corrupt CopsFiction 4. Serial KillerFiction 5. Harvesting Cadavers for ProfitFiction 6. Seattle (Wash), Hong Kong (China)Fiction 7. Doctor-Female DetectiveAmerican Love story I. Title

Book Design: Bookmasters

Jacket Cover Design: Ervin Serrano

To Leslie

A DARK, ILL-FORMED premonition punched Lucas McRae in the gut so hard it stole his breath. He froze, aware of something drastically wrong involving someone close to him.

Laura? Josh? Were they safe?

A second later it vanished, leaving only a lingering vague sense of foreboding.

Hed heard of stories like thisa mother suddenly awakened, knowing her son was just killed by an insurgents RPG half a world away. He rejected these tales as nothing more than folklore. Mental telepathyor whatever you wanted to call itwas scientifically impossible. But, Jesus, this thing, this awful feeling in his gut...

Dr. McRae, over here!

Lucas looked toward the voice. To his right, over the roof of a taxi and beyond the hotel loading zone, Jimmy Wong waved from the rolled-down window of a red compact. A Toyota or Nissan, but a model that isnt available in the States. Thankful for the distraction, Lucas trotted over to the car. But the freefloating, ill-defined dread returned, burrowing in his gut.

He slid into the passenger seat, his skin already sticky from the thick tropical humidity and sinus-clogging smog. He buckled in and shut the door.

Wong Yiw-Wah, or Jimmy to Westerners, extended a hand. Welcome to Hong Kong. The president of the Hong Kong Neurosurgical Society had a friendly, oval face of indeterminable age. Wongs temples had turned to gray, like Lucass.

Lucas shook hands and said, Thank you. Its an honor to be here.

Wong merged into morning rush hour traffic and accelerated. Sorry our group cannot afford The Peninsula. Your hotel accommodations are adequate? He spoke with a slight British accent. Lucas figured hed probably been schooled in England.

Yes, very nice. Thank you.

The Harbor View International Hotel was an okay, no frills, three-star place to sleep at night and shave in the morning. With spending the day at the meeting, a fancier place wouldve been a waste of money. It could be quieter, though. A rattling elevator door across from his room woke him repeatedly throughout the night.

And your flight over?

Perfect. That was one of those white lies you tell a host.

Sorry I was unable to meet you at the airport, but the operating theater became frightfully backed up and my case dragged on and on. Certainly, I dont have to tell you how those things go. Wong glanced over his shoulder, preparing to change lanes. The car picked you up without a problem, I am told. True?

It did. Thanks.

Lucas had rolled in about eight last evening. He was dog tired, coated with a layer of stale sweat, and had eyelids that felt lined with sand. He didnt bother with dinner, just showered and then poured a minibar scotch to use as an Ambien chaser before hitting the sheets. The combination worked like a sledgehammer to his brain, putting him out within minutes. Otherwise, with the change in time zones, he would have been wide awake until just before time to get up again. Business trips. He hated the fatigue jet lag caused. Especially when you were expected to socialize at cocktail parties and dinners.