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    Oath of Office: A Novel
    Oath of Office: A Novel
    Oath of Office: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    Oath of Office: A Novel

    Written by Michael Palmer

    Narrated by Robert Petkoff

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Michael Palmer, the New York Times bestselling author of A Heartbeat Away and The Last Surgeon brings us a shocking new thriller at the crossroads of politics and medicine.

    What if a well respected doctor inexplicably goes on a murderous rampage?

    When Dr. John Meacham goes on a shooting spree the office, his business partner, staff, and two patients are killed in the bloodbath. Then Meacham turns the gun on himself.

    The blame falls on Dr. Lou Welcome. Welcome worked with Meacham years before as a counselor after John's medical license had been revoked for drug addiction. Lou knew that John was an excellent doctor and deserved to be practicing medicine and fought hard for his license to be restored. After hearing the news of the violent outburst, Lou is in shock like everyone else, but mostly he's incredulous. And when he begins to look into it further, the terrifying evidence he finds takes him down a path to an unspeakable conspiracy that seems to lead directly to the White House and those in the highest positions of power.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateFeb 14, 2012
    ISBN9781427209962
    Oath of Office: A Novel
    Author

    Michael Palmer

    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.

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    Reviews for Oath of Office

    4/5

    81 ratings17 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Good medical mystery about gentically modified food causing people to go crazy. Hero lou was good but it got gross in parts

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Michael Palmer is the author of sixteen medical mystery/suspense novels. It is no secret that he has been one of my favorite authors for years, and Oath of Office is another outstanding book by this author. The character of Dr. Lou Welcome brings us an area of medicine that patients do not like to think about. He is a medical doctor that has fought his way back from addiction and is now helping other troubled doctors. Unexpectedly, one of his doctors suddenly goes on a shooting spree. He kills patients, another doctor, and his staff before killing himself. Lou was overseeing this doctor’s progress and is held responsible for the carnage. But things are strange all over the small town of Kings Ridge, and Lou finds several cases of individuals behaving out of character. He must solve the mystery to keep his position as counselor to his troubled colleagues. There is a political connection (non-partisan) in the story that leads all the way to the First Lady and President. I always enjoy the medical foundation to the story, and with the suspense and great writing, this book was a pleasure to read. Each of the main characters of the book is unique. Lou Welcome was likeable, and I enjoyed the relationship he had with his father, daughter and even his ex-wife Renee. He and Renee still had a respect and fondness for each other. Of course, there is action and adventure when Dr. Welcome finds criminal activity going on where you least expect it. There is a perfect balance of dialog and narration, and I highly recommend Oath of Office.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Michael Palmer writes medical mystery/thrillers which are suspenseful and thought provoking and Oath of Office is no different. Unstable Dr. John Meacham goes on a shooting spree in his own office killing his partner, some and his staff and a few patients before turning the gun on himself. His friend Dr. Lou Welcome is blamed because he had previously help Meacham gets his license restored. He can’t believe that Meacham could do such a thing and investigates the reasons behind it. What he finds is a conspiracy that may lead to the White House. Palmer has written another astonishing story that takes the reader through the medical and political arenas without losing us. Filled with suspense and action; it was definitely a good one!
    • 1/5
      I will admit that I did not finish this book. I got to about 90% and just gave up. I have enjoyed Palmer's books in the past but this was melodrama strung together with not even very creative cliches and very little credibility but a whole lot of obvious. I'm not sure why I did not give up on it earlier. Hope springs eternal, I guess.
    • 3/5
      Oath of Office by Michael Palmer has been sitting on my shelf for a while so I decided to give it a try. The story was off to an exciting and dramatic start with Dr. John Meacham, letting his anger go to the extreme. He had been punished previously for yelling at a patient by having his medical license suspended for six months. And now another patient, Roberta Jennings was running out of his office after he screamed at her to lose weight. She said that she was going to report him to the board. He knew that she was eating herself to death but he could not contain his anger. He pulls out his pistol of a locked drawer. He thinks that he has to save his career. She can’t go back to the board but there were no eye witnesses only people who heard the screaming. He shoots the nurse, his partner in the practice and the people in the waiting room and lastly himself.Dr. Lou Welcome was Dr. John Meacham’s friend. Nine years prior he had his own license suspended for self-prescribing amphetamines. He went into Rehab at the Physician’s Wellness Center and did so well that he was later hired as a monitor by the group. That is how he had met Dr. Meacham. He had thought that Dr. Meacham was doing exceptionally well with his anger management. Dr. Filstrip, his boss at the rehab center for physicians contacted him with the news about the mass shooting. Not only had he lost a good friend, his good friend has shot seven people but now his job is also in jeopardy. The beginning of this book was very strong, I loved learning about Dr. Welcome’s relationship with his daughter and his ex-wife. Dr. Lou Welcome’s goal is to find out why his friend did this and to save his job. So a great mystery was started. There was also a side story about the president’s wife and her friend from childhood. The story was riveting and then I felt like I was thrown out of the story and into a Jurassic Park. I don’t want to spoil the story for you so I will not relate the details to you. I felt that he had switched genres. From then one, I kept reading the story but was too incredible to believe.This starts out as a medical thriller but turns into science fiction so if that is not a problem for you, then you will enjoy this book. I just had too much to swallow at the end for myself.
    • 4/5
      "Oath of Offce" is an interesting read with many twists and turns, creating a mild amount of suspense. The connections among the characters are sometimes vague, with the plot muddied somewhat by that.

      Despite those few quirks, I enjoyed Lou's efforts to be the good, honest guy trying to do his best to better his world. His relationship with his mentor and sponsor is intimate and tender, and Lou has a program that works because he works hard at it.

      Keep writing please, Dr. Palmer, I love having a meeting in print while I relax with your books.
    • 3/5
      From the book jacket:"Dr. Lou Welcome is a 42-year-old ER doc in Washington D.C., who lost his medical license for an alcohol and drug addiction and, subsequently, lost his marriage as well. After five sober years, Lou is hired as a part time case-worker for the D.C. Physician Wellness Office (PWO), monitoring docs with mental illness. He advocates for his favorite client, Dr. John Meacham, to return to practice, only to have Meacham blow up at a patient and murder five people before shooting himself. Lou’s efforts to help Meacham are hindered by a series of unexplainable mistakes and bizarre behaviors in Meacham’s community.First Lady Dr. Darlene Mallory is a pediatrician and wife of 2-year president Martin Mallory. She is trying to help her friend Russ Evans, who resigned as Secretary of Agriculture after an indiscretion in a motel with an underage woman. Evans claims to have been set up and Darlene believes him. She is contacted by a mysterious man who claims to have proof of Evans’ innocence and that Evans was forced out of office because of his policies against genetically modified food. Against her husband’s wishes, she sets out to clear Evans’ name.Darlene’s efforts bring her together with Lou, who has become convinced that people are being adversely affected by the rapidly growing corn being produced and harvested by a huge, powerful corporation. Their feelings for one another intensify as they race against the clock, trying to stop a massive shipment of the genetically modified corn bound for worldwide distribution."This could have been a hard-hitting condemnation of Monsanto and other companies pushing genetically modified food at any cost. However, it came off a little hokey. The thought of the "monster" termites was really gross. The dialogue didn't flow. And Dr. Welcome was a sort of an idiot detective even though he wasn't supposed to be. As much attention as he paid to some people's behavior that helped move the story forward, he completely ignored other glaringly odd behavior that could have kept him out of danger and just made dumb, illogical decisions.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book as the storyline was very inventive and could possibly happen.
    • 4/5
      Dr. Lou Welcome had been to his own personal hell and back. Addicted to booze, his license revoked, losing his wife and nearly his daughter; Lou had nothing else to lose but millions to gain if he could just stay sober. A friend named Cap helped as his AA sponsor and boxing buddy. Due to his lapse Welcome was committed to helping other docs who were suffering the same issues. Through a group called Physician Wellness Office, Lou shores his stories and helps. Or so he thought.Dr. John Meacham, someone Lou had been working with and who was showing great strides, suddenly kills his staff, patients in the waiting room and, ultimately dies himself. What went wrong? He lived in King’s Ridge, a small area outside of Washington, DC catering to well-to-do folk. He seemed to have snapped and he wasn’t alone. In the White House, the First Lady was trying to keep control as the President began what was becoming a daily tirade. He was running for re-election and was passing on all appearances to sit in the Oval Office and “stew.” The patient who originally set off Meacham’s rampage because she wouldn’t lose weight; gives herself a tummy tuck with disastrous results. Something’s not right.What do all these folks for different lifestyles and locales have in common? I was as surprised as you will be when you read the end of this book. Any Michael Palmer book will grab you and hold on until the end of his newest story. This one does a better job than some because, believe me, once you start this you’ll want to finish it and also not want to because it’s that good.
    • 3/5
      Michael Palmer, master of the medical thriller, tries his hand at political drama. Dr. Lou Welcome, a recovering addict and mentor to other physircians, discovers that one of the docs he's counsoled has gone on a killing spree in his office. When confronted with his decision to recommend the doctor return to practice, Lou maintains that something else was at play in the killing spree. Something that causes rational people to behave bizarrely.Meanwhile the First Lady is contacted about suspicious actions in the Department of Agriculture. She discovers that a childhood friend, once Secretary of Agriculture, may have been framed to remove him from his position. Her investigation leads her to Lou and the two are off!Good premise, but Palmer fails to develop the plot as well as he usually does. A combination of too many jumps in logic and too much predictability.
    • 5/5
      Rarely do I find a novel that tackles a unique issue, provokes thought, educates without preaching, and also manages to entertain. With 'Oath of Office', Michael Palmer does all these things masterfully.This book is a combination medical and political thriller, but is not defined by either genre. The characters are rich in dimensions, the plot multi-layered and fast-paced. At times the dialogue made me laugh, other times a scene had me cringing. I was captivated from start to finish, and can only complain that the story had to end.** I noticed a few negative reviews criticized the plot for being far-fetched. I'd suggest some reading on the truth of genetically engineered foods. **
    • 4/5
      When stressed out Dr. John Meacham goes on a killing spree and kills a number of patients in his waiting room and then a number of co-workers, Dr. Lou Welcome is blamed.Lou has been overseeing his friend, Dr. Meacham, through Physicians Wellnes. This organization counsels doctors who have had stress related disorders or have overmedicated themselves with alcohol or drugs.As the story progresses, we observe Lou's compassionate nature as other characters exhibit unexplained anger that in some cases prove to be fatal. Lou decides that he wants to find out what is causing this.He meets Dr. Darlene Mallory, the First Lady of the U.S. She is also interested in this unusual situation and decides to work with Lou to find answers.The characters are realistically portrayed. The evil characters are very evil and Lou's thirteen-year-old daughter, Emily, is a charmer. There are discussions between Lou and Emily that might give parents clues on how to speak to their teenage children without antagonizing them.The plot is laid out nicely with some interesting surprises. I found the book to be entertaining and recommend it to readers who enjoy medical thrillers and good suspense.
    • 4/5
      If ever there was a cautionary tale against genetic food modification, Oath of Office is it. The author combines medical mystery with political corruption in a suspenseful, fast-paced thriller that is a real page turner. I was stepping outside my usual genres by picking up this book, and I’m ever so glad that I did. I particularly enjoy books that take me outside of my realm of knowledge and experience and teach me something new while entertaining me. I found that Oath of Office did that very well. I also liked the main characters a great deal and appreciated that they had baggage. Palmer was able to make doctors and politicians into people to whom the reader could relate. This book had high speed car chases, shootouts, medical traumas, radiated termites, murder, and romance. It came together in a plot that was frighteningly believable yet surprising and nearly seamless. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it for a quick read with a bonus adrenaline rush.
    • 5/5
      My thoughts: This is an incredible story! The beginning is stunning, gripping, and terrifying. Once I read the prologue I was hooked. This is a masterfully crafted story of corruption and greed as well as compassion and the driving belief in doing the right thing. The characters are wonderfully constructed, each with a complex life and belief system that makes them come alive from the pages. Lou is fabulous. His profound sense of right and wrong as well as his willingness to see life from all angles makes him stand out, even among the many well-built characters in this book. I was impressed with his ability to co-parent with such a supportive and positive attitude after what had to be a heart breaking divorce and a long, hard road to recovery. He and Cap are both role models that every 12-step program dreams of. The complex story line and multifaceted plot keep the reader turning the pages, always looking forward to learning one more tidbit in the mystery. The writing is vivid and imaginative, so much so that you literally "see" the story unfold in your mind in full color. Joey's "pets" are the stuff of true nightmares; the descriptions alone left me cringing and shaky. Great characters make a story for me, but this book has it all - great characters (both the "good guys" and the "bad guys", an intriguing mystery, conflict on a number of levels, and a little bit of a romance. An all around great read.
    • 5/5
      Oath of Office by: Michael PalmerI won this book on a LibraryThing giveawayA man going on a killing spree of 7 people then turning the gun on himself is not unheard of in today's society. It’s sad but true. This book touches on a conspiracy revolving around this incident which even reaches to the President of the United States.I don’t want to give to much away so I’ll add my thoughts on it. The characters are believable people and I love that the main character, Dr. Lou Welcome, doesn’t just believe what he’s told even when the facts are so hard to dispute. I read this book in one day into the wee hours. I couldn’t put it down and I never do that. But I should warn you that because of the subject of this book and how true to life it could be, it can be unsettling to think it may actually be happening in the real world today.I normally am not really found of crime novel or conspiracy novels so to speak. I like them, but they are usually not my favorites. I have to say that this one has changed my mind on that. I know I can only give it 5 stars but I really think it deserves more. What really sucked me into this book is that it could really happen today (if it hasn’t already). If you have a chance to read this, I highly recommend it.
    • 5/5
      When Dr. John Meacham goes on a shooting spree killing his partner, staff and two patients and then turns the gun on himself all the blames falls to Dr. Lou Welcome. Dr. Welcome was working with a group that helps doctors regain their licenses. In this case the doctor’s license had been removed for alcoholism and losing his temper with a patient. He had worked with Meacham for years and knew Dr. Meacham was an excellent doctor and advocated strongly to have his license returned. When he learns about what happened he is shocked like everyone else but he believes the authorities are missing something. Dr. Welcome just can’t let it go so he starts to investigate himself. What he discovers is truly terrifying.Dollycas’s ThoughtsThis is quite a suspense thriller. I used the terms “scary good” back in 2010 to describe The 19th Element by John L. Betcher and this story tops that. Betcher’s story was about Al Quada terrorists striking in the Midwestern United States. Oath of Office is about Americans terrorizing other Americans through products we need to survive. All in the name of greed and the path leads directly to the White House.I would say it is Spine-Chillingly Excellent!!!The truly scary part is that if you do an internet search for the scientific terms in this book they are out there. Hopefully we can trust that they are being used for good and there are regulations in place to save us from something like this occurring. But with all the deregulation talk spinning around Washington could make this story more fact the fiction. Michael Palmer is a bestselling author for very good reason. He writes an extraordinary story. This book will hold you in its grasp tightly from the first page until the very last word.I never thought of myself as a squeamish person but chapter 39 almost did me in. That’s my only caution about this book. The book is fabulous and I give it my highest recommendation. I can honestly say this is the best book I have read in a very long time.
    • 5/5
      Michael Palmer is the author of sixteen medical mystery/suspense novels. It is no secret that he has been one of my favorite authors for years, and Oath of Office is another outstanding book by this author. The character of Dr. Lou Welcome brings us an area of medicine that patients do not like to think about. He is a medical doctor that has fought his way back from addiction and is now helping other troubled doctors. Unexpectedly, one of his doctors suddenly goes on a shooting spree. He kills patients, another doctor, and his staff before killing himself. Lou was overseeing this doctor’s progress and is held responsible for the carnage. But things are strange all over the small town of Kings Ridge, and Lou finds several cases of individuals behaving out of character. He must solve the mystery to keep his position as counselor to his troubled colleagues. There is a political connection (non-partisan) in the story that leads all the way to the First Lady and President. I always enjoy the medical foundation to the story, and with the suspense and great writing, this book was a pleasure to read. Each of the main characters of the book is unique. Lou Welcome was likeable, and I enjoyed the relationship he had with his father, daughter and even his ex-wife Renee. He and Renee still had a respect and fondness for each other. Of course, there is action and adventure when Dr. Welcome finds criminal activity going on where you least expect it. There is a perfect balance of dialog and narration, and I highly recommend Oath of Office.