Review: THE FIRST FAMILY, by Daniel Palmer

THE FIRST FAMILY, by Daniel Palmer

Audiobook

MacMillan Audio- 2018

Narrated by, Fred Berman

My Rating (out of 5)

⭐⭐⭐1/2

It has been a while since I picked up a medical thriller.  I used to read them quite often, and Michael Palmer was always a good stand-by author in the genre. It is nice to see that his son Daniel has picked up the torch. 

This is my first book by Daniel Palmer,. It would seem that he inherited more than just DNA from his father. If I hadn't known that the senior Palmer had passed away, I would have had no problem believing that he was involved in the writing of the book.  I don't understand why Michael Palmer's name is larger than Daniel's on the cover - perhaps it is just homage to a father from his son. 

When the President of the United State's son Cam goes from a gifted, nationally ranked chess player - but otherwise typical teen, to lethargic, moody and prone to outbursts of anger, the White House doctor is quick to suggest psychiatric intervention.  But Karen, his primary Secret Service agent feels something is "off".  Despite their divorce, Karen thinks her ex-husband Lee is one of the best doctors around and manages to arrange for him to review Cam's case. 

Lee suspects something is very wrong, but the White house doctor is not taking well to being second guessed.  Lee finds links to other young people who had displayed similar clinical findings, and it soon becomes clear that Cam is is real danger, not only from the unknown disease, but from people who have motive to keep the disease a secret. Lee and Karen must work together to protect Cam from the people who wish to eliminate him as well as the deadly disease. 

I had no problem "getting into" the storyline of this book.  It was an easy listen and quite entertaining.  It was however slightly predictable. There were no moments where I was totally blind-sided, and the ending seemed a little soft.  

Narration was well performed by Fred Berman.  His pleasant voice and good range of character and emotion were an asset to to the story.

Overall, while not particularly memorable, it was entertaining.

Happy Reading,

Christine