Guest Author - Michelle Pendergrass

Jeremy Cramer is an up and coming infectious disease researcher pushed by his father's death to make a contribution to the field of medicine in order to save lives. His primary passion is to find a way to revive water submersion victims, but when grant funds aren't available for the research he wants to do, but AIDS funding is available and his research overlaps with AIDS research, he agrees to focus on AIDS. He makes some grave errors though when he accidentally infects a colleague and also puts his son's life in jeopardy. As his marriage is falling apart, Jeremy is also breaking new ground with his discovery and he has choices to make. His family or the lab.

Glahn's story asks some morally and ethically challenging questions. The plot brings to life compelling arguments for patient rights, as well as putting a doctor and his family in the spotlight when patient rights are violated.

I haven't read a lot of medical thrillers, my extent of such doesn't stretch beyond the ER television series, but I did enjoy that show immensely. What I found I liked about Informed Consent was a story revolving around things that could happen in any hospital around the country and a believable plot and storyline.

The story explores biomedical issues from a Christian worldview with mostly believable characters. I found myself a time or two wondering if Jeremy Cramer, the main character, could honestly exist, but kept reading because my answer was, "I don't really know." Many times hospitals cover up scandals, so who am I to know if the situation could happen undetected, or at least unannounced to the media.

There were some stereotypes in the novel that, under normal circumstances, I would be pretty particular about, but considering I don't read many medical thrillers, I can't say whether or not they take away from the book or if I noticed them simply because I notice those types of things.

I think readers who enjoy Christian Fiction and plot driven novels will find Informed Consent highly satisfying. I typically read and enjoy more character driven novels, so I wasn't completely fulfilled but that shouldn't keep anyone from reading Informed Consent. I feel like the story was great and I'm glad I read it. It is one I will recommend in the future to those who love plot driven novels and medical thrillers.