Critical Condition
|
Angels of Mercy [4]
|
CJ Lyons
|
2010 : USA
|
On her first day at Pittsburgh’s Angels of Mercy Medical Center,
L.A.-transplant Lydia Fiore, the new ER attending physician, loses a
patient: the Chief of Surgery’s son. Now, to save her career, Lydia must
discover the truth behind her patient’s death, even as it leads her
into unfamiliar-and risky-territory.
At least she’s not alone. There’s med student Amanda, a sweet
Southern belle with problems of her own; Gina, a resident with a chip on
her shoulder; and Nora, the no-nonsense charge nurse with a cool head
but a fiery temper. Not to mention the paramedic who’d like to try out
his bedside manner on Lydia.
PRAISE FOR
URGENT CARE
“A gripping narrative full of suspense, complex relationships, and real, honest human emotion.”
—
Pittsburgh Magazine
—
The Mystery Gazette
“Kept me guessing on the edge of my seat.”
—
Errant Dreams Reviews
“Smart and intriguing, and her character development is so incredible that she leaves me literally breathless waiting to see what will happen next.”
—
BookBitch
“A tightly wound, fast-paced mystery with lots of mental tension, medical emergencies, and relationship problems . . . If you enjoy people who live with passionate intensity and try to save lives,
Urgent Care
will impress.”
—
Romance Reviews Today
PRAISE FOR
WARNING SIGNS
“Lyons, author of the bestselling medical thriller
Lifelines
, is a master within the genre . . . but with a plot this fast paced, you’ll forget all the TV comparisons and find yourself engulfed in the speeding narrative.”
—
Pittsburgh Magazine
“This exhilarating medical thriller gets the blood pumping . . . This is a terrific thriller and fans of Michael Palmer will enjoy this fine tale of a brave but scared medical student in trouble.”
—
Genre Go Round
“
Warning Signs
delivered a tight mystery and a good dose of action, along with strong, individualistic characters. I highly enjoyed it.”
—
Errant Dreams Reviews
“A powerful and dramatic look into the frenzied world of emergency medicine . . . Lyons’ characters are dynamic and genuine. Readers need only shut their eyes to imagine this group on the big screen.”
—
Suspense Magazine
PRAISE FOR THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER
LIFELINES
“[A] spot-on debut . . . a breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“A pulse-pounding adrenaline rush! . . . Reminds me of
ER
back in the days of George Clooney and Julianna Margulies.”
—Lisa Gardner,
New York Times
bestselling author
“Tense, whip-smart medical scenes . . . a gripping view of doctors at work.”
—Tess Gerritsen
“Lyons captures the frenetic setting of the ER with a smooth style . . . she also creates winning portraits of the supporting players set to anchor the series.”
—
Newsday
“[A] pulse-pounding adventure. This is my favorite kind of medical thriller—harrowing, emotional, action-packed, and brilliantly realized. CJ Lyons writes with the authority only a trained physician can bring to a story, blending suspense, passion, and friendship into an irresistible read.”
—Susan Wiggs,
New York Times
bestselling author
“Readers who prefer their medical thrillers to have characters with beating hearts and three dimensions are well advised to pick up this series debut by Lyons.”
—
The Baltimore Sun
“Have we got a prescription for you . . . a tense thrill ride that feels like all the best episodes of
ER
and
Grey’s Anatomy
squeezed into one breathtaking novel . . . [an] impressive debut.”
—
Hilton Head Magazine
“CJ Lyons writes with both authority on her subject and a down-to-earth reality for her characters . . . Engrossing, intriguing.”
—Heather Graham,
New York Times
bestselling author
“CJ Lyons’ debut medical thriller is a fantastic and wild journey through the fast-paced world of a big-city ER. With rich, fascinating, and complex characters and a thoroughly compelling mystery,
Lifelines
is an adrenaline rush and an all-around great read.”
—Allison Brennan,
New York Times
bestselling author
“Lydia is a well-drawn heroine, the writing is strong, and the plot could have been taken out of today’s headlines.”
—
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Lyons’ first book is a winner, too, giving us terrific characters and a compelling plot. An excellent book for fans of the medical thriller.”
—
Fresh Fiction
“It takes a real emergency physician to write this excitingly about an emergency ward. CJ Lyons has been there and done it. The pages are packed with adrenaline. I can’t recall a hospital novel that so thrilled me.”
—David Morrell,
New York Times
bestselling author
Titles by CJ Lyons
CRITICAL CONDITION
URGENT CARE
WARNING SIGNS
LIFELINES
Critical Care
An Angels of Mercy Novel
CJ Lyons
I
NTER
M
IX
B
OOKS
, N
EW
Y
ORK
INTERMIX BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have control over and does not have any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
CRITICAL CARE
An InterMix Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Jove Books edition / December 2010
InterMix eBook edition / May 2013
Copyright © 2010 by CJ Lyons.
All rights reserved.
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ISBN: 978-1-101-60836-4
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Praise
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
ONE - Friday, December 31, 6:24 P.M.
TWO
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FOUR
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SEVEN
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TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX - Monday, January 3
NOTE TO READERS:
About the Author
This book is dedicated to all of my readers: Thanks for joining me for the ride! Hope you had as much fun as I did.
—CJ Lyons
ONE
Friday, December 31, 6:24 P.M.
HIDING BEHIND A SMILE, DR. GINA FREEMAN OPENED the door to her fiancé’s hospital room.
She watched from the doorway, juggling a bulging garment bag and a tote, assessing the scene before committing to entry.
It was a typical hospital room, like so many the world over. Until she was forced to spend the last few weeks at Jerry’s side, she’d never realized just how much the typical hospital room resembled a jail cell.
There was no privacy. People came and went as they pleased. Except for Jerry, who was expected to be always in the same place until called for. Everything was beige: the walls, the floors, the curtains, the food, the view, the smells of floor wax and body odor, even the smiles of the caretakers—at least the ones who hadn’t known Jerry or Gina from before the shooting.
The smiles of the ones who had, those smiles were tentative, fearful of unraveling the delicate shift in power between Gina and Jerry that was so obvious to everyone except Jerry. Suddenly Gina found herself the caretaker, the one making decisions for and about—but seldom with—Jerry.
