cover image The Good Physician

The Good Physician

Kent Harrington, . . Dennis McMillan, $35 (270pp) ISBN 978-0-939767-60-1

All the moral incongruities and conundrums that complicate the war on terror are on almost palpable display in this searing thriller from Harrington (Red Jungle ), set largely in Mexico City. In this backwater in the war on terror, Dr. Collin Reeves has found a semicomfortable niche performing occasional chores for the CIA, acting as a “go to” doctor for the U.S. embassy when American tourists need medical attention, and pursuing his avocation of painting. When CIA veterans Alex Law and Butch Nickels get wind of a possible terrorist bombing plot, they use any means to extract information that might prevent it. Reeves, pressed to keep alive suspects who are being tortured, faces both a moral dilemma and personal danger. This taut, thought-provoking novel offers no easy answers, no good versus evil dichotomy, as Reeves discovers that “there was no morally safe place anywhere.” (June)