Set in Vermont in the mid-1990s, this uneven thriller from physicians Shlian (Rabbit in the Moon
with Joel Shlian) and Reid (Where Angels Fear to Tread
) addresses some important medical ethics issues. Sammy Greene, a communications major at Ellsford University, loves hosting her controversial radio show about campus events, such as an animal rights protest by a conservative Christian group. When the crusading student journalist pursues a scoop about the suspicious suicides of some Ellsford University students and faculty members (a genetics professor blows his brains out after Sammy attempts to interview him), Sammy whirls into Nancy Drew hyperdrive. The at times far-fetched plot leads to a pharmaceutical institute using unsuspecting students as guinea pigs. Readers should be prepared for a cartoonish bad guy. (Dec.)
