Pulse

Heron's (Condition Critical) latest is the first in a new medical suspense series, but after a graphic, gripping introduction it drops into an overstocked plot. Nurses and doctors are being murdered in a hospital outside of San Francisco, and it's up to Adele Monsarrat, R.N., (and her rickety car, the ""Beast"") to solve the crime. Heron, herself a former nurse, brings considerable medical and technical knowledge and terminology which sounds great, even when readers aren't sure what it means. Adele, a strong and sometimes amusing character, is forced to investigate such wildly bizarre creations such as the insane New Age nurse, and the demonic hospital pastor and her Green Beret husband. Heron focuses so much on the issues of nursing and the single woman, however, that one forgets that this is supposed to be a thriller. (June)