A series of unexplained deaths in foreign hospitals sends Jennifer Hernandez, an idealistic UCLA medical student, on a desperate search for answers about her grandmother's sudden death. With the discovery of other unexplained deaths followed by hasty cremations, Jennifer reaches out to her mentor, New York City medical examiner Dr. Laurie Montgomery, who has her own deep connection to Jennifer's grandmother.

Behind the prim gates of the Greenwich, Connecticut, McMansions, Wall Street whizzes turn their attentions from mortgages to another possible profit source: the $25 trillion life-insurance industry. By securitizing the policies of the old and sick, they hope to make another financial killing. At the same time, Natalie Savondnik and Ronald Goodall-two exceptional yet aloof medical residents-are working closely with their medical center's premier scientist...

"Dr. Peters, the patient has stopped breathing!" The nurse's voice on the phone is desperate, but young Dr. Peters, in his first weeks of internship, is bone-tired and a little afraid. He's forgotten when he last slept. Yet he knows that in the coming hours he will have to make life or death decisions, assist contemptuous surgeons, deal with nurses who may know more than he does, and pretend at all times to be what he has not yet become - a fully...

"...New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, where she's been employed for more than two decades. Worried about whether she still has what it takes after so much time away, Laurie finds her first case back to be a dangerous puzzler of the highest order, involving organized crime and two start-up biotech companies caught in a zero sum game...." --inside front cover.

"Colleagues turned spouses Dr. Laurie Montgomery and Dr. Jack Stapleton already have their plates full. The last thing they need is a murder. When Laurie's longtime friend Dr. Sue Passero dies in the hospital parking garage, an autopsy is required. With his curiosity sparked by the mystery around Sue's death, Jack sets out to investigate on-site at Manhattan Memorial Hospital even though it means defying the Office of Chief Medical Examiner's rules....