The Silent Cradle - Hardcover

Never before has a medical thriller so vividly captured the heartracing, front-line drama of life-and-death hospital emergencies-- or imagined a more terrifying scenario for a doctor. Drawing on years of experience as an obstetrician, and her rare gift for realisn and suspense, Margaret Cuthbert has created a tour de force that will arouse your darkest fears about the greedy side of the business of medicine. Save the life. Save the life... This is the mantra repeated by Dr. Rae Duprey, Berkeley Hills Hospital's premier obstetrician, who's haunted by the searing memory of her own mother's death in the back of an ambulance-- and driven by a passion to save the lives of women and babies in her care. But when her candidacy for the chairmanship of Berkeley Hills' prestigious obstetrics department is derailed by a series of "bad baby" cases emanating from the politically sensitive birth center across the street-- a center run by her ex-lover and nemesis, Bo Michaels-- Rae is determined to uncover the truth about why these seemingly routine deliveries are going totally haywire. As her investigation unleashes the firestorm of resistance from all sides, Rae discovers that in the ruthlessly competitive atmosphere of today's health-care system, everyone has a hidden agenda. And that may even include the newest member of the rival cardiac department, a charismatic doctor whose atttractions Rae is finding difficult to resist. As the hair-raising emergenices continue unabated, she begins to suspect the unthinkable: a sinister plan of medical sabotage, masterminded by a killer who is hardly a stanger to Berkeley Hills Hospital... Combining page-turning suspense, utterly authentic characters, and the most riveting medical emergency scenes to be found anywhere, "The Silent Cradle" takes the medical thriller into the drama and politics of medicine today, Margaret Cuthbert's talent make for a memorable debut.

Margaret Cuthbert, M.D., served as the vice chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley, California, where she was in private practice for fourteen years. A graduate of Stanford University and UCSF Medical School, she makes her home in Berkeley and is currently at work on her second novel, to be published by Pocket Books.