Beneath the Wake

Fast-paced and entertaining epidemiological thriller set aboard a small luxury cruise ship sailing from Australia to ports in southeast Asia through the Indian Ocean and on to South Africa. Crewmen are dying from blood poisoning at an alarming rate and the ship's only physician, Dr. Noah Ferguson, is petrified that there is some type of lethal microbe somewhere on the cruise liner. Fortunately, there is a passenger on board who might have the expertise to find the point source -- once they figure out what the symptoms mean and what organizm they are dealing with. Dr. Zoltan Szabo and his assistant (girlfriend) come to the rescue as they set up a rudimentary lab, investigate, and eventually discover the cause. Dr. Szabo happens to be a specialist in public health. There's also much intrigue aboard the ship and lots of secrets among the officers and crew.

This is the 4th book in the Dr. Zol Szabo medical suspense series and the first one I've read. Despite not knowing the history behind the reasons for this trip he is taking with his son, his son's friend, and his girlfriend, I had no problem and didn't feel that I had missed anything terribly significant that impaired my ability to relate to the characters and the story. I definitely would like to read more books by this author and catch up on the rest of the series. There's nothing I like better than a believable medical thriller. (The only downside for me, and it's definitely personal and minor, is that there was a bit of digression by the author about how great Canada is vs the rest of the world!) Definitely would recommend to anyone who likes a blend of medicine and suspense.