Critical Conditions is the sixth book in the Dr. Alan Gregory series by Stephen White. Alan is a psychologist, with a wife, a dog, and a policeman friend named Sam.

This story focuses on a fifteen year old girl named Merritt, who has attempted suicide. Called in to help keep her safe, Alan finds himself in the middle of a family's worst nightmare. Merritt is alive, but refusing to speak. Her baby sister Chaney is suffering from a potentially fatal heart condition, and the family's HMO is refusing to cover the experimental treatment that is her only hope of survival. When the executive of the HMO is found slain, and evidence links back to Merritt, the nightmare worsens.

My first complaint with this book has to do with the unrealistic coincidences involving the relationships among the players. Alan's colleague Diane happens to discuss with Alan a particularly nasty custody case she's involved with. Later we find out the mother in that custody case happens to be the dead guy's sister-in-law. And, the custody evaluator is none other than Merritt's father. But wait - there's more. In all their years of friendship, Alan's buddy Sam has never once mentioned that his wife has a sister, with whom she's been feuding for years. Now, all of a sudden, he tells Alan this story. Later we find who the wife's sister is... You guessed it - Merritt's mother.

So, it seems that every character in this book is somehow related to this case. Of course, this leads to all kinds of confidentiality issues. As Alan starts to piece together Merritt's actions, he's bound to keep mum. Of course this more than annoys his friend Sam. It's not just that Sam's the policeman investigating the murder, but on top of that, Merritt's his niece.

It was just a ridiculous amount of people, all related, and all working different sides of this same story. I really had to just get past this unrealistic set up, in order to enjoy the rest of the story.

It was worth it, because the story is quite intriguing. With tons of motive, and lots of people covering up for the actions of others, there was a lot of guessing about what really happened.

My heart really went out to this poor family. With an infant suffering from such a deadly illness, and their other daughter a possible murderer, they sure have their hands full. White does a good job of painting this family's tragedy, without allowing them to turn on each other, as such extreme stress sometimes can do. Rather, they all continue to love and support each other, even when it all seems hopeless.

As this was my first Dr. Alan Gregory novel, I liked getting to know him so well. As the book is told in first person, we are privy to all of his thoughts and feelings. He is such a caring man, a psychologist who definitely holds his patient's best interest at heart. I would definitely check out the other books in the series.

My only other complaint has to do with the ending. There is a final scene that takes place at an airport, that I felt was completely ridiculous. I think White wasn't content to take jabs at managed care, he had to take a stab at the airline industry as well. It was just a silly way to end a book that was otherwise well-written.

Overall, this is an enjoyable read, with a story that definitely held my interest. But it wasn't "great".


Also by Stephen White:
Manner of Death

Recommended: Yes