Book Review: The J Factor

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The J Factor     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Stephen Kanar
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Medical   Thriller
Bantam, Feb 2000, $5.99, 400 pp.

As he starts his new assignment at Government Hospital in Orlando, heart surgeon Dr. Adam West is already considered a dangerous maverick by the medical hierarchy. As a resident at Yale Medical School, Adam had the audacity to save a life without following procedures that would have left the person dead.

Adam conducts open-heart surgery on a patient, Martinez, without waiting for the delayed UNIMED authorization because he knows his patient cannot wait. When Martinez’s heart fails, Adam hooks him up to a mechanical heart. UNIMED’s Virginia Pruitt, already angry with Adam, goes ballistic because her company did not pre-approve the emergency surgery. She also knows that Martinez has a very low J Factor, which means he will not obtain a transplant from the International Organ Replacement Corporation (IORC), which has a near monopoly on organs.

A heart is found and Adam completes the transplant not realizing until he finished that the organ belonged to IORC and he illegally placed it inside Martinez. Adam will soon learn how far IORC will go to keep its monopoly intact, even to the point of preventing doctors from sticking to their Hippocratic Oath.

THE J FACTOR is a frightening medical thriller that centers on how extreme centrally managed healing can go. The story line is exciting but scary as the insurance company or the organ replacement company makes all medical decisions. Adam and his romantic interest attorney Janette Compton are intriguing idealists. However, it is characters like Virginia and her cohorts who steal the show with their actions like pressuring patients to sign death warrants and forcing administrators and doctors to adhere to Catch 22 procedures. Stephen Kanar has written a tale that will quickly make him a fan favorite.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner