LIE STILL

Pediatric anesthesiologist Farris's debut is as sharp as a scalpel, a gripping, well-crafted novel of medical suspense offering more than the adrenaline rush of constant emergency room disasters. Surgery resident Malcolm Ishmail is working the ER in Glory, Ariz., when his 13-year-old asthma patient, Henry Rojelio, goes from amiably talkative one minute to comatose the next. Seven years later, Malcolm, now an "itinerant physician" working in a string of Nebraska cow towns, reflects on his disgrace. His affair with the attending physician in Glory, brain surgeon Mimi Lyle ("she was tall, classically beautiful, and, from my testosterone-hardened viewpoint, undeniably sexy"), was a serious mistake. Despite rumors of incompetence, Mimi is considered at the top of her profession, so Malcolm watches with mounting horror as she botches one operation after another. After reporting her to hospital authorities, he finds himself ousted from his residency, relegated to a succession of smalltown emergency rooms in the hinterlands and eventually threatened with criminal prosecution. Slowly he begins to piece together the succession of events that have landed him in purgatory, only to realize that the vengeance-seeking Mimi lies at the center of the mystery. But there's still one more lesson to be learned: Mimi's better with a pistol than she is with a scalpel. (Nov.)

Forecast:With its wealth of medical information, in-depth characterization and femme fatale villain, Lie Still should appeal to suspense fans everywhere. The cover sports an appreciative blurb by Scott Turow, and while Farris's debut may not be medicine's answer to Presumed Innocent, it moves beyond Robin Cook territory and is both substantial and original.