BOOK REVIEW: Weapon of Choice by Patricia Gussin

• Series: Laura Nelson Series (Book 3)
• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Oceanview Publishing; 1 edition (November 6, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1608090515
• ISBN-13: 978-1608090518

Life is good for Dr. Laura Nelson. Her kids have their ups and downs, but seem well adjusted to high school and college; her research project at the university is going well; and she is highly regarded as the chief of surgery at Tampa City Hospital. This sense of tranquility is disrupted when she is drawn into the diagnosis of the first case of HIV/AIDS seen in Tampa.But the challenge of this new disease is dwarfed by the disaster that impacts Lauras life a few days later. A highly resistant bacterial infection is raging in the surgical intensive care unit, and patients are dying. To make matters worse, Lauras daughter is exposed to the bacteria and begins to show symptoms.Desperate at this point, Laura calls her young friend, Dr. Stacy Jones, at the CDC in Atlanta. Stacy arrives in Tampa, unaware that a deadly plot is underway in Atlanta as a covert white supremacist cell plans an unthinkable attack on a massive scale.Caught in the middle, Laura and Stacy encounter an opportunity to connect the Tampa nightmare with the impending Atlanta devastation, but can they prevent it?




In the 1980's Dr, Laura Nelson, seemed to have a normal life despite being the Chief of Surgery at Tampa City Hospital. All is well until they discover their first ever HIV/AIDS case in Tampa.

The patient's father Dr. Worth, is a researcher who discovered a cure for the disease, but was refused help by Dr. Kantor who stole the credit for the cure. Dr. Worth will stop at nothing to save his son and avenge against Dr. Kantor. Dr. Worth has been researching on a drug-resistant virus, he sees as the tool for that revenge and begins to inject the virus into the patient's IV's. Soon the whole hospital panics at the sudden death cause by this virus, to make matters worse Laura's daughter was exposed to this virus.

Laura calls her friend Dr. Stacy Jones for help. She arrives in Tampa not knowing that her own job and place is at risk from her racist collegue Charles.

Can Laura and Stacy find a way to combat this virus? Will they survive? Will they stop the evil plot against them? I am not keen with the concept of bioterrorism or medical thrillers, but despite that I found myself reading the book, and waiting for what was going to happen next.

The plot is well-thought out. The hospital scenes and descriptions are realistic. It's well-written, with a balance between tension and information. The reader is not loaded with medical terms, as they are simply explained.

The characters are all well-developed, both the good and bad guys. Each has a story to tell about their motivations and redeeming qualities.

Although, I feel like the first chapters are slow, with a lot of history to tell about Stacy and Laura and with unresolved mysteries such as the death of Laura's husband, but I still enjoyed the book.


WEAPON OF CHOICE is a medical thriller that's intriguing, compelling and tension-filled. The twist and turns make the book exciting and will surely keep you on edge.

Kudos to Patricia Gussin for creating a book that's truly a thriller--- It's like watching a thriller movie!

I Highly recommend WEAPON OF CHOICE, especially to those looking to read outside of their normal genre.