The Corpse Bloom
Bryan Wiggins
North Street Book Prize 2024 (view all the winners)
First Prize, Genre Fiction
Critique by Jendi Reiter
Bryan Wiggins' medical thriller The Corpse Bloom, written with expert consultation from neurosurgeon Dr. Lee Thibodeau, plunges Boston transplant surgeon Dr. Brad Baker into a high-stakes ethical dilemma involving complex questions of colonialism, unequal access to healthcare, and the impunity of the rich.
But honestly, he had me at Titan arum.
This massive exotic plant species, cultivated by Dr. Baker as a hobby, blooms only once every 7-10 years with a fleshy inflorescence that smells like rotting meat to attract pollinating insects. The "corpse flower" lasts but a single day. As a recurring motif in the novel, it aptly symbolizes the interdependence of life and death that characterizes the business of organ transplantation.
And it is big business, as Baker discovers to his dismay. His hospital is developing a potentially revolutionary drug to strengthen transplanted kidneys. However, he goes from star surgeon to pariah in an instant when his best friend dies on his operating table during what should have been a routine kidney transplant. Sam was a minister while Brad rejected faith in favor of science, a theme that The Corpse Bloom skillfully develops, as the doctor's subsequent ordeal forces him to call upon nonrational qualities of heart and spirit.
Facing possible career-ending litigation in America, Dr. Baker accepts a position at a remote but palatial clinic in Mexico owned by the suave Carlos Cardoza. The clinic offers free healthcare to the poor locals, funded by its transplant operations on rich patients domestic and foreign. His Boston hospital considers it a great chance to try out their new drug.
But when an offer seems too good to be true...you know the rest. Brad becomes suspicious about the source of the transplanted organs. Meanwhile, a DEA agent is leaning on him to gather evidence on Cardoza. The doctor must decide what he will sacrifice to do the right thing, without endangering his wife and daughter back in the States.
The novel's pace was assured, never dragging or going off on tangents. This kind of deep dive into a specific profession can make a book's world-building more believable and fresh. The place descriptions were specific and beautiful, contrasting Mexico's lush and perilous landscape with chilly corporate Boston.
More than just an action-adventure, The Corpse Bloom addresses philosophical themes of faith versus control. Cardoza is an intelligent and seductive adversary who poses a legitimate moral challenge to Dr. Baker's law-abiding squeamishness. Does a rich American, whose country is partly responsible for Mexico's poverty and corruption, have the right to judge campesinos for selling their organs?
By comparison, Brad's wife was rather two-dimensional. She functioned mainly as a treasure to be protected, or as a source of stress when she complained that he was neglecting her in favor of his career. Not to give away the ending, but I was disappointed that he made his crucial decision without ever telling her what was happening in Mexico. She was a smart and strong businesswoman in her own right, who could have been more of a partner in solving the problem.
Towards the end of the book, we find out that some seemingly random misfortunes were actually orchestrated by Cardoza and an accomplice to force Baker into the Mexican job. I didn't care for this eleventh-hour oversimplification of the plot. It's more realistic when bad luck and bad actors converge by unhappy accident.
The book design was perfect, with a bold dark-green matte cover featuring a scalpel and drifting red petals. The authors' names and title were rendered in the blocky all-caps font that immediately signals "tough-guy mystery novel". Inside, the font and page layout resembled a traditionally published book, and the chapter headings featured an elegant Titan arum drawing. There were few proofreading errors. When I say that I could picture The Corpse Bloom in an airport bookstore display, I mean that in the best possible way!
Read an excerpt from The Corpse Bloom (PDF)
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