Lisa Tucker's tried her hand at quite a diversity of occupations in addition to writing. Once a computer programmer, she's also been a waitress, math teacher and touring jazz musician. Having penned three popular novels prior to her latest, The Cure For Modern Life, Tucker's developed a loyal audience with her well-written books often chronicling the parallel lives of loosely connected characters from opposite ends of the social spectrum.
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40-year-old Matthew Connolly is a successful research scientist and executive for the prominent drug company Astor-Denning. Having helped cultivate a wonder drug called Galvenar which has since exploded onto the scene, Matthew's a major reason why Astor-Denning is currently sitting atop the market. But not everyone's so excited. Amelia Johannsen is a chairperson on a bioethics committee which is evaluating Galvenar in its early treatment phase, closely monitoring its counterbalanced side effects and not-unfrequent adverse reactions in patients. Amelia also knows Matthew personally. The pair were once amorous young lovers engaged to be married before the whole thing dissolved over an illicit affair. Now she's dating Ben Watkins, Matthew's longtime best friend and the doctor who helped develop Galvenar.
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Even if he is only 10 and despite the fact that he's had virtually no formal education, Danny knows how to work the streets. As is so often the case these days living with his undependable junkie mother, Danny must do what needs to be done so that he and his toddler sister, Isabelle, can survive. Its only through his savvy in creating pity and empathy from passers-by which enables them to get any food at all, much less the medicine that a sick Isabelle badly needs. But even Danny's not expecting what the tired-looking man in the suit does when Danny asks him for bus fair. Before long, Danny and his sister find themselves swiftly caught up in quite an unexpected turn of events.
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Tucker is a nice writer but this story's just too multi-faceted. The problem has as much to do with content apportionment as quantity. It's difficult to accurately get a handle on the characters as they wind their way through a quagmire of weighty issues like world-saving medical cures, relationship woes, serious ethical dilemmas, instances of charity gone haywire, drug addiction, pregnancy and abortion. Aspects of the backstory are hard to concede as well, mainly in the premise that three people as different as Matthew, Ben and Amelia have been best friends since college--not to mention each's awkwardly depicted livelihood as semi-famous yuppie science nerds. While largely unveven and overly sentimental, the book's message of mutual integrity in the medical profession--whether within corporate pharmaceutical policies or the domestic well-being of the underpriveleged--is easily understood by the end.
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