Foreign body - Robin Cook (Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery #8)

Jennifer Hernandez is a fourth-year medical student at UCLA. Just completing an elective in general surgery, whose world is shattered during a break in an otherwise ordinary day. While relaxing in the surgical lounge of LA’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, she half-listens to a news report on medical tourism, about rich North Americans travelling to Third World countries for surgery. But when she hears her beloved grandmother’s name mentioned her heart nearly stops — the CNN reporter says Maria Suarez-Hernandez has died a day after undergoing a hip replacement in New Delhi’s Queen Victoria Hospital.

Maria raised Jennifer and her brothers from infancy, and their bond was unshakable.
Still, the news that Maria had travelled to India is a shock to Jennifer, until she realizes that it was the only viable option for the hard-working yet uninsured woman. Devastated and desperate for answers, Jennifer takes emergency leave from school and heads to India, where relations with local officials go from sympathetic to sour as she presses for more information.

With the discovery of other unexplained deaths followed by hasty cremations, Jennifer reaches out to her mentor, New York City medical examiner Dr. Laurie Montgomery, who has her own connections with Maria.

With her husband, Dr. Jack Stapleton, Laurie travels to the younger woman’s side, discovering a sophisticated medical facility with little margin for error. As the death count grows, so do the questions, leading Laurie and Jennifer to unveil a sinister, multi-layered conspiracy of global proportions.