{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0452265886?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"0452265886","authors":["Berton Roueche"],"book_id":"9780452265882","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/the-medical-detectives-9780452265882","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780452265882.jpg?v=5ece98010f75835c","description":"The classic collection of award-winning medical investigative reporting. What do Lyme’s disease in Long Island, a pig from New Jersey, and am amateur pianist have in common? All are subjects in three of 24 utterly fascinating tales of strange illnesses, rare diseases, poisons, and parasites—each tale a thriller of medical suspense by the incomparable Berton Roueché. The best of his New Yorker articles are collected here to astound readers with intriguing tales of epidemics in America’s small towns, threats of contagion in our biggest cities, even bubonic plague in a peaceful urban park. In each true story, local health authorities and epidemiologists race against time to find the clue to an unknown and possibly fatal disease. Sometimes a life hangs in the balance, and the culprit may be as innocuous as a bowl of oatmeal. Award-winning journalist Berton Roueché is unfailingly exact, informative, and able to keep anyone reading till dawn.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780452265882","publication_date":"19910330","publisher":"Penguin Publishing Group","slug":"the-medical-detectives","subtitle":"The Classic Collection of Award-winning Medical Investigative Reporting","title":"The Medical Detectives"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"MED022090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Infectious Diseases","score":0.8101,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HEA039040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Contagious Diseases","score":0.8011,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"YAN024030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Diseases & Illnesses","score":0.7712,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"MED022090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Infectious Diseases","score":0.8101,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HEA039040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Contagious Diseases","score":0.8011,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"YAN024030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Diseases & Illnesses","score":0.7712,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HEA039040","confidence_band":"high","label":"Contagious Diseases","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SCI034000","confidence_band":"high","label":"History of Science","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SCI080000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Science Writing","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Infectious Diseases","score":0.8101,"slug":"infectious-diseases"},{"label":"Contagious Diseases","score":0.8011,"slug":"contagious-diseases"},{"label":"Diseases & Illnesses","score":0.7712,"slug":"diseases-illnesses"}],"reader_fit":["Readers drawn to true medical mysteries and investigative reporting."],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Beth Skwarecki"],"book_id":"9781440596278","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781440596278.jpg?v=9977e664f93e9395","score":0.7496,"title":"Outbreak!","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781440596278"},{"authors":["Marilee Peters"],"book_id":"9781773215167","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781773215167.jpg?v=01436dd5480104f4","score":0.7457,"title":"Patient Zero","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781773215167"},{"authors":["Robin Cook"],"book_id":"9780525535355","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780525535355.jpg?v=f457ad8fae95a2ec","score":0.7392,"title":"Pandemic","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780525535355"},{"authors":["Denise Grady"],"book_id":"9780753459959","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780753459959.jpg?v=ead57f261681033c","score":0.7253,"title":"New York Times Deadly Invaders","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780753459959"},{"authors":["Lee Horsley","B. Morris Allen","Donald J. Bingle","Tom English"],"book_id":"9781787557802","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781787557802.jpg?v=4f5b8f3e83d1abca","score":0.7201,"title":"Detective Thrillers Short Stories","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781787557802"},{"authors":["Robin Cook"],"book_id":"9780593328316","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593328316.jpg?v=df68e16d90d0c705","score":0.7184,"title":"Viral","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593328316"},{"authors":["Gail Jarrow"],"book_id":"9781620917381","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781620917381.jpg?v=98f57900d577c767","score":0.7135,"title":"Bubonic Panic","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781620917381"},{"authors":["Robin Cook"],"book_id":"9780425174203","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780425174203.jpg?v=601490d95b096e67","score":0.7125,"title":"Fever","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780425174203"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:history"],"label":"History","score":0.4536,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:health"],"label":"Health","score":0.0682,"slug":"health"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:spanish flu"],"label":"Spanish","score":0.0301,"slug":"spanish"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:case studies"],"label":"Studies","score":0.0285,"slug":"studies"},{"evidence_refs":["phrase_map_match"],"label":"Short Stories","score":0.0216,"slug":"short-story"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Epidemics and contagion, Rare and unexplained diseases, Medical investigations.","Pacing: fast, momentum-driven storytelling.","Story elements: Race against time to identify a disease."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.94,"pacing":"fast","reader_fit":["Readers drawn to true medical mysteries and investigative reporting."],"themes":["Epidemics and contagion","Rare and unexplained diseases","Medical investigations"],"tropes":["Race against time to identify a disease"]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":149,"goodreads_ratings_count":1439,"goodreads_reviews_count":102,"quality_score":0.9252}}