The Common Cure by J.P Farrell introduces us to a young research scientist named Tom Ferrelli. Tom works for a company called Ornix Pharmaceuticals and he finds a molecule that eradicates cancer in mice. Things are going great for Tom because of this, until he decides to use the unapproved treatment on a young boy who has terminal cancer. It is a choice that any parent would approve of to save their child, but one that comes with consequences for Tom. His life is turned upside down and he is looking down the barrel of a very long prison sentence unless he can prove there is a bigger bad deed out there than him taking down Ornix and a congressmen.

This was an emotional read for me as someone who has been fighting a battle with cancer. I know I would give anything to have something like the molecule that Tom finds, so I cannot be angry about the choice he made. As a book, this is a fresh idea and has a lot of suspense to it. I found myself taking about one chapter to get into it but once I was past that I was hooked. The pace is fast and the plot is complex. It may be fiction but it deals with very real issues today, things that could happen in the real world with medical research and the fight to find cures for diseases like cancer. I suggest any reader give this book a read as it is well written and enjoyable. J.P. Farrell is an author to watch.

The Common Cure by J.P. Farrell is simply hard to put down. When the young and idealistic research scientist, Tom Ferrelli, starts to work for the Ornix Pharmaceutical Company, his future looks very promising. Together with his partner Ron Brace, he comes across a molecule that eradicates cancer when injected into laboratory mice. Kelley, Tom’s wife is a pediatric intern in a hospital and one of the patients there is a young cancer sufferer. The process of having the drug approved by the FDA for use by the general public takes too long. Bobby Dewey, the young boy dying from cancer, cannot wait. What follows is a chain of exciting events that reveals how greed gets in the way of noble intentions.

J.P. Farrell weaves a fast paced thriller in The Common Cure. The story unfolds in a way that will immediately catch the reader’s attention. And like a lull before the storm, the story’s plot takes a slow and languid pace as he introduces the main characters. What follows next is a series of action packed events that will surely leave the reader breathless. The twists and turns of the story’s plot are filled with suspense and intrigue so that sometimes, I have to go back a few pages to be able to follow Tom Ferrelli’s struggles, as he faces the powerful head of the Ornix Pharmaceutical Pharmacy.

Although a bit over extended in places, this is an inspiring story of how good triumphs over evil. And what makes it powerful is that it is a matter of life and death. In a world dominated by human greed, this story may just be happening in various forms all over the world.

In the book, The Common Cure by J.P. Farrell, Tom Ferrelli, a 26-year-old Harvard graduate employed for three year by Ornix Pharmaceutical, is a fugitive running for his life. He has just witnessed hired assassins kill Dr. Ron Brace. Now, Detective Reed, Boston Police Department, and the media is reporting that Bobby Dewey, an 11-year-old boy that Dr. Ferrelli was treating, has died. Was Dr. Ferrelli secretly using a drug without FDA approval? But Dr. Ferrelli will not give up the vial of X-4 molecule, the most promising cure for cancer. When he tells Chris, an ally and CIA agent his story, they realize that Ornix Pharmaceutical Company has had two research scientists die within a short period of time. Could this be a coincidence or a conspiracy? Who wants Dr. Ferrelli dead and why?

The Common Cure was a great work of fiction. The cover was beautiful and apt. Farrell is a talented writer who displays mastery with dialogue and colorful characters. The pace of the 436-page story was fast. I appreciated Tom Ferrelli’s ethics and strong sense of morality instilled in him from his grandfather. I also understood the all-consuming greed that prompted the criminal actions of John and Dan Rogers. Boston was a fitting setting. J.P. Farrell lives near Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked in the financial industry. The Common Cure is his first book but he is working on another book, Slip of the Hand, that will be published in 2013. The Common Cure is highly recommended.