Gregg Andrew Hurwitz is not yet 30, but he's already made the Los Angeles Times bestseller list with his first two books: The Tower, a psychological crime thriller set in and around San Francisco; and Minutes to Burn, a post-apocalypse chiller combining science fiction with environmental reality.

Proving that scary things come in threes, Hurwitz—who now lives in the Santa Monica suburb of Brentwood—has just come out with his third fiction novel, Do No Harm, which combines themes of malice, madness and medicine. The novel is set in and around Los Angeles and the UCLA Medical Center.

It's a venue Hurwitz knows well, having spent two months ("on and off," he says) shadowing and interviewing various medical professionals there. He also says the center is second only to one other hospital facility in the United States in miles of corridors; this came in handy when he was thinking of places a fictional villain might lurk.

Do No Harm centers around Clyde Slade, a sociopath whom Hurwitz calls his "evil protagonist." Slade, under cover of hospital scrubs, has been stalking and attacking medical center employees by severely maiming them with caustic chemicals.

When, as the result of a stakeout, Slade is hoist with his own petard and winds up in the hospital as a patient, emergency room chief Dr. David Spier finds himself in a strange predicament. Does he uphold the Hippocratic oath and treat Slade properly, or does he let Slade die and do a good deed for society?

As if the situation couldn't get any worse, Slade soon escapes the hospital, causing both the press and the public to condemn Dr. Spier, who then begins his own convoluted and suspenseful investigation, determined to track Slade down and bring him to justice.

"It interests me when people are forced to uphold their ethics, even when it's at a risk to themselves," Hurwitz says. "The doctor is faced with an ethical dilemma—played out in a breakneck thriller."

Hurwitz' choice of a medical backdrop for Do No Harm is related to the family tradition he broke. His sister, father and grandfather are all doctors, yet Hurwitz says he always knew his future lay in writing, not healing. But the fact that he holds bachelor's degrees in both English and psychology doesn't mean the medical field hasn't found its way into his literary life.

"When I was young and formulating my ideas about ethics, I was influenced by what I learned of the Hippocratic oath," he recalls, adding that he was also greatly influenced by the fact that his parents didn't let him watch TV during his younger years.

"I read a lot of mystery novels instead. As a reader of mysteries, I always thought that doctors were like detectives," he says of the way his father and grandfather spoke of examining and diagnosing patients. And now he's created Dr. David Spier—a detective in both senses of the word.

Hurwitz will be one of eight bestselling authors—including Jean Auel of Clan of the Cave Bear fame—speaking Nov. 16 at the 14th annual San Francisco Authors Luncheon, a major fundraiser for the nonprofit National Kidney Foundation of Northern California. More information about the event is available by calling 415.543.3303, ext. 102. Hurwitz's books are available online at www.greggandrewhurwitz.com or from Amazon.com.