Suspense writer Michael Palmer dies at age 71

Suspense writer Michael Palmer dies at age 71, Michael Palmer, a physician and best-selling suspense author whose Extreme Measures was adapted into a 1996 film of the same name starring Hugh Grant and Gene Hackman, has died.

A statement Thursday from publisher St. Martin’s Press says Palmer died Wednesday at age 71 from complications relating to a stroke and heart attack.

Palmer’s 20th novel, Resistant, is to be published in May.

Palmer was a native of Springfield, Mass. He drew upon his medical background for such novels as Side Effects and The First Patient, a thriller about the president’s doctor.