Local NC Doctor-Turned-Author’s Debut Medical Thriller Goes "Viral"

Dr. Greg Player, a Wilmington, NC family physician and first-time novelist, is making waves in the literary world with his debut medical thriller, The Enemy Within—a fast-paced novel about a manufactured virus that causes mental illness.

Less than a month after its release, The Enemy Within was named to Ingram’s Summer Reading 2025 List, appearing alongside heavyweights such as John Connolly, Preston & Child, Brad Thor, and the duo of Bill Clinton and James Patterson.

“I’m speechless,” said Player. “To make that list so early, especially with a debut novel, is… well, it’s both humbling and exciting.”

The novel, which discusses the timely and trending topic of viruses and their impact, has also caught the attention of NYT bestselling author Tess Gerritsen (The Spy Coast), who praised the work as “a medical thriller that’s nonstop action and suspense. The virus may be fictional, but the real dangers are not.”

Further adding to its early acclaim, The Enemy Within was selected as a Judge’s Top Pick for Best Thriller 2025 by the Silver Falchion Awards at Killer Nashville—a respected forum for crime, thriller, suspense, and mystery writers.

Player’s path to publishing is as unconventional as his plotlines. “I may be a little different from doctors who take up writing after they retire,” he said. “I actually started out as a writer—worked summers as a cub reporter for a newspaper in Nantucket, covered local news, and wrote for my college newspaper.” He says he ultimately chose medicine, because “It felt like a bigger way to help people.”

Player has practiced family medicine in Wilmington since 2006 and says the book is the result of observing compelling cases and reading about true life medical mysteries. “The body is a complex puzzle,” he notes. “And so is storytelling. The complexity of the human body has always fascinated me,” he says, “but I also love the honesty, creativity, and power of writing.”

Player explains how he was able to fuse his two passions in the genre of medical thrillers. “I like to imagine what is possible in medicine but not yet discovered.” He says this is particularly true of the mind. “We know about as much of the human brain as we do the ocean floor. It is a vast, uncharted territory.”

Player will host a book signing and meet-and-greet on Saturday, August 16, from 1 PM to 4 PM at the Barnes & Noble in Mayfaire Town Center. Readers are invited to stop by, meet the author, and get a signed copy of one of the summer’s hottest new thrillers.

For interviews or additional information, contact:
Dale McGlothlin, (202) 341-8615, dm@seachangeglobal.com