Harvest - A Novel Of Medical Suspense Review

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(More customer reviews)Firstly, I have to say that Harvest is in my Top Ten List of all-time most favorite reads (and I've been a voracious reader for forty years).........This book has it all.............thrills, chills, great twisted plots, superb character development...........bad guys, good guys....kept me guessing.......and guessing.........Abby Di Matteo was a second year resident at Bayside Hospital in Boston when she was chosen to be part of the cardiac transplant team....When she discovered that a heart was to be given to a rich man's wife, rather than a young 17 year old boy who was next in line, both Abby and Dr. Chao, took drastic measures....which had immediate repercussions!Finding donor records as being falsified, and knowing that some hearts aren't coming through the correct channels, Abby starts an investigation........Since I first read Harvest when it came out in hardcover in 1996, the details and characters have stayed with me....this is a book that one can't forget..........it's an "edge of the seat" thriller, which is even scarier knowing that it's so easy for this to happen in real life.............Gerritsen's knowledge of the medical field shines through without all the jargon that we lay people can't understand! No matter where I am, at weddings, wakes, bookstores, beaches, if I see or know someone who reads, I always recommend any Tess Gerritsen book, so long as it includes Harvest!! Better than Cook, Crichton, or Palmer, and they are great authors, I assure you............This book is a MUST read.....Gotta mention, I was lucky enough to meet this beautiful and talented lady, twice at booksignings.........she is such a down-to-earth, friendly, sincere person, I hope each of you gets to meet her someday also!

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Life Support - A Novel Of Medical Suspense Review

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(More customer reviews)I always appreciate a good medical thriller, so I'm not the type to swoon at the first mention of blood.This book, however, had me so frightened that instead of feverishly forging ahead to see what happens next (which I desperately wanted to do), I had to put it down from time to time to regain my equilibrium. When Gerritsen is at the top of her game, as she is in this novel, I think nobody can beat her. Not Robin Cook, not anybody.
It's hard to describe the plot without giving away vital information, and I don't intend to be a spoiler. But I can tell you that the action starts hard and fast on the very first page, when a world-renowned surgeon, elderly but revered in his field, attempts a simple appendectomy and winds up killing his young, healthy patient in the most gruesome of ways. Our glimpse into his mind while this is going on is almost scarier than the act itself...and that is the first chapter of the book! It doesn't get calmer from there.
It seems that a number of very fit elderly men, in full control of their faculties and all living in a very upscale retirement home, are showing strange mental symptoms, one after the other, and eventually dying horrible deaths. Dr. Toby Harper,who heads the ER rotation at a local hospital, encounters two of these patients, and is at a complete loss to diagnose the problem, let alone solve it. Her dogged determination to get to the bottom of the illness(es) lands her in a conspiracy so sinister that she can't even guess at the true nature of it, except to know that it is putting herself, her dear elderly mother who suffers from Alzheimers, and seemingly her entire medical reputation at stake.
A subplot, wherein innocent young runaway girls are captured on the streets and impregnanted with god knows what, forms a counterpoint to the main tale.
All I can tell you is that Toby, probably the one innocent in the drama, ends up wanted by the police for murder--and the bad guys, who are diabolical, seem to be getting away scott-free with their intensely fiendish plot.
Sound good? Try it. You may not sleep well at night, but it's worth it. Tess Gerritsen is without peer when she truly believes in what she is writing about, and this book proves it. All I can say is, WOW!

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Bloodstream: A Novel of Medical Suspense Review

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(More customer reviews)As someone who's read all of Ms. Gerritsen's romantic mysteries and medical thrillers, "Bloodstream" was a true thrill. This is the book I've been waiting for her to write, to show mainstream readers what she's capable of. I actually bought it last September, but put off reading it because I was worried about being disappointed again. I shouldn't have worried. Unlike the painfully predictable "Harvest" (apparently my review was so negative Amazon refused to post it) or the relentlessly depressing "Life Support," "Bloodstream" is a tense, engrossing read that never reveals too much of its hand and always keeps you on the edge of your seat. It never fails to shock, and the hospital scenes and science at its core give it a solid grounding in reality that's impossible to ignore. Real characters and understandable dilemmas add extra dimension to the tale. My only concern was that the ending was awfully abrupt (was I the only one who wanted to know what would happen to the town, the reaction of the townspeople, etc. after everything?), and yes, the worms were a bit much (why do parasites always turn out to look like worms?). For anyone looking for truly spine-tingling, can't-put-it-down escapist entertainment, this is the one for you. Ms. Gerritsen, welcome back.

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Flawless: A Novel of Medical Suspense Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm not usually a fan of medical thrillers, but gave Joshua Spanogle's Isolation Ward a try and was glad I did. This guy can write! Hero Nate McCormick is a great flawed protagonist with a unique voice and someone who is easy to identify with. In Flawless, McCormick is back and Spanogle has managed to avoid the sophomore curse, returning with a novel just as good (if not better) than his first.
Nate has relocated to the West Coast to pursue a relationship with the girlfriend he reconnected with during his initial case (chronicled in Ward). He's jobless and hasn't found an apartment and his aimless state has started to wear on the burgeoning relationship. Into this state of things comes an old friend from his student days who wants Nate's help with something. But before Nate can find out what it is, his friend Murph is murdered, along with his wife and two children, plunging Nate into a complicated mystery swirling around a biotech company in the South San Francisco hills, coupled with Chinese gangsters and a series of photographs of women and men, faces disfigured by an agressive facial cancer.
Nate is warned off, his girlfriend is attacked, and several of the people in the photographs are killed in a variety of shocking ways, but McCormick just can't give up, feeling he owes something to the friend he lost track of. This is an excellent, fast-moving novel with three-dimensional, believable characters. Nate suffers for his investigation and his feelings of rage and helplessness are palpable. And his life continues to develop on the sidelines, in the manner of the best current detective fiction. Spanogle is a truly talented writer and I'm very much looking forward to his next novel. Flawless is very highly recommended!

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Critical Condition: A Medical Thriller Review

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(More customer reviews)Dr. Kathleen Sullivan and Dr. Richard Steele have returned (Mutant). Sullivan suffers a severe brain hemorrhage and finds herself totally paralyzed, but completely awake and aware. She is given a questionable treatment by the Chief of Neurosurgery. It is left to Steele to determine what a group of doctors in his hospital are up to. Throw in a fanatical murderer on the loose who is killing doctors, and you have a fast paced thriller. Clement has developed some intriguing characters for this outing. Realistic descriptions of stem cell research add to the mix. The skulking killer was a bit over the top, but needed, I suppose, for the suspense. Overall, a good read with a very exciting conclusion.

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Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic that Remains One of Medicine's Greatest Mysteries Review

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(More customer reviews)Molly Caldwell Crosby's "Asleep," traces a strange malady whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Encephalitis lethargica ("a swelling of the brain that makes one sleepy") "came in two waves--the first began in 1916 and peaked in 1920." A second wave struck in 1924. Today, few people remember this scourge that killed closed to a million people all over the world. One of the victims was Crosby's grandmother, Virginia Thompson Brownlee, who became ill in 1929 at the age of sixteen but was fortunate enough to survive with limited long-term effects. Tragically, many of the afflicted were children and young adults whose brains were not yet fully developed; they were not all equipped, physically or emotionally, to battle this destructive illness.
Although the symptoms of encephalitis lethargica varied from one individual to the next, some of the manifestations were: disconnectedness from one's body, lethargy, delirium, slurred speech, stiffness, seizures, tics, Parkinsonism, and extreme personality changes. Some people became catatonic or went into a deep sleep for long periods of time. Around one third recovered, one third died, and one third survived. However, some became so disabled that they were permanently institutionalized. One common thread is that many of the sufferers had recovered from the flu before they came down with encephalitis lethargica. Even those who appeared to have recovered fully were vulnerable to recurrences years later. It was almost as if a demon lay dormant in their bodies, only to reemerge when they least expected it.
Crosby divides her book into seven chapters, each of which recounts a compelling case history, including that of Jessie Morgan, the wife of financier J. P. Morgan. The author brings her subject to life not only by delving into the experiences of individual victims, but also by exploring the careers of prominent physicians who cared for patients with this ailment. Enhancing the narrative are richly described details of the social, cultural, medical, and political climate that served as a backdrop for the pandemic. Crosby puts encephalitis lethargica in context as she recounts the horrors of World War I, the influenza outbreak that killed more than twenty million people, the building boom in New York City, the amazing technological developments of the 1920's, the Stock Market Crash, the Great Depression, advances in neuropsychiatry, epidemiology, and public health, and the construction of new facilities to house the mentally ill.

Theories abound, but to this day no one knows what causes encephalitis lethargica. Oliver Sacks, the renowned writer and neurologist who wrote about his work with encephalitis patients in "Awakenings," asserts that "this strange, often terrible disease is not extinct, only quiescent. It may well strike again in our lifetimes." "Asleep" reads like a riveting novel that one wishes were merely a nightmare invented by an imaginative writer. Unfortunately, it is all too real. Crosby's facts are meticulously documented; she includes photographs, extensive endnotes, a lengthy bibliography, and a thorough index. This is a beautifully written, lucid, multilayered, and unforgettable work of non-fiction.


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Brain Warp: A Medical Thriller Review

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(More customer reviews)I couldn't put this book down! I stayed up until 3:00 am reading. There is a lot of suspense that will keep you turning the pages. I can actually see this book being made into a movie and doing quite well. I look forward to Gil Sniders next book.

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Doctor Peter Branstead's neurology department at St. Mark's Hospital in New York's picturesque Greenwich Village is flooded with a series of critically ill vagrants exhibiting identical symptoms. Confused and agitated upon admission, they rapidly progress into convulsions, cardiac arrest, and death. The deaths are too methodical to be a coincidence, but how—and why—are they being killed? Peter's investigation leads him into a dark underworld of international intrigue and into the center of a plot to destroy the president of the Ukraine, Anatoly Labrinska. Peter learns that his patients have been given a mysterious drug that is also being administered to President Labrinska. But tracking Peter's every move is a savage Ukranian Mafia killer—an assassin so ruthless that the most vicious criminals on two continents live in fear of his wrath.With the political stability of Europe hanging in the balance and the lives of those he loves in jeopardy, Peter desperately works to foil the plot and escape with his life.

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Virus That Ate Cannibals: Six Great Medical Detective Stories Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an wonderful book for students of science or anyone interested in the recent history of virology. Carol Eron is an excellent writer and provides a wonderful view into how viruses (and unconventional agents now known to cause Kuru and CJD) were studied in the last century. Too bad the book is out of print. I highly recommend getting your hands on this one!

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History Became a Lie: Another Dick Swept M.D. Medical-Espionage Thriller Review

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(More customer reviews)"History Became a Lie" is a thrilling novel that is replete with intrigue, drama, love relationships, geography, history and much more. It is now an embryonic series with the first one, "Dick Swept, M.D.: Tomorrow The World" an equally fine success. The author, David Rosenfield, like the protagonist is an accomplished neurologist who is capable of projecting his scientific knowledge into a story that glues one to the pages to the very end. In "
History Became A Lie", Dick Swept requested to save our fine country from the evil forces that have gathered in the middle east arena. Dr. Swept has now moved to Washington, where at NIH he is continuing his work on memory and working with the CIA to discover the source of a large number of assaults on medical facilities. In the process of doing so, he also is responsible for the reacquisition of the weapons of mass distruction. Don't miss this book. I rate it a 5, and give it as many thumbs up as possible. The spellbinding complexity of Dr. Swept's adventures are once again an easy and pleasureable read. His next adventures in medical mystery are now awaited by those fans addicted to his writing.

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The Deadly Dinner Party: and Other Medical Detective Stories Review

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(More customer reviews)Dr. Edlow is tenaciously honest and accurate in his communication of medical concepts and the limitations of medical knowledge; and he does so in a language everyone can understand. So approachable are Dr. Edlow's stories, that they are able to immerse their readers in a world of disease and investigation as if they were directly involved. He accomplishes this feat by wrapping each story in fascinating historical detail and everyday environments and foods many will have experienced. You may never attend a dinner party, pet your cat, admire Queen Elizabeth's crown jewels, or read Harry Potter in the same way again.
As a physician and a lover of well-written literature, I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to the lay person and medical professional alike.

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