Another tightly wound medical thriller featuring an intrepid surgeon/detective.
A damaging accusation throws a Houston doctor’s life and livelihood into a tailspin in Bishop’s latest series installment.
A year after solving the case of a child’s mysterious death in Act of Murder (2020), orthopedic surgeon and amateur sleuth Jim Bob “Doc” Brady is back to deflect a personal attack on his professional reputation. Due to a malpractice lawsuit, the typically strong and resilient Brady is dealing with stress that not even his wife, Mary Louise, or his adoring pets can soothe. During a deposition with vicious lawyers, Doc must defend against claims that he acted poorly and recklessly while providing care for Billy Jones, who developed a serious infection and endured a subsequent amputation after knee-replacement surgery. It turns out that the plaintiff’s team includes the “king-dog-daddy of Houston medical malpractice plaintiffs’ attorneys,” as Doc calls him: Donovan Shaw, who tells Doc that he’ll “destroy you and that pretty wife of yours,” if that’s what it takes to win. Doc’s own investigation reveals Donovan to have had some shady dealings with other lawyers. When another doctor dies under suspicious circumstances and someone mugs Doc in broad daylight, the surgeon knows he needs to step up his sleuthing before he and his family end up dead themselves. Although Doc is represented by defense attorney and friend Pete Huntley, the doctor is determined to dig deeper into Donovan, his sketchy firm, and its history of questionable cases on his own, and readers will find his investigation compelling. The book also offers intriguing reflections on America’s flawed medical system, spotlighting amoral “testifying doctors” and patients “looking for a quick ‘medical lottery win’ ” through bogus malpractice claims. Houston-based orthopedic surgeon Bishop stays true to his narrative style in this installment, providing readers with authentic-sounding dialogue and an engaging plot. Along the way, he adds vibrancy to his characterization of Mary Louise so readers can more easily experience the longtime married couple’s bond. However, it’s the breathless concluding courtroom scene that truly steals the show.
Another tightly wound medical thriller featuring an intrepid surgeon/detective.Pub Date: June 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73425-112-8
Page Count: 276
Publisher: Mantid Press
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.
Stephanie Plum’s 31st adventure shows that Trenton’s preeminent fugitive-apprehension agent still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and needs every one of them.
The current caseload for Stephanie and Lula—the ex-prostitute file clerk at her cousin Vincent Plum’s bail bonds company, who serves as her unflappable sidekick—begins with two “failures to appear.” Eugene Fleck is suspected of being Robin Hoodie, who robs from the rich and, yes, distributes the proceeds to the poor. Racketeer Bruno Jug, who’s missed his court date on charges of tax evasion, is also suspected of drugging and raping a 14-year-old. But neither of these fugitives can hold a candle to Zoran Djordjevic, aka Fang, a self-proclaimed vampire wanted in connection with the gruesome fate of his late wife and three other missing women. As usual, Stephanie’s personal life is just as helter-skelter as her professional life as a bounty hunter. She’s managed to get herself engaged both to Det. Joe Morelli, of the Trenton PD, and Ranger, a former Special Forces agent who runs a private security firm; she thinks she may be pregnant; and she’s willing to marry the father, whichever of her fiances that turns out to be. On top of it all, her nothingburger schoolmate Herbert Slovinski suddenly pops up at one of the funerals she ferries her Grandma Mazur to, hitting on her relentlessly and gilding his importunities by cleaning and painting her shabby apartment and laying new carpet. Luckily, Lula’s on hand to offer cupcakes that stave off the worst disasters, and whenever this hodgepodge threatens to slow down, another FTA appears, or fails to appear.
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781668003138
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
