My Book Reviews

Category: medical

  • Dissection by Cristina LePort

    Dissection by Cristina LePort

     

    Dissection

    Dissection by Cristina LePort

    Release: September 20, 2022
    Format: Paperback
    Publisher: Bancroft Press
    Source: Suzyapproved Book Tours
    Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible

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    DISSECTION is the suspense-filled story of DC heart surgeon Dr. Steven Leeds, who becomes suddenly besieged by a number of complicated heart attack and stroke cases, all caused by dissection, a rare medical condition. Complicating the mystery is the fact that each of the victims had received cards announcing: “Your heart attack/stroke will arrive within one hour!” – just before their attack.

    Private detective Kirk Miner and FBI agent Jack Mulville investigate, and immediately suspect Dr. Leeds’ former lover, Dr. Silvana Moretti, a brilliant research scientist, who harbors a grudge against all the victims. 

    When prominent people in the U.S. government begin to receive the same threatening cards and experience the same deadly cardiac emergencies, it falls to an unlikely team of three: Miner, a headstrong FBI agent; Mulville, the gifted private investigator; and Dr. Leeds, the conflicted heart surgeon―to find the real perpetrators and foil the catastrophic plot before it’s too late. 

    Says Dr. LePort, “At medical school, I specialized in Internal Medicine, and had been practicing for over 17 years when, one day, while attempting to get into a Cardiology fellowship, I began listening to Ayn Rand’s lectures   The Art of Fiction. I was inspired to write a novel and became addicted to the feeling of entering a world where I could make anything happen.”

    DISSECTION is a taut thriller that combines cutting-edge medical technology with complex characters, set against a believable backdrop of medical science informed by Dr. LePort’s long career as a cardiologist.

    About the Author:

    Dr. Cristina LePort was born in Bologna, Italy. She attended medical school at the University of Bologna and then completed her medical training at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn and at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases and has been practicing medicine for more than thirty years. Cristina is also the Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Genescient, a biotech company devoted to genetic research on aging and the amelioration of chronic diseases. Medicine and fiction are her twin passions, and she is absolutely thrilled to be able to share her medical thrillers with the world.

    LePort currently resides in Orange County, California, with her husband Peter LePort, a general surgeon. They have three children and three grandchildren.

    .Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

    Dissection Review:

    “Dissection” is a gripping medical thriller (the first one I have probably read in this combo), and it was an exciting roller coaster ride.

    I cannot believe this is the author’s debut because it is so good! It is along the same lines as John Grisham or James Patterson. The story starts on a solid note, and halfway into the plot, it gets more gripping and shocking with twists and turns. Moreover, I loved the medical theme behind the story. I have never read a book where the thriller sets on a medical condition, and the author also makes it so tech-savvy and innovative. The entire premise is so polished and intelligent that you feel that something like this could happen in reality. As the story progresses, you see how it connects to a more significant threat, where the stakes a higher. The author also paces the story so well, where almost every chapter has something shocking happening.

    Moreover, I loved the character growth and how my opinion of the people changed over the plot. For instance, I wouldn’t say I liked Mulville because he is harsh towards others. But he soon turned out to be my favorite character, and I loved his rapport with Kirk. Similarly, Kirk and Steve also added nicely to the plot. The author also doesn’t sidetrack the story by focusing n the romance between Steve and Silvana. Even Bloom is a character that fascinated me even though she only makes a brief appearance. I hope the author writes this as a series, as I would love to see the three core characters return for another action-packed adventure.

    Overall, “Dissection” is one of the best debut thrillers this year, and I encourage all to pick up this one.

    Book Tour Schedule

    Dissection

    I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the Dissection by Cristina LePort Blog Tour hosted by Suzyapproved Book Tours. 

     

     

  • The Gossips’ Choice by Sara Read

    The Gossips’ Choice by Sara Read

    The Gossips’ Choice

    The Gossips’ Choice by Sara Read

    Release: May 6th 2020
    Format: Paperback
    Publisher: Wild Pressed Books
    Source: Love Books Tours
    Find it at: Amazon , Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Book Depository

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    Respected midwife Lucie Smith is the wife of Jasper, the town apothecary. They’ve lived happily together at the shop with the sign of the three doves for almost three decades. But 1665 is proving a troublesome year. Moreover, Lucie gets a call for birth at the local Manor, and Jasper is uneasy at her involvement with their former opponents in the English Civil War. Their only surviving son Simon flees plague-ridden London for his country hometown, only to argue with his father. A secret withheld by her loyal maid shocks her. However, she knows when Jasper finds out this, he will be furious. How could she have missed the signs?

    As the year draws to a close, a case of serious negligence in her care of one of her mothers falls on her. This could see her not only lose her licence but face excommunication.

    About the Author:

    Dr Sara Read is a lecturer in English at Loughborough University. Her research is in the cultural representations of women, bodies and health in the early modern era.

    She has published widely in this area with her first book Menstruation and the Female Body in Early Modern England . Also, Palgrave Macmillan published the same in 2013.

    She is a member of the organising committee of the Women’s Studies Group, 1558-1837. She recently co-edited a special collection produced to celebrate the group’s 30th anniversary.

    Sara regularly writes for history magazines such as Discover Your Ancestors and History Today. In 2017 she published an article ‘My Ancestor was a Midwife’ tracing the history of the midwifery profession for Who Do You Think You Are? magazine in 2017. She has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s Freethinking programme and you can often hear her on BBC Radio Leicester and BBC Radio WM.

    Twitter | Goodreads

    The Gossips’ Choice Review:

    The Gossips’ Choice is a wonderful story that surprised me. I am not even a fan of medical themed stories, but I was glued to the story-line and Lucie’s work.

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    Firstly, I loved the level of details the author put into the story. I have never read a historical fiction novel where I felt I learnt so much. The author has done thorough research and beautifully incorporated her findings into the story. To be honest, I feel like a lot of these herbal treatments would be more effective than what the hospital prescribes today.

    Moreover, Lucie is wonderful as the main character. I was completed engrossed in the first half of the story. I loved reading of the various ailments she uses to treat her patients. The author mentions a variety of cases, from miscarriage, having twins, false labor and much more. It is so interesting to see the different procedures that were practiced during that time.

    However, I felt like the focus shifted halfway into the book. In the first half, I loved the medical aspect of Lucie’s treatments with her patients. Yet, in the second half, the story became a family drama between Lucie, Simon and Jasper. Even though I enjoyed the second half of the book, I wish the author had blended both these elements in an organic way. At times, I also felt like the author was trying to cover a lot of issues, like abortion, suicide and being gay. While this was interesting, I didn’t feel it was necessary.

    Overall, this is a wonderful book of the insights of a midwife’s life in the 1600s. I really enjoyed reading it, and hope the author writes more stories in this genre.

    Book Tour Schedule

    The Gossips’ Choice

    I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the The Gossips’ Choice by Sara Read Blog Tour hosted by Love Books Tours.

  • Emergency Room by Caroline B. Cooney

    Emergency Room by Caroline B. Cooney

    Emergency

    Emergency Room by Caroline B. Cooney
    Release: July 1st 1997
    Format: Paperback
    Publisher: Scholastic
    Source: Amazon

     

     

    Synopsis:

    College freshmen Seth and Diana volunteer in an emergency room to learn how to save lives — and along the way, they learn to live

    Seth volunteers at City Hospital to get first-hand experience with emergency medicine — and get comfortable with blood and trauma before attending medical school, so he’ll have an edge over the competition. Diana volunteers in the inner-city ER to save the world, one patient at a time. If she gets to show up arrogant Seth too, so much the better. The one thing these two college freshmen share is a desire to be a part of the ER’s action. Tonight, hour by hour and minute by minute, they will get their wish as they confront a student with a gunshot wound, the victim of a gruesome motorcycle accident, and a kidnapping gone horribly awry. Their adrenaline-fueled night will alter the course of Seth and Diana’s lives — and the lives of everyone in the emergency room — forever.

    Emergency Room Review:

    I usually hate giving negative reviews because I know the time and effort spent in writing, publishing etc. is not easy. But as a reader, I have to say that I hated reading this book!

    Back in the day, I loved watching medical dramas like ER, and I feel like the author wanted to write a book reminiscent to it. In the beginning, the story has a lot of potential as there are multiple characters introduced and you wonder how it is all going to get connected.

    Unfortunately, the story goes all over the place and is a big disappointment. Firstly, multiple plots and characters are thrown in the story and no conclusion is provided for most of them. Sure, there are some high adrenaline scenes like when Dunk takes Roo’s baby hostage. But other than these short moments, nothing really happens that we don’t know about a hospital. Similarly, there are characters like Anna Maria who get a lot of focus, yet we don’t get to know what happens to them.

    The main characters Diane and Seth are also so clichéd and I didn’t like them much. They are completely superficial and want to become doctors, but are lazy to even be volunteers. Moreover, they don’t do anything for the most part and suddenly realize that being in the medical field is tough. Also, I did not understand why there was so much buildup in Diane trying to find out if Richard Searle is her father. What a surprise, even that plot did not have any positive outcome and leaves the reader hanging.

    The only character I was remotely interested in and felt bad for was Alec. I felt sorry for him and wished he was more prominent to the plot. His plot was somewhat standalone and not related to the drama of the hospital. Meggie, Barbie and all the other hospital staff are completely boring and forgettable. Overall, “Emergency Room” by Cooney is not worth reading even if you are a fan of medical drama.