Customer Reviews

To The Bone

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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Dr. D. Welles D'Anton is a plastic surgeon for the rich and famous. He takes pride in removing physical imperfections from the women whom he transforms with his scalpel. However, as we see in Neil McMahon's medical thriller, "To the Bone," sometimes the pursuit of beauty is just not worth it.

Dr. Carroll Monks is an emergency room physician, employed in a San Francisco hospital, who is suffering from burnout. He has a failed marriage under his belt, children he rarely sees, and a borderline drinking problem. His girlfriend, Martine, seems ready to move on.

Monks is on duty when a beautiful young woman named Eden Hale is brought in to the ER in excruciating pain. The day before, Eden had been Dr. D'Anton's surgical patient. Now, the young woman is suffering from a rare blood clotting disorder with no obvious cause. Dr. Monks valiantly tries a controversial treatment to treat Eden, but he fails to save her. The fallout from this episode may cost Dr. Monks his job.

In an effort to prove that he was not responsible for Eden's death, Monks, along with his private investigator friend, Stover Larrabee, decide to look into Eden's background. They discover that the world of the rich, beautiful, and famous is, ironically, one of ugliness, insecurity, jealousy, and selfishness. Delving into the depressing world of the "beautiful people," Monk learns that there are individuals who look good physically, but who are even more emotionally burned out than he is.

The best moments in "To the Bone" are those that deal with the medical problems in the ER. The book falters when McMahon resorts to stereotypes in his exploration of the surgically enhanced women who rely on plastic surgery to stay young. There is another plot in "To the Bone" that deals with a serial killer. This plot is underdeveloped and the resolution comes out of left field.

"To the Bone" makes the valid point that the worship of physical beauty is a losing proposition. In addition, those who live for the moment, without any regard for the long-term consequences of their behavior, are foolish and self-destructive. Unfortunately, with the exception of Dr. Monks, who is a fully developed, three-dimensional character, "To the Bone" is as shallow as the beautiful women it depicts.

Emergency room Doctor Carroll Monks is disturbed when a beautiful woman fails to respond to his treatment. Healthy young women shouldn't die--and when he notices strange bruisings, he orders powerful and non-standard treatment. The treatment fails and Monks is left wondering if he failed, or if someone else was responsible for Eden Hale's death. Because Eden was recovering from breast implant surgery, there is the possibility of complications and Dr. D'Anton, plastic surgeon to the beautiful people, is an obvious suspect. After all, how did a woman like Eden even afford D'Anton's price?

In this fast-paced story, author Neil McMahon introduces a string of suspects. The plastic surgeon, his sculpter-wife who once had an affair with Eden, the beautiful assistant, and the tough and secretive nurse all have possibilities. But as Monks and his friend, private detective Larrabee, investigate, they discover that D'Anton has been associated with other bizarre events and even a missing girl. Could Eden's death be only the tip of an obscene nightmare? McMahon occasionally steps into the point-of-view of a serial killer, indicating that Monks is onto something larger and more dangerous than he imagines.

Monks makes an interesting character with his woman troubles, his problems with excess drinking (not the man I'd want working on me in an emergency room), and his obsession for discovering the truth. Playing to society's strangely ambiguous feelings about doctors who create beauty, McMahon maintains the suspense and keeps the pages turning.

See storyline above.

Though somewhat short and a little light on character depth (it's been many books ago since I've read his last one so I don't remember the characters), this McMahon medical thriller was satisfying. This one is comparable to McMahons previous novels.

Recommended

A read to turn the pages. Plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing and enough action to reward your perseverance. Good job.

Monks and Larrabee do it again! I have read all the books in this series, and they just keep on getting better. This one continues the tradition. It is so nice to read medical fiction where the medicine is correct! In addition, the author obviously knows San Francisco like the back of his hand. His protagonist, Dr. Monks is a latter day John McDonald hero, living in a cabin in the woods instead of on a houseboat, but Monk's insights into human behavior, no matter how bizarre, strike all too true. Above and beyond this, the plot has overtones of the macabre are down-right chilling. My only complaint is that I have already finished the book and I will now have to wait for the next one in the series. BY IT!

Richard Merriman M.D

She is a young beautiful woman who went from porn star to an actress having good parts in daytime drama. She has just had breast augmentation surgery and the boyfriend who was supposed to be staying with her left her alone and in pain. As time goes on the pain becomes unbearable and Eden Hale is barely able to make the 911 for an ambulance before becoming unconscious. By the time the she arrives at Mercy Hospital in San Francisco, she is barely breathing.

Dr. Carroll Monks works on Eden but nothing he does is helping and he has no idea what is wrong with her until he sees bruising spreading across her skin. He administer a drug in hopes of stopping the blood from clotting but she dies before the drug can take affect. His peers criticize him for his treatment protocol but when the pathologist finds a toxin in Eden's blood, Carroll thinks she was murdered. He starts asking too many questions and winds up almost getting killed by a person who wants attention deflected from the plastic surgeon and those who work for him.

After reading TO THE BONE, readers will have second thoughts about having cosmetic plastic surgery one to them. This story is fast moving, action-packed and gives the audience a glimpse into the world of the affluent who will do anything to look young and beautiful. Neil McMahon is an excellent storyteller whose work can be favorably compared to Michael Palmer and Robin Cook. The protagonist of this tale is likable and vulnerable and will hopefully will star in more books.

Harriet Klausner

If you like mysteries, this is excellent. Neil McMahon is a wonderful writer, clean and concise. I had a hard time putting this down. I also liked his latest, L.A. Mental, another winner. If you like James Patterson or Michael Connelly, you'll like McMahon. LA

An ER doctor tries to save a woman that comes into the emergency room after plastic surgery. She dies, so the doctor starts and investigation of the plastic surgeon, in order to protect his own career, and finds out the surgeon has a suspicious past.
I gave this four out of five starts because it was an enjoyable read, but the "who" in the "whodunit" was too easy to figure out. A bit more suspense and creativity and it would have been fantastic. Still, it was very good.

I enjoyed this book but it's not a GREAT book. The Monks character is much too much like a cop to be a doctor...hard to buy that one. Too many different threads running around; even the last chapter that attempted to tie up the loose ends was a huge stretch.