Customer Reviews

Deadly Harvest

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am quite willing to suspend disbelief when reading mysteries/thrillers -- to a point. However, as I read through this book, I found myself saying "oh come ON" just too often. The silly ending was bad enough (is there *anything* lazier/lamer than deux ex machina?), but what really bothered me were the attempts at character development. The characters' behavior and reactions were consistently stilted and inauthentic. Worst of all, by the end of the novel I didn't give two hoots about any one of them. I am an avid mystery reader and am especially fond of medical thrillers and series, but I feel no desire to read anything else about Joanna Blalock and her pals. Definitely, a tale of intruigue that was less than intruiguing.

This is a subject that has been done many times, but I enjoy reading other authors take on the horrors of organ donation and tranplantation gone wrong. Leonard Goldberg isn't writing about anything new, but he does create a good, solid medical thriller...something he is quite good at.

Joanna Blalock, a forensic pathologist and Jake Sinclair, a homicide detective are back together again in a tale that will chill your blood. Joanna's sister, Kate, becomes gravely ill and may need a liver transplant in order to survive. She and others are exposed to an Ebolia-like virus while participating in an archaelogical dig. Many of her collegues have already died. This sets off a chain of events that catapults Joanna and Jake into the world of organ donation, harvesting and transplanting that will make your blood run cold. Will Joanna and Jake be able to uncover the mysteries that lie within the deaths that are occuring around them, in time to save Kate? Well, crack the cover of this book and find out!

The story moves at a nice pace and has an effective mix of suspense, drama, and mystery to keep you reading as fast as you can. It does, unfortunately get jumbled and rushed in the end. Had Dr. Goldberg slowed down a bit and maybe added another 50 pages, the story could have reached a more logical conclusion and wouldn't have seemed so rushed and disjointed.

Overall, this was a fun read and another good addition to the Blalock series.

When I began reading the Joanna Blalock series, I was instantly hooked. The first book dealt with a serial killer at the hospital and the story kept me on the edge throughout the entire book. But it seems that each book after that has gone downhill. They all start off as medical thrillers but end up more like a detetive novel. Deadly Harvest was no different. But the story has been done over and over by numerous authors. Goldberg also fails to allow enough time for character development and abruptly catapults you into a shockingly stark climax.

I found that this book was a really good book. It really defines the meaning behind medicine. Joanna Blalcock and Lori Mckay, coupled with Jake the constable make a great team! They uncover many details including some scams and other inevitable things through the stories of medicine including through the Donor's International Services which include an infertility clinic, a daycare center for people with disabilities, a research center and also a transplant donor facility. If you're interested in a medical thriller this one is for you! If you're interested in sharing this good book, feel free to email me! at drsarahchurch@Hotmail.com

I've just "discovered" the Joanna Blalok series, and I've been reading them pretty much one after the other. There was a sense of familiarity when I started Deadly Harvest: (spoilers)(spoilers) Joanna and Jake are once again split up, Joanna winds up in the hospital after someone tries to kill her, then she disappears from the hospital when someone tries to kill her again. I'm starting to worry about the poor woman's health; one more severe concussion may finally do her in.<g> However, even with these complaints, the book is entertaining, the plot intense, the characters interesting. Just be prepared to think you might have already read this one. I did. It took several pages to realize the events were only slightly different from the last book in the series I'd read.

I've read the entire Joanna Blalock series and love it. She is an awesome character that you just can't get enough of. This book was my favorite because of the twist that comes in at the end, it took my by surprise and I love that! The ideas in some of the books are a little far fetched, but that's because it's fiction. Anyway, I loved the book and the series. I hope another book is on the way!

*spoilers*
The bizarre plot is that incredibly rich men screen their prospective wives for genetic compatibility, and then use surrogate mothers to birth children which will be close genetic matches, available to be killed to provide organ transplants for the father, if needed at a future date. The children are raised "like animals" under lock and key in a mountain-top compound in Los Angeles County. Meanwhile, the doctor in charge of this compound -- which is owned by organized crime, no less -- maintains his job as a respected surgeon at Joanna Blalock's hospital.
The book opens with an attempted sniping by a man with a Ruger Mini-14 shooting .50 caliber bullets. However, the Ruger Mini-14 shoots .223 caliber bullets.
There are almost as many murders in this book as there are references to how beautiful Joanna is.
This book has few redeeming qualities; it's a definite pass.

I haven't read a lot of medical thrillers that I enjoyed this much. There is a lot that goes on in this book that keeps you interested to the end. It starts out with the prologue where it tells of a man positioned with a rifle up on a hill trying to get a doctor in his scope's sight so that he can kill him because he feels they are responsible for his sister's death. The surveilance on the Women's Reproductive Clinic is about to bring fruition when the sniper himself is attacked from behind and killed. Ten years later his body is found in a grave that has been washed away to reveal his skeleton.

Lori is young and new to the coroners job and because of her newness it is suggested that they get Joanna Blalock, a pathologist, in to help in the investigation.

Joanna has troubles of her own, her sister, Kate, along with others has been flown to her hospital the victim of a virulent virus that is life threatening. It looks like she may need a liver transplant.

We have the murder of a couple of millionaires who both had liver transplants and who both, when examined, had developed cysts in the livers they received. We have the murders of murderers and all sorts of mysteries to keep us interested- like where did the livers come from that were bad and why did they develop the cysts and is there something sinister about the organ donar company? Questions and mystery until the end of the book. I enjoyed the book and would read more books written by this author.

Joanna Blalocks' world has fallen apart. A highly regarded doctor at Los Angeles' Memorial Hospital, she has just learned that her sister Kate, an archeologist at a Guatemala dig and her fifteen American compatriots caught a deadly disease. Twelve members of the party and several natives have since died from the unidentified virus that was apparently transmitted to the humans in a remote, primitive jungle area. Kate, lying in a coma, is taken to Memorial for treatment. When Kate arrives, Joanna is stunned by how sick her sibling is and how little she can do. Soon, it becomes obvious that Kate will need a liver transplant to survive. ...... Joanna is desperate to find a match for Kate. She decides to utilize Donors International, a legitimate, profit-making company that has had great success in finding matches. Joanna has to hock the farm and still has to borrow money to pay for the organ transplant. However, Joanna specializes in forensic pathology and quickly realizes that the company's phenomenal track record in finding donors is because of its questionable sources. She not only has to deal with the moral dilemma of her sister's needs vs her medical ethics, but the fact that her own life may be in jeopardy because she knows too much. ........ In his fourth medical thriller, Dr. Leonard Goldberg moves to the head of the class as he paints an exciting chiller filled with interesting characters and a deadly brilliant story line. Move over Cook and Palmer, there is a new player on the block and his current tale, DEADLY HARVEST is well worth reading. ......Harriet Klausner