Customer Reviews

Deadly Medicine

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

 

 

When someone starts killing nurses at a prestigious L.A. hospital, forsenic pathologist Joanna Blalock decides to investigate and is thrown into a spiraling vortex of deceit and danger that pits her against a murderer. It has been quite a while since I've read such a compulsively readable medical thriller. This book kept me guessing "whodunnit" right until the very end. If you like Robin Cook and Michael Palmer, you'll really enjoy Leonard Goldberg.

I have read several medical thrillers written by Dr. Goldberg. All of them featuring Joanna Blalock as a forensic pathologist and her on again off again lover Detective Jake Sinclair as a pair of super sleuths. Dr. Blalock doesn't miss any clues left behind by the murderers, and try as they may, there is no stumping her. I was finally fortunate to find the book that started it all and I must say the first is as good as the rest.

Dr. Goldberg creates believable characters, realistic bad guys and uses just enough medical jargon to make the story interesting but not enough to confuse or bore a reader unfamiliar with the world of medicine.

Women are dying at the medical center Dr. Blalock works at and one of the victims is a friend of hers. She proceeds to work tirelessly and meticulously to find the killer, leaving no stone unturned. She is up against hospital administration who is worried more about public opinion and reputation than doing what needs to be done to find the killer. Dr. Blalock will have none of that, her only concern is to assist Detective Jake Sinclair in bringing the murderer to justice, and in the process, finds herself falling for him.

This is a great story, filled with suspense and mystery. You will feel as though you are riding a roller coaster through twists and turns until the book comes to an end. This is a good one and well worth your time.

It keeps you on your toes from the start. Its tales of unthinkable hospital occurances keep you thinking that they could really happen! Page after page, you wonder if you'll ever feel safe in a hospital again! Goldberg writes so eloquently that you feel as if you have jumped right into the shoes of Joanna or Jake...or even those of a murderous nurse!

OK, I enjoyed reading this novel. The plot is well constructed at first, and there is a lot of action and suspense. But I was also disappointed. Unlike in the other novels the main characters - above all Joanna Blalock - are not really consistent or believable in their presentation, with the exception of Sinclair. The ending is a real surprise - but too many questions remain open. Some lines of the plot just stop or fade away without a logical explanation. I prefer the other Blalock novels.

Deadly Medicine is one of many books in the science/medical thriller genre that I have reviewed for my website ScienceThrillers. This book follows the standard hospital thriller format, with a smart, strong-willed female pathologist who is the only person with the guts and brains to solve the case. The story is part thriller, part mystery, but the mystery aspect of the plot is only weakly mysterious. Characters are likable but shallow. I recommend this book to hard-core fans of medical thrillers, but it isn't one of the best. Visit my website to find better choices, in particular, books by Michael Palmer, Robin Cook, CJ Lyons.

Leonard Goldberg surely knows how to instill fear into the minds of all who read his fictional medical horrors. His Joanna Blalock series makes me wonder what really goes on in America's finest hospitals. A great read, I highly recommend!!