Customer Reviews

Do No Harm

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Greg Andrew Hurwitz's new book, "Do No Harm" deals with a troubled individual who wreaks havoc in the UCLA Medical Center by throwing lye in the faces of two nurses. One nurse is blinded and horribly disfigured for life, and her brother, a police officer, wants to kill the perpetrator when he is caught and hospitalized. David Spier, chief of the Emergency Room, is a compassionate doctor, and he prevents the police from carrying out their brand of vigilante justice. Unfortunately, the felon, whose name is Clyde, escapes and he continues to spread mayhem and threaten those whom he perceives as his enemies.

There are aspects of "Do No Harm" that are very strong. Hurwitz does a wonderful job of developing character. He makes the criminal in this book so vivid that the reader feels as if he has met this individual, a truly horrifying prospect. The author also effectively explores some of the ethical dilemmas that confront doctors. How far should physicians go to protect the patients in their care? Does a person's psychiatric history excuse him when he turns violent?

Because Clyde escaped while under David's care, the police and his colleagues in the hospital ostracize the doctor. Therefore, partially to redeem himself and to assuage his guilt, David decides to track down Clyde by himself. David is helped by a shady character who is an expert at private investigations that are not sanctioned by law. David eventually finds out that Clyde's behavior has roots that go back many years, and the doctor uses his medical knowledge to diagnose what is troubling Clyde now. Some of his findings are extremely shocking, and David finds himself questioning many of the assumptions that he has held all of his life.

David is also still mourning his beloved wife who died several years ago, and he is slowly getting involved with a young doctor who reciprocates his feelings. However, David's problems in the ER, and his lingering feelings for his wife, interfere with his ability to commit himself to a new relationship.

There are two obvious weaknesses in "Do No Harm." First, it is difficult to believe that a man as mentally unbalanced as Clyde would be capable of carrying out so many carefully planned and even sophisticated attacks. Second, the last quarter of the book is overly long and repetitious.

Overall, however, "Do No Harm" is an engrossing novel, with authentic medical details, an extremely exciting plot and an attractive, albeit somewhat flawed, hero. Those who love medical and psychological thrillers will find "Do No Harm" both fascinating and suspenseful.

David Spier is the Chief of the ER at UCLA Hospital. Amidst the typical chaos, a nurse is brought in from outside the ER doors in horrible pain suffering from extreme burns to the eyes, face, mouth, and throat. Some sort of corrosive liquid has been thrown in her face. David finds himself treating her and dealing with her upset and concerned brother, a LAPD officer. David and Officer Jenkins get off on the wrong foot which does not bode well considering both take a personal interest in solving the case and finding the attacker. But the attacker turns out to be extremely unstable and unpredictable. The police believe David is meddling in their investigation while he believes that he has the medical insight to find the suspect in ways that the police are unable. But when David becomes the primary target he must work in concert with the police or they both risk letting the bad guy escape and do more harm to other innocent victims.

This is the third novel by Hurwitz and they have steadily declined. This plot had great potential and simply fell flat. Much of David's personal grief behind the scenes of the main plot distracted and significantly slowed down the pace of the story. Further, David was not particularly sympathetic and created more trouble for himself than necessary. Instead of rooting for him to find the bad guy, the reader wants to scream at him in frustration. The pages start turning and then abruptly stop. Then the pace picks up again only to hit the skids once more. By the last third you will just be reading to finish, not because the story is providing any enjoyment. Unfortunately, this novel was a large disappointment.

This book has an interesting premise. There is a serial alkali thrower terrorizing nurses and doctors at a hospital. Of course, the mixed up fellow has motives for what and why he is doing this.

The plot meanders on for a while and then takes a number of unexpected twists and turns. It is rather odd that the main character who is so good at figuring out some things can seem to be so brain dead when it comes to basic don't go down that blind alley.

Finally, the ending did not have the kind of bang you'd expect from this kind of book.

Such babbling nonsense. After the first couple of chapters the book becomes an unrealistic and inane read. Overly moralistic Super Doctor tracks down serial alkali thrower. Who is next on his list? Bin Laden? I usually do not bother to write negative reviews, but I could not pass the opportunity with this one.

Compelling from the first page to the last, this entertaining thriller will please genre fans immensely. Make sure you set aside time, because you'll want to read it in a single sitting. While the extensive references to the Westwood area of Los Angeles may be lost on out-of-town'ers, the well drawn characters and original plot will keep readers engrossed. This is the second work I've read by author Hurwitz and I look forward to enjoying his other titles.

This is not an earth-shattering balls-to-the-walls thriller. This is a well written and plotted book that tends to get caught-up in it's concern for the rights of the accused. At what point does a mentally disturbed (or confused) person who consciously sets-out to hurt people lose their 'right' to our sympathy and the protection of the mental health laws.

Dr.Spier is the typical liberal minded person who went into medicine because he wanted to help people who were suffering. Though he could have went into any field of medicine, he chose 'Emergency/Trauma' because it gave him the chance to help those who had an immediacy of need without having to make moral judgments. Someone comes into the ER with a 'rebar' in their chest, you don't ask them their opinion of abortion or euthanasia, you work on saving their life and worry about their personal opinions later.

Most of this book is really a treatise on how people react to people, based on the way they act and look. The 'perp' is about as unappealing as possible and little changes to make him any more palatable. But Hurwitz tends to get preachy at times and you can see his heart on his sleeve in the little side stories (like the cop who takes his motherless children to the park next to the police shooting range for a birthday party).

It's a good book but Hurwitz is trying to do too many things at once and keeps losing his way. Is it a thriller, police procedural, love story or what; and is it about a 'boy scout' getting hurt by discovering the real world outside.

Zeb Kantrowitz

The book caught me on the first page. I enjoyed the plotline, the characters and all the twists and turns in the book. From the twisted brain of Clyde to the self-doubting Dr. Spier, it was all a great read. While there were some bits in the story that were maybe not so plausible (does drain eze really work that fast and that bad - I don't know), the whole package lead me into it hook, line and sinker.

I didn't find myself lying awake at night in fear, but I did spend many a late night, flipping pages wondering what was going to happen next.

This is another medical thriller that's got more plausibility than most. It calls some attention to the nature vs. nurture debate as far as the development of sociopaths. The characters were believable and the setting was presented well. David was very likable in the way he was still recovering from the death of his wife and developed through the story from numb golden boy to a person much more conscious about people and his surroundings.

A little on the long side, but fun, "Do No Harm", clips along quickly.

I'll admit, I probably would not have picked up this book or bothered with giving it a second glance had a co-worker not lent it to me. Having done so, and having read it, I have to admit that whereas the story could have been a bit more solid, the style it was written in kept me reading on. Personally, I would have liked the whole therapy/abuse scenario to have panned out a bit more, but all in all it was a very good read.

This is the first book I have read by Gregg Hurwitz, it will not; however, be my last. I really liked this story from start to finish. There were a few flaws, but hey, that is why there are so many books out there. You can't please all of us all of the time.

The story is about an E.R. physician named David who finds himself tangled in a web of madness and destruction after treating a fellow hospital employee who has been attacked by a madman and alkali thrown into her face. This sets off a chain of events and David finds himself and his family more involved than he could ever have imagined.

The characters are well developed and I started feeling a certain amount of sympathy for the villian once the story unfolded enough to reveal how he became to be. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, but it is well worth your time.

The ending left something to be desired, although the impact of the ending is evident if you pay attention to the story. Some of the events in the book were unimportant and never expounded on, leaving you to wonder why they were there, but overall, it was a fun read.