11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
deciding who should live or die, January 16, 2004
I enjoyed the book. The storyline was good but I thought the characters could have been developed a little more. This is a medical mystery. Cassandra Kinsley, who had been a pathologist resident but had switched to psychiatry because of her failing eyesight, is married to the top heart surgeon at the hospital. Their marriage is getting a little rocky and Cassandra thinks its her fault and then she discovers that her husband is taking drugs to help keep him going with his hectic schedule. To top it off, patients have been dying off that she and her former pathologist partner think is suspicious, but they haven't been able to discover how it is being done, then the pathologist dies after he has surgery and then when she has eye surgery she is almost killed. The book is action packed to the end.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A good thriller, but with dated characters and attitudes., August 31, 2003
This book made me very very angry - even when I enjoyed it.
Here's the thing: Someone is killing patients at Boston Memorial, and the reasons are confusing - but two people are close to realizing that something is going on, so the killer must act. One, Cassi Kingsley, is a former pathology resident who has switched to psychiatry, and the other is her friend Robert, who is still in pathology. They've noticed a pattern in deaths that don't have proper explanations. Cassi's husband, Thomas, is a superstar of the cardiology ward, and a surgeon of top class - he wants her to stop, as if these deaths have a medical reason, it will bring down the hospital. And the murderer wants these investigations to stop as well, for obvious reasons.
Sounds neat, right? Well, it is. Except that the book was written in the 80s, and here's the 'getting mad' part.
Thomas is annoyed that Cassi is associating with a 'known homosexual' like Robert. Other homosexuals in the book are likened to AIDS as a sort of causal result of their lifestyle (this from a doctor, *sigh*). Oh, and when Cassi starts to wonder about her husband's sanity, everyone tells her to calm down, stand by her man, etc. She also constantly thinks things like, "If my husband left me, my life would fall apart! What would I do?!" He's emotionally abusive, and she takes it as if it is her due. Sexism is rampant throughout the book, Cassi has all the resolve of a wet noodle, never trusts herself without her husband's opinion, won't schedule necessary eye surgery because her husband hasn't chatted it over with her yet, and dear criminy I'll stop now, before I blow a vein or something. Urk.
Honestly, in its day I'll bet this was quite the reading experience, but in today's standards, Cassi reads terribly. It's painful to watch her, frustrating to see her unable to help herself, and the attitudes of most of the hospital make you want to punch something. Certainly, this thriller kept my pulse racing, but mostly in anger.
'Nathan
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Just to have fun, April 25, 2005
Let me tell you that you'll read this book in no-time. But the end of the book is worthless, I think that the last pages RC said to his child to finish the book and he finished at his will. In the book are many loose ends that when you're reading the book seems important, but when you finish the book and you see that those stories never ended you'll be disappointed. I won't give you here these examples just in case you want to read the book. As always with all RC's books you'll think twice before going to an hospital.
Despite all of the above, you'll have a good time reading this book but don't expect an excellent end. Thinking better, don't expect anything at the book's end (the last two chapters and the epilogue.)
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