Customer Reviews

Informed Consent: A Novel

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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I read a Sandra Glahn novel years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I discovered a few weeks back that she had a new book coming out. The cover looked fantastic. Although I'm not a big fan of medical thrillers, I recall with fond memories such classics as Robin Cook's "Coma" and Michael Crichton's "The Terminal Man," and I hoped to be similarly entertained in this latest Glahn book.

"Informed Consent" is in many ways a superior novel to those I mentioned, dealing with personal and medical ethics. I finished the book with a pounding pulse and a lump in my throat, caught up in the conflicts that faced Jeremy Cramer, his family, and his coworkers.

Jeremy is a rising doctor with very personal reasons for researching ways of prolonging life in drowning victims. His work leads him to surprising discoveries, while also confronting him with massive guilt over incidental infections that occur in his presence. Even as his marriage teeters, his career continues to skyrocket. Then, with a few twists along the way, he finds everything he has fought for threatened by the most personal, most heart-wrenching, choices of all.

While weaving in numerous details in easily understandable ways, Glahn also creates characters who are thoroughly believable. At no moment did I question their motives--no matter how much I may or may not have agreed with them. It's that human element which lifts this book above the genre standards. This is a story with a beating heart. And it definitely had my heart racing.

I have read all of this authors fiction. i work in the medical profession. this book was believable and right on track. fast paced and exciting. the main character, Jeremy is someone who seems real and was likeable. the medical jargon was understandable. i recomend this book!!

Sandra Glahn's Informed Consent is an intelligent, believable and expertly written mystery that will keep readers on pins and needles. Realistic but not too technical for nonmedical types, too. I loved the develop arch of the main character, Jeremy Cramer, who went from brilliant, slightly clueless husband and father, to deeply feeling and focused dad.

REVIEW: WARNING: After reading "Informed Consent" you will NEVER look at Doctors and nurses the same way again. After all they are just humans like the rest of us right? I know there is office politics in whatever work environment but when you read about what goes on in the inner workings of a hospital it makes you a little sick to your stomach.

When Hospital personnel make mistakes on the job or don't follow procedure or don't get "INFORMED" consent patients are put at risk and some die. Sandra definitely explores how some doctors try to get around "Informed Consent" and what that means to the patients.

How is the cure for AIDS going to be found? Sandra reveals one way; thru that of a Dr./Researcher who is personally motivated by personal tragedy to find a cure for what killed his father but not himself. Could finding the cure for his fathers death lead to a break thru the whole world is looking for? It could happen!

Parts of this book were medically wordy. Some where stressful to read because it dealt with children and possible medical mishaps that put them in harms way. Then there were other parts of the book that were fast paced - thrilling and emotionally suspenseful!! Buckle up when you read this book.

Nora St.Laurent
Book Club Servant Leader
[...],

I almost didn't accept this book to review as I had SO many to read, but the subject matter intrigued me. Now I'm glad I took this book on. I'll tell you why...Informed Consent is one of the most emotional, suspenseful, intelligent, and exhilarating stories I've read in a long time. The up-close look into marriage issues, grief and loss, and biomedical/ethical subject matter makes me rank this amazing novel as one of the best I've read this year. It is SO obvious that the author did a lot of research and she addressed the subject with insight and compassion. This story moved me to tears numerous times.

In some ways Informed Consent--which is a perfect title for the story--reminded me of a movie I watched starring Denzel Washington. In the movie he was stuck in an impossible situation and yet found a way to fix the problem. His solution was totally insane, but it sure made you think about the desperation people feel when they long to save a loved one, but face seemingly impossible barriers along the way. Informed consent tackled some really tough issues with finesse.

I'm reluctant to share much detail regarding this awesome novel because it's very suspenseful and I don't want the reader to miss out on the anxiety-provoking twists and turns by tipping them off to some of the dilemmas and solutions. But I will say that this story not only provokes intelligent thinking, but it makes you ponder spiritual issues as well. I am thoroughly impressed by the quality of the plot, the author's incredible "voice", and the pull this story had on me. I can't say enough good things about it, but I will say that from this point forward I intend to read EVERY book Sandra Glahn writes.

Wow! I couldn't put it down! I was first introduced to Glahn's fiction writing through Lethal Harvest and Deadly Cure. As in her other novels, Glahn uses her creative writing skills to build an entertaining and thought-provoking medical thriller. While the main story is a close look at a family and their lives in the medical world, there are deeper messages of love, forgiveness, sacrifice and devotion. I love reading a novel that has a good story but also has a timely and purposeful message. Glahn's characters face many questions that headline our newspapers today. This page-turner follows Jeremy Cramer, his family, and his colleagues as they are challenged with issues of illness, end-of-life choices, personal sacrifice, and devotion to family. There is a section at the end of the book, "AfterWords", that is a fun read of an interview with the author. Don't read it first, but be sure not to miss it at the end of the book!

I really liked this book about an MD/PhD who discovers a drug that causes an arrest of AIDS symptoms and disease progression while trying to find answers to why children survive hypothermic near drowning better than adults. Interesting spiritual and ethical components.

Glahn is a superb researcher and it shows in this fine novel. The characters are real, the situations from today's headlines and readers will be thrown into the ethical debates and struggle with coming to their own conclusions on the matter. She is a great writer and one to watch. She gets better with each novel.

Under normal conditions I am not an avid reader of medical thrillers. I was given a copy of Informed Consent by a close friend and decided to check it out. I LOVED IT! The captivating story and real-to-life, believable characters of Informed Consent hooked me in the prologue and didn't let go even after I had handed the novel over for my wife to read. It's pace moved quickly from the start and never slowed until the last page was turned. Sandra Glahn's writing made me laugh, gasp and cry right along with the characters and situations involved. I highly recommend Informed Consent to ALL readers. Whether fans of medical thrillers or not, Informed Consent is an amazing read from the first capital letter to the final period, and anyone who flips through its pages will agree with me!

Electrifying like an episode of General Hospital, Informed Consent spotlights end of life issues that all of us will face. Racing through the worlds of organ donation, AIDS research, hospital politics and human temptation, the book never slows as everyday decisions force the protagonist into a life changing gamble with ultimate risk for himself and his family. The self-imposed guilt of Jeremy Cramer, MD, threatens to undo his marriage, his career, and his very being, as he struggles with conflicting demands of medical ethics. Ms. Glahn does an excellent job of explaining cutting edge medical research and brings the reader face to face with the question, What risks would we take for the life of our loved one? Exciting and educational to read, every minute in Informed Consent was pure enjoyment.