Customer Reviews

Off Pace

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Off Pace is a cross-genre novel: part thriller, part general fiction, part
mystery. The heroine, Meagan, is a registered nurse who is seduced by the
financial rewards into working as a representative for a pacemaker company.
And what financial rewards! I had no idea until I read 'Off Pace' that
pacemaker reps can earn high six-figure sums annually, in commission. I was
also unaware that the reps require a high degree of medical knowledge, need
to be expert in heart medicine, and are present during operations to implant
the pacemakers, helping the surgeon to set up and program the devices.

For this reader, a major part of the enjoyment of 'Off Pace' was discovering
a lot about this little-known yet vital area of expertise. Brittan Barclay
worked in the pacemaker industry herself, and brings to 'Off Pace' a wealth
of detail. The story is told in tight, confident writing.

'Off Pace' is written in third person, a viewpoint that allows the
exploration of different facets of the plot, and the author uses this to
give the reader insights as to the activities of 'Prince' a serial killer
who dogs Meagan, the heroine, throughout the book. In fact, on at least two
occasions Meagan narrowly escapes death through his attentions.

It's always difficult in a mystery/thriller to deal with the murderer in
such a way that his identity is withheld to the last, but we, the readers,
feel we are with him in his nasty doings. Brittan Barclay brings off this

difficult feat superbly well. There are sufficient red herrings in the plot,
and I was surprised by the final revelation as to the identity of the evil
doer. This is one of the main tests of competence in a mystery/thriller
novel, and the author succeeds admirably. The killer's methods of doing away
with victims included one that I had never imagined.

Even without the suspense element, the book would still have worked for me
as a general fiction story. The characters are very well drawn. It wasn't
long before I found myself rooting for Meagan as she copes with her bosses
in the business, some of whom were not above dirty dealings to trick Meagan
from her rightful commissions.

The characters in 'Off Pace' are well-constructed and stand up off the page.
In particular, dialogue was original, convincing, and consistently
individual, helping to keep track of the story, which has quite a few
distinctive personalities inhabiting its pages.

Medical stories are always of interest to those of us who fear becoming
patients, and with good reason. Brittan Barclay's debut novel, while
fiction, raises ethical questions. Recently we've seen in the news, doctors
abandoning their patients in the middle of an operation to visit the bank,
or some other business reason. The doctors in 'Off Pace' reflect a cross
section of medics: some devoted to their patients, others merely out to make
a fast buck, while one or two are so incompetent as to endanger the lives of

their patients.

'Off Pace' takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride, and puts a new spin
on the thriller genre. It's a real page-turner. I look forward to the next
Brittan Barclay story.

Told through the use of extended flashbacks, this novel chronicles Meagan and her ordeals, positive and negative as the sole female pacemaker representative in the St. Petersburg, Florida area. She had always wanted to be a doctor but because of personal and financial reasons she never made it to medical school. She is at the proverbial fork in the road with the choices limited to going to med school or staying put as a registered nurse when suddenly an unexpected third option arises. She is offered a position as a pacemaker rep, which would use her medical training as well as provide a possible high source of income.

She accepts the initial position and soon finds herself dealing with office politics and sexism. Slowly but steadily, she builds her territory depite these obstacles as well as dealing with sexual innuendo in regards to how she is building her business. Over the next eight years, which is detailed quite heavily in the book, the abuse steadily worsens as her income and business share increases. At the same time, she begins to learn of deaths in the medical community as well as having a couple of near misses herself which she believes is all the work of one killer. The police don't agree and long after her pacemaker representative career is over the killer goes after her in a dark hospital room to finish the job once and fore all.

This is a first novel for this author according to the promotional copy and as such certain allowances have to be made. However, beyond the clichéd writing at times, there is a certain lack of balance to the characters. While billed as a novel of suspense, this book is primarily a novel of office politics with limited character development. The killer, which is shown through his point of view, is regulated to a background storyline for most of this book and only towards the very end does he resume his place as a primary storyline.

Megan, the heroine is almost portrayed saint like in a David v. Goliath situation where she is always ethical, does her best, and succeeds depite the efforts of the evil men around her. Other than her relationship with Dallas (her physician boyfriend and then husband as the years pass) almost every single male figure in this novel is scum. The men are portrayed as adulterers, sex fiends of various types, drug and alcohol fiends, racists, sexists and everything else possible with some having all the above traits in one character. Some of the male characters are a bit better and just have a couple of the traits. This is true of the Doctors, the pacemaker executives as well as her fellow reps. In other words; men are unbelievable scum, which is an insult to scum everywhere.

While the working environment may in fact be exactly as it is portrayed, it would be more believable if she had used some of her vast experience to add a couple of decent strong male characters. Instead, with the constant stream of disgusting male behavior as well as comments about the sanctity of life (or lack of same) it begins to read as a commentary indictment rant of almost everyone she ever worked with while the author was a pacemaker rep.

The other major problem with this book is that the author feels the need to show off her degrees and language skills. The author has degrees in Nursing, Psychology, Creative Writing, and Biology in addition to her PhD in Psychology. That may explain why narration is portrayed such as:

"After peeking around the opening and seeing no one, she slinked her way back beyond a bench pinched between two rows of matching lockers to an aperture baring a small dictation area emitting bedroom susurrations."

Dialogue is often written the same way or in such a way that one can't comprehend someone in real life speaking that way. For example,

"If Garret was flinging water balloons, the one that hit Megan contained caustic soda. She was stinging. `You know, Garrett,' Megan said. `I resent your insinuations and accusations. They're outright diabolical lies only someone as nefarious as you would dare utter. But, I'm your virus, Garrett. One that's not only potent, but chronic. And no matter how earnest and fierce your attempts to eradicate me are, I'll keep infiltrating and attacking. And just when you think you've wiped me out, I'll mutate impressively, then zap you even more aggressively, you got that?"

Not only does that make me think of a bronchitis infection I had a few years back all winter, but it does not sound like anything anyone in real life would say. While these are two small examples, such over writing runs rampant throughout the novel as the author shows a penchant for using complicated words and phraseology when simplification would work better.

Despite its problems, this novel does hold reader interest. She portrays an industry where the patient comes a far second to the pursuit of money no matter the cost. For those of us with chronic and permanent debilitating health problems, this isn't surprising. At the same time, if even half the stuff depicted in this thinly disguised novel actually happened, it becomes a call to action to clean up the medical sales industry as well as the medical profession itself.

Overall, despite its problems, this is a fairly enjoyable novel. The author shows potential and with editorial assistance, she has the potential to write some good suspense novels.

Brittan Barclay grew up in Michigan, and became a registered nurse, working in her profession for nine years. She worked for eight years as a pacemaker representative for a national company. She has a Ph.D. in Psychology, and degrees in nursing, psychology, creative writing, and biology. Off Pace is her first novel. Her dissertation is now a nonfiction book entitled Everybody Lies, and she is working on her next novel entitled Borderline Obsession.

Meagan is a registered nurse, and is mulling over continuing her education to become a doctor. She has a solid relationship with her doctor boyfriend, Dallas MacGuire, when she is offered a position as a pacemaker representative. The job is lucrative, and Meagan works hard to build her territory as the only female representative. But two problems crop up...one is the obvious sexual overtures which many of her doctors make towards her. The other problem is more sinister, when people associated with the pacemaker industry start turning up murdered. Meagan begins to have life threatening accidents, no one around her believes that her life may be in danger:

"The curtain shifted a bit to her front before Dallas pushed it up over his head and ducked into her stuffy space. 'You've done it again,' he said, briefly squeezing his eyes shut as he shook his head from side to side. 'What am I going to do with you?' He looked and sounded bewildered. 'What did you do? Take them out of your purse? Take a different purse? What? I don't understand? You know...' 'Dallas.' Meagan interrupted. 'I don't know what happened to them. You watched me put three of them in my purse last night. I never took them out."

Off Pace is an intense, adults only story which is fast-paced and extremely well conceived. The plot is nothing short of smashing. Although it is more of a suspense story than a mystery (as there are no prominent investigators in the plot), Barclay does a fine job of masking the true killer until the very last denouement. The story is an "edge-of-your-seat" plot, the characters are liars in the extreme, and the character of Meagan is every woman who tries to navigate the working world with the best of intentions. Barclay knows her stuff in many areas. She is a fine writer, is a knowledgeable nurse, and knows the pacemaker industry well enough to scare the pants off of us non-medical people. A great tale from a smart lass. Off Pace is an excellent first effort.

(...)

Author, Brittan Barclay, has an amazing ability to develop characters. Readers can easily identify with, feel sympathy for and relate to the character (particularly the main character) and their situations. Barclay also writes supporting characters so well readers find a range of emotions from hatred to fear to admiration with each passing chapter.

This was the case as I read this work, Off Pace. I couldn't believe how despicable some the characters were or the situations Barclay would weave them into. Not only does she have the ability to keep readers on the edge of their seats, she also makes them actually think while they're reading. (For example, "Will he really get away with murder again?")

Reading about the pace maker industry and what it takes to sell them, I thought, would be over this book reviewer's head. Instead of finding myself plagued with an endless stream of questions and not understanding the terms being used, I found relief in how well explained everything was.

Barclay provides a glossary at the end of the book for additional quick reference. Despite the fact that this is a fictional novel, I still found it to be quite a learning experience for me. This was particularly appealing to me because several of my family members have to use pace makers.

Don't let the fact that this book is fifty-five chapters long discourage you. Once you pick this book up, it is difficult to put down. With a suspenseful plot and hooks leading readers from one event to the next, I was delighted at how much of a quick and entertaining this book turned out to be in comparison to other books at this length.

Off Pace is a cross-genre novel: part thriller, part general fiction, part
mystery. The heroine, Meagan, is a registered nurse who is seduced by the
financial rewards into working as a representative for a pacemaker company.
And what financial rewards! I had no idea until I read 'Off Pace' that
pacemaker reps can earn high six-figure sums annually, in commission. I was
also unaware that the reps require a high degree of medical knowledge, need
to be expert in heart medicine, and are present during operations to implant
the pacemakers, helping the surgeon to set up and program the devices.

For this reader, a major part of the enjoyment of 'Off Pace' was discovering
a lot about this little-known yet vital area of expertise. Brittan Barclay
worked in the pacemaker industry herself, and brings to 'Off Pace' a wealth
of detail. The story is told in tight, confident writing.

'Off Pace' is written in third person, a viewpoint that allows the
exploration of different facets of the plot, and the author uses this to
give the reader insights as to the activities of 'Prince' a serial killer
who dogs Meagan, the heroine, throughout the book. In fact, on at least two
occasions Meagan narrowly escapes death through his attentions.

It's always difficult in a mystery/thriller to deal with the murderer in
such a way that his identity is withheld to the last, but we, the readers,
feel we are with him in his nasty doings. Brittan Barclay brings off this

difficult feat superbly well. There are sufficient red herrings in the plot,
and I was surprised by the final revelation as to the identity of the evil
doer. This is one of the main tests of competence in a mystery/thriller
novel, and the author succeeds admirably. The killer's methods of doing away
with victims included one that I had never imagined.

Even without the suspense element, the book would still have worked for me
as a general fiction story. The characters are very well drawn. It wasn't
long before I found myself rooting for Meagan as she copes with her bosses
in the business, some of whom were not above dirty dealings to trick Meagan
from her rightful commissions.

The characters in 'Off Pace' are well-constructed and stand up off the page.
In particular, dialogue was original, convincing, and consistently
individual, helping to keep track of the story, which has quite a few
distinctive personalities inhabiting its pages.

Medical stories are always of interest to those of us who fear becoming
patients, and with good reason. Brittan Barclay's debut novel, while
fiction, raises ethical questions. Recently we've seen in the news, doctors
abandoning their patients in the middle of an operation to visit the bank,
or some other business reason. The doctors in 'Off Pace' reflect a cross
section of medics: some devoted to their patients, others merely out to make
a fast buck, while one or two are so incompetent as to endanger the lives of

their patients.

'Off Pace' takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride, and puts a new spin
on the thriller genre. It's a real page-turner. I look forward to the next
Brittan Barclay story.

Doctors routinely make decisions that can mean life or death to a patient, but what goes into their decision making processes? And just who are the people whose job it is to influence these decisions? Brittan Barclay has skillfully crafted a stunning indictment of the method by which doctors choose life saving devices.
This book is one part pulp suspense novel, with vanity stricken characters who eat, sleep, and dream of trashy sex and intricately planned (and quite clever) murders. But Brittan Barclay has also brought us into the world of pacemaker sales, quite credibly and it's surprisingly entertaining. Off Pace serves as a grand metaphor for the unsavory business side of medicine, a side of medicine that we'd all like to think is run by altruistic souls dedicated to pure health issues. Yet the philosophical underpinnings of this book beg (and practically scream) to differ. Good doctors are worth ten times their weight in gold, but the era of blind reverence to this exalted profession is over.
Trust me, when you find out who the killer is, you'll be shocked. Fiction backed by fact and driven by startling analysis, funny and clever, this book will keep you on the edge of your (waiting room?) seat long after you finish the last page.

OFF PACE, a new medical thriller gives the reader an inside look at the dark side of the Medical Profession. The competitive actions of those skilled and unskilled, trusted with the implementation of pacemakers, who put power and money ahead of the safety of their patients, will boggle the reader's mind. The characters and language included within seem too real to be true, but then the characters and language within seem too real not to be true.

Down through the ages, doctors who lived by the Hippocratic Oath, especially the adage "Above All, Do No Harm", still, in the back of their minds, have always considered themselves to be "gods" of one kind or another, and on many occasions this omnipotence contaminated those who worked alongside these professionals to such an extent that in the minds of the uninitiated had taken on the mantel of the doctors they served.

A narcissistic sociopath dressed in scrubs who has unlimited access to all the hospitals, medical clinics, their procedures, drugs and equipment in his sphere of influence, lives in a realm that even the "gods" wouldn't enter; and with demonic impunity leaves a trail of death behind him wherever he goes. Future pacemaker patients will view their doctors with incredulity, skepticism and trepidation.

Brittany Barclay's Off Pace will have the same effect on people, as Robin Cook's Coma had on "Operating Room 8".

In 1986 Clearwater, Florida, Metralink pacemaker representative Garrett Cameron offers a job to cardiac care unit nurse Meagan Kramer. Though she once dreamed of medical school, financial independence is more important and this position will give her monetary and medical freedom so Meagan accepts the job. Though her work with doctors and patients is quite fulfilling, the position turns ugly as Garrett steals her clients and calls her a whore in public. Meagan quits.

Meagan quickly scores a job with Metralink competitor Biostride. She does quite well in spite of the trouble Garrett causes her such as suing her. Over the years other problems occur that are life threatening. Meagan notices a pattern in which several members of the pacemaker community has died. Knowing Garrett's venom, she wonders whether he is capable of something more sinister, but no one believes her. As attempts on her life increase, Meagan knows she must uncover the truth, but seek it alone.

The medical business that serves as the underlying pillar to this exciting thriller is simply fascinating and enhances the plot as Brittan Barclay (perfect publisher for this author) interweaves the unscrupulous competitiveness that by passes ethics of the profession. The story line is very exciting and is a one siting read. Still the twist of a possible serial killer adds tension, but feels unnecessary as Meagan's story, including the attempts on her life, grip the audience who wonder if it is a jealous rival. Meagan is a great character and the secondary cast provides depth to the cardiac industry and to her. Though Garrett seems too crazy, fans will take vast pleasure from reading Brittan Barclay's on pace enthralling thriller.

Harriet Klausner

I found this book by accident. Actually, I was in the mood to take a risk on a new author and Brittan Barclay benefitted, or so I thought.

The person who really benefitted was me. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I don't normally buy medical thrillers so, this is a huge compliment to Ms. Barclay. She knows how to catch a reader's attention, and hold it.

At first, I thought the beginning of this book was weak, but it appears that was only setup and you appreciate the book as a whole more completely upon finishing it.

I highly recommend this novel for people who like 'edge of your seat' action along with complete characterization. I got to hate some of the bad guys instead of just dislike them. I thought about them when I wasn't reading the book.

Good job, Ms. Barclay. I look forward to your next work.