Review: The First Family by Michael & Daniel Palmer

When Netgalley notified me my wish had come true to receive an advance readers copy of The First Family by Michael and Daniel Palmer, I was quite happy (to say the least). I've read books by the father/son duo independently of each other, but I have never had the pleasure of reading a title written by the two of them. Both authors are favorites of mine. The way they compose their medical thrillers always grabs my attention and barely lets up the whole ride through.

Review: Mercy by Daniel and Michael Palmer

After 700+ pages of tromping through the forest, I decided a light, easy, thrilling read was a much needed relief to that sack of crap. Michael and son, Daniel Palmer's latest novelMercy fit the bill perfectly. Mercy is a captivating thrill ride full of whodunits and whys.

Review of Code White by Scott Britz-Cunningham

I just finished Code White by Scott Britz-Cunningham and am impressed with how well this debut novel is written. There are many ways to mess up the medical thriller but the biggest is always making the technical information seem like a foreign language that is not in any way interesting or digestable. There are ways that authors of medical thrillers can get so wrapped up in explaining procedures that ultimately they lose any interest the reader had in it's entertainment value. Brilliantly, Britz-Cunningham's Code White is a good balance of medical information and entertainment.

We are introduced to Ali O'day who is an up and coming neurosurgeon who's about to broadcast for the whole world, an implant of a revolutionary mini-computer into a young boy's brain. This surgery is groundbreaking and will allow Jamie, the boy, to see. Her lover Dr. Helvelius and her soon to be ex-husband assist her in making history all the while, there's something much more dangerous in the works.  With reporters and the whole world watching, the hospital security team calls a "code white", a bomb threat.

Harry Lewton, the hospital's chief of security is doing everything in his power to locate the bomb that is in the hospital. Harry is the quinessential security guy you want on your team. His passion, dedication, intelligence, and care makes him the one to root for in this novel. He's a well-developed hero that readers crave in these types of novels. I hold him in high regard because there wasn't anyone else that sparked my interest as he had which brings me to some of the things that I didn't think worked that well.

Ali is a well-rounded developed character and has a lot of good qualities, but she also has some that annoyed the crap out of me. She seemed cold and stoic in moments I thought she would have softened a little bit especially when she was presented with the news of the bomb threat. I understood that she hadn't always had a great relationship with the US of A but for someone who cares so deeply for patients, that layer should have been easier to break in her facade.  Her relationship with Jamie does knock some of the reservations I have about her, but then I don't think it was enough for me to really enjoy reading her segments as I did Harry's. And as far as Ali is concerned, her love triangle thing gets a little old and tiring for me and for Ali. What's girl to do?

Finally, my last thing that was a little off for me was the revelation of the whodunnit early in the novel left a little to be desired by the reader. I thought that Britz-Cunningham could have definitely milked that cow a little longer. I hope this doesn't deter any readers because it doesn't hurt the plot, I personally would have liked to do a little more guess work. I mean c'mon! I'm no doctor so the least I can do is put together clues as to who the culprit is.

Overall, I think this was a great, well written, fast paced novel and I really enjoyed spending the few hours that I did with it. Britz-Cunningham has written a great novel right out of the gate. His expertise and knowledge in the medical field and techno field will not disappoint any techies or physicians nor will the thrills, suspense, character depth, and pure entertainment disappoint others who find that to be crucial. I'm happy that Britz-Cunningham's work stands on it's own and he doesn't have to be given brownie points for having a novel set in Chicago and mentioning Evanston. ***

Pre-Review of Deadly Rhythm by Peter Kowey, MD

*Won through a Goodreads Giveaway*

I recently decided it was time to get back to actual paper books so the novel Deadly Rhythm by Peter Kowey MD arriving in the mail was a good place to start... initially. The novel begins with an old man, Al Romanzo, having a fall in a nursing home that eventually leads to his death at a hospital. In an effort to squeeze the hospital for money his children file a malpractice lawsuit when there were questions of how someone comes to the hospital for a fall but leaves dead by reason of cardiac arrest. Dr. Phillip Sarkis is called in by the insurance lawyer to investigate whether the claim has any merit and what their liability is.

Dr. Phillip finds evidence of foulplay and other victims which sets him on a crusade to find who is the person murdering old men. He enlists the help of his girlfriend Dorothy and her P.I. father Dick. They soon unravel more than they want to and are placed in harms way.

Now! The premise for this novel seems like a winner. I am a fan of Michael Palmer and Tess Gerritsen so I didn't hesitate to put a bid in to win this novel. I was stoked upon hearing I'd won and after waiting for it for two months, it arrives and I crack it open. After reading a few pages my excitement level dropped tremendously. I wanted to like this book so much but I can't honestly say that I do. The story is actually an interesting story and I think it's really sad that someone is knocking off old men who have something exceptionally good in common. And Kowey's writing style doesn't make it seem that all the medical terms are intimidating.

My gripes with this book are that the story doesn't seem to be unfolding. It's almost like I'm listening to someone dictate a story as opposed to being right where the action is. He uses a lot of "later this evening" or "a few days later" as if we aren't to know that time has moved forward. And his description of the malpractice lawyer makes him seem like the scum of the earth. There was a scene in the beginning that the lawyer seemed like he was going to assault another lawyer in the middle of the boardroom and the rookie lawyers were just going to let it happen. The guy was so cliche and exaggerated that I actually found him comical.

I hope this review wasn't too harsh but I have to be honest. If the read wasn't fast paced or have an interesting premise I may have chucked it out of window. But I did want to know why and who were killing these helpless old men. That is the only reason I finished the book. I'm sure with this being only Kowey's second novel, a few writing quirks will be ironed out in future novels. Until then... **