🩺💉🏥 “Prognosis Critical” (2022) 🏥💉🩺 – Book Review
Book Title: PROGNOSIS CRITICAL by Gary Birken MD
Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 258 pages
Genre: Medical Thriller
Publisher: Erupen Titles
Release date: August 2022
Content Rating: PG. Gary Birken's books can be read by his kids. He says it's between a PG and PG+M (shit one time; damn three times; hell three times).
WHERE DEADLY SECRETS ARE THE NORM . . .
Three weeks after completing her residency in pediatric cardiology, Dr. Jacey Flanigan moves from the Pacific Northwest to Manhattan to begin her career at the prestigious Children’s Heart Hospital. But after an unpleasant encounter with an arrogant heart surgeon on her first day, Jacey begins to realize that the medical profession is not what she expected. She learns that enigmatic physician behavior and questionable cardiac surgical practices are cloaked in secrecy—and she is expected to follow suit. . . .
EVEN FOR THOSE WHO’VE SWORN TO HELP.
Jacey soon finds herself facing the difficult moral dilemma: turn a blind eye to malpractice and protect her fledgling career, or dig deeper into suspicious activity and face the consequences?
Thank you in advance to the author; Gary Birken, MD; for providing a complimentary review copy through iRead Book Tours. A positive review was not required nor requested, and all words are my own.
As someone who grew up around the medical field, I often find some books lacking in either credibility or believability. And, while I understand they are works of fiction – they should have “some” basis in reality.
Imagine my surprise when an ACTUAL doctor wrote a medical suspense/thriller. I was thrilled and everything about this grabbed me!
To be honest, I have been going through a family emergency, and I completely forgot about this book, so I dreaded having to read this and review it in the space of 18 hours; staying up all night to work on this.
No worries there! Right off this grabbed my attention and I read it in under 2½ hours. To say it held my attention is an understatement, and it really is a “can’t-put-it-down” type of read. So, there was no doubt this was going to keep me up anyway.
While this is a medical suspense/thriller, it isn’t gory. There are references to illegal adoptions, a cancer diagnosis, and threats against children though.
There are multiple POVs, but it is Jacey’s POV the reader sees more of.
The prologue threw me for a loop, and I was eagerly waiting to read for some connection.
Told in three parts, and using short chapters, Birken hits the ground running and doesn’t stop.
Readers are introduced to Tim and Abby who are adopting a baby. Then, a year or so later, when Jacey is new to Manhattan Children’s Heart Hospital, Tim and Abby are there regarding Jenna’s heart surgery. But, there is something amiss and it ends up being fatal for Tim.
On her first day, Jacey is introduced to Dr. Gault and the “hospital” politics. It is clear something is going on. And, after she consults with her father – another doctor – she gets some interesting advice.
Jacey is thrown for a loop when her college friend’s son is brought in. Even more stunning is the boy’s rapid decline that leaves him near-death. Despite her newbie status, Jacey isn’t going to just sit back and not try to look into the boy’s “complications”.
But, that isn’t all she soon discovers. And, she also realizes what lengths some will go to when it comes to preserving the good name of the hospital as she soon ends up being the victim of a review board.
In order to clear her name, she ends up breaking a few rules and is asked what is more important – her career or the truth?
And, Birken definitely holds the reader’s interest until the last pages with a surprise that I would not have ever anticipated. [FYI: it works SO well].
I’m sure as a doctor, the author has seen things. I know my mother has told me quite a few stories from the Emergency Department, an outpatient clinic, medical/surgical floor, as well as a transplant floor. So, I wasn’t too surprised by how well this turned out or its believability.
I was surprised by the real “culprit”. I was SO SURE I KNEW who it was. I have to hand it to the author – this certainly is a shrewdly designed plot. Jacey’s research and discovery wasn’t too shocking, but I love how she presented everything to the board.
For those who think Dr. Nichols’ denial of the evidence might be farfetched – I’ve actually met, known, and worked for people like him. His reaction is astoundingly realistic.
There was only one issue I had – it was a “mugging” of Jacey and the mugger used the term “clip” with regard to emptying the weapon’s bullets into Jacey’s side. The correct term is “MAGAZINE”. While some authors, TV shows, and movies often say “clip” – it is incorrect and some who work with and around firearms will likely cringe at the gaffe.
However, the medical language is 100% accurate, but might overwhelm some readers. I had no issues with the terms as my mother worked in a hospital as a Unit Clerk for 25 years, was a volunteer, as well as a pre-med explorer. Interestingly though, my preferred path was criminal justice.
There are a few instances at the end of the book where Jacey’s last name of Flanigan is misspelled as Flanagan; however, if there were any other typos, I probably skipped them. That says a lot about how well written and paced this book was.
Overall, this is a slick and unpredictable read that could definitely work as a movie with its realistic story-telling and dramatic plot. This was extremely fast-paced and I felt myself trying to keep up – especially with my notes.
While the author was new-to-me when I read this, I am definitely interested in his past and future work.
Fans of the author and/or medical thrillers won’t want to miss this. Those who enjoy standalone reads as opposed to series will be happy to know this is a standalone read.
RATING:
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
Dr. Gary Birken is a pediatric surgeon living in South Florida. He is the author of seven novels of medical suspense, five of which were originally published by Penguin Random House. They include: FINAL DIAGNOSIS, EMBOLUS, PLAGUE, and CODE 15. He is also the author of ERROR IN DIAGNOSIS, which was published under the name of Mason Lucas. His two passions in life are medicine and story writing. He spends whatever leisure time remains playing tennis, golf, and spending as much time as possible with his ten grandchildren. He also holds a black belt in martial arts, teaches women’s self-defense, and is a certified private pilot.
connect with the author: website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads
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