Gary Gerlacher

The back cover blurb states that this book is a mystery but with alot of information on working in an emergency room (ER). This is 100% accurate. It seemed to me that the author wrote a book on the ER and then tried to throw in a murder. The ER setting was more prominent than the mystery. While the setting provided was interesting, the book is supposed to be a medical thriller. However, it falls short of the thriller category description. The author is an ER physician himself which is why he has numerous anecdotes about the ER. I can understand the desire to put everything you know about a setting into a novel but Gerlacher should have pulled back.

While Tracy Palmer was dead on arrival at the ER, she was never mentioned again. Another woman by the name of Jenny Smithton seems to have taken her place. There was no mention that they were the same person but I figured it out from their character descriptions. Another odd part of the book is that it begins with Docker performing a tracheotomy on a ski slope. I thought it would be connected to the plot but it wasn't. I am assuming Gerlacher was introducing the reader to his main character.

AJ Docker is a smart ass character. He is arrogant and gets away with plenty of shinnanagans. He is our amateur sleuth. I have never before read a book where a man was an amateur sleuth and it was awkward for me. Also, amateur sleuth mysteries tend to follow a particular cozy mystery formula. Last Patient of the Night does not do this. In addition, while Docker was performing his investigation he killed 3 men on three separate days. The two officers that were in charge of the official investigation were aware and never arrested or charged him. This just isn't realistic.

This book had many problems and the more I think about them the more disappointed I am.… (altro)

Fast-paced with lots of action, this is more a crime thriller than a medical drama even though the main character is a traveling ER physician.

AJ Docker (Doc) and his incredible service dog, Banshee, move to Montana for a change of pace in a quiet mountain town. He gets a job at the local community hospital and settles in. Before long, Doc finds that this seemingly idyllic setting is hiding some pretty nasty secrets and, of course, he is going to be in the middle of it.

So, there is still some emergency drama for Doc, but the main focus of this second installment is on the activities at a huge local ranch and a series of bodies discovered in the woods. Instead of saving patients in the ER, Doc is sneaking around at night peeking into warehouses, following suspicious trucks, and generally sticking his nose into a really nasty side business. He also has a romantic interest that, for a moment, was suggesting that Doc was maturing and more ready to settle down.

I enjoyed this, but not nearly as much as the first one. I did not care for the plot and wished that this had focused more on medical intrigue. I like Doc and he sure has some luck with so many narrow escapes. Without giving spoilers, I can't mention here the incident that I really hated in the book. Also, that whole town was full of people whose main facial expression was a smirk.

Doc is moving on to Las Vegas next, and I may have to follow him hoping that this series will get back to the medical and leave the crime solving to the detectives and police.

Thank you to the publisher for this e-book ARC to read and review.… (altro)

Fast, fun medical thriller -- the first in a new series.

As a nurse, I really have always appreciated well-written medical thrillers and follow certain authors who never disappoint. Happy to add a new name to my list as I enjoyed this action-packed story about an emergency room physician who gets involved with some very bad dudes.

Dr. AJ Docker (Doc) is on duty when a young woman comes in with a broken wrist. He senses that there is more going on with her than she is willing to tell but has to let her leave the ER after treatment. He is stunned when that same patient is returned to the ambulance bay and dumped from a car -- DOA. She's been beaten and mutilated and the name she had given is fake. Doc and his friend, a canine cop with his dog, Banshee, want justice and start snooping around to find out who the woman was and why she died.

This book had some great characters and some crazy over-the-top scenarios, but it was a lot of fun to read. I enjoyed the medical interspersed with the amateur crime fighting. Sure, parts of it were totally unrealistic and hard to believe, but I just could not put it down so finished it in one sitting. There was humor that made me laugh out loud and tense moments that kept me rapt. Definitely want to see more of Doc and can't wait for his next book.

Thank you to the NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.… (altro)