Crime

Review: The Last Surgeon by Michael Palmer. 4* 08/10/2022

I have always like Michael Palmer’s books. He is a very good writer and his subject matter is always fabulous. His stories are well organized; great develop characters, good medical information and a great plot to get the reader to the end.

This story was more or less about a mobile medic unit helping those who sometimes are over looked. Dr. Nick Garrity runs the medical unit and was a former trauma surgeon, dealing with PTSD from serving in Afghanistan and trying to find a friend who he served with. Nick also meets a young woman Jillian Coates who is searching for her sister’s killer. Combining the two searches Michael Palmer developed a mastermind fascinating great book. Within the story these two people enhances the reader’s mind, challenges the emotions often and fills the reader’s imagination to the max. ( )

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12549038

Medical thriller. Although it doesn't really feature much insight into medical procedures or epidemics, anything like that.

Nick Garrity is a vet with PTSD who gave up surgery after coming home from Iraq and started working in a mobile clinic that serves the DC area. He has one obsession: finding a friend, a fellow soldier, who seems to have walked off the face of the earth. Umberto Vasquez, in fact, saved his life in Iraq. That last he heard from him was that he had been called for some kind of special mission. That was four years ago.

Meanwhile, Jillian Coates comes across Nick while searching for clues to her sister's death. Her sister, Belle Coates, was a nurse (as is Jillian) who died an apparent suicide in another state. While law enforcement sees no reason to look further, Jillian is convinced that it is not suicide but murder. The two hook up because of a stack of comics that leads Jillian to Nick, and they find they both have mysteries to solve.

Together they discover another person with a story similar to Umberto's and they trace his activities to a plastic surgery clinic and hospital where Belle worked. Something is not right. It goes without saying that the two are rewarded for their efforts by threats to their own lives.

A decent enough thriller. Follows the usual formula, gets it done, keeps one's mind occupied. Airplane reading! ( )

Michael Palmer is a new author for me. He writes medical thrillers. This was definitely a nail biter. I listened to it on CD in my car and found myself driving slowly up the hill to home so I could hear more. The killer in the book is brutal and calls himself a non killer because he makes the deaths look like accidents. You must read to comprehend this concept. I will most definitely pick up another Michael Palmer book! ( )

I enjoy this author so imagine my surprise when it took me over half the book to become captured by it. So not my favorite. Story of nurse investigating the alleged suicide of her sister. This leads her to Dr. Nick Garrity who, himself, has questions about the mysterious disappearance of a war buddy. And it goes from there. I don't know why it took so long to get into it...was it the writing or the story. I don't know. Will not give up on Palmer. ( )