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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Ambition and jealousy play second fiddle to revenge in this standalone thriller by Leslie Wolfe. A tragic event in the life of a young woman has a deep affect on the life and livelihood of a heart surgeon. There is another drama going on, and this drama is due to the actions of her husband. The surgeon is Dr. Anne Wiley and she is married to a well-respected man named Derreck who just might be the very next mayor.
However, another story is being told. Anne’s husband is having an affair with Paula, a woman who seems bound and determined to bring Anne down. While a tragic loss of life during surgery could cost Anne everything, ambition facing her husband and his lover are also at play.
The lives of these three characters are very much intertwined, although Anne is unaware of what is going on between Derreck and Paula. All Anne wants is to avoid being prosecuted and jailed for the death of the patient she recently lost. Paula has other plans, and if ruining Anne happens along the way, then that will perhaps satisfy Paula. While Derreck was a man definitely caught up in the illicit affair, loyalty comes into play. This is especially so as the career and reputation of his wife is very important to him.
While The Surgeon is an exciting thriller with multiple twists, so much so that forming opinions on the characters is easy from the very beginning, especially to the degree where you as a reader might just despise Paula as much as I did. However, I listened to this book as an audiobook that was narrated by Gwendolyn Druyor. While audiobooks is one of my favorite forms of reading, I was less than satisfied with the narration, especially when it came to the voice of Anne. I felt that she was too whiny every time the book was turned to her perspective. Maybe it was the narration, maybe it was the characterization of Anne.
Despite this one caveat, this didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this latest book by an author that I very much enjoy. I absolutely love the Kay Sharp series by Leslie Wolfe, and very much appreciated having a medical thriller as her latest book. I hope she continues to write standalone thrillers because she did a fabulous job with The Surgeon. With excellent pacing, a sad but intriguing storyline, as well as the medical aspects of this book, this was quite a compelling read.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
However, another story is being told. Anne’s husband is having an affair with Paula, a woman who seems bound and determined to bring Anne down. While a tragic loss of life during surgery could cost Anne everything, ambition facing her husband and his lover are also at play.
The lives of these three characters are very much intertwined, although Anne is unaware of what is going on between Derreck and Paula. All Anne wants is to avoid being prosecuted and jailed for the death of the patient she recently lost. Paula has other plans, and if ruining Anne happens along the way, then that will perhaps satisfy Paula. While Derreck was a man definitely caught up in the illicit affair, loyalty comes into play. This is especially so as the career and reputation of his wife is very important to him.
While The Surgeon is an exciting thriller with multiple twists, so much so that forming opinions on the characters is easy from the very beginning, especially to the degree where you as a reader might just despise Paula as much as I did. However, I listened to this book as an audiobook that was narrated by Gwendolyn Druyor. While audiobooks is one of my favorite forms of reading, I was less than satisfied with the narration, especially when it came to the voice of Anne. I felt that she was too whiny every time the book was turned to her perspective. Maybe it was the narration, maybe it was the characterization of Anne.
Despite this one caveat, this didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this latest book by an author that I very much enjoy. I absolutely love the Kay Sharp series by Leslie Wolfe, and very much appreciated having a medical thriller as her latest book. I hope she continues to write standalone thrillers because she did a fabulous job with The Surgeon. With excellent pacing, a sad but intriguing storyline, as well as the medical aspects of this book, this was quite a compelling read.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It kept my interest from start to finish! It has a great plot (the surgeons patient dies on the surgery table…but what really happened?) and while we are trying to figure out what happened, there’s a fatal attraction love affair going on too! So it definitely keeps you intrigued.
I took off .5 stars because there’s certain things toward the end that require you to REALLY suspend your beliefs. Like a little tooo much.
1) I’m suppose to believe her mom snuck into a hospital, somehow obtained a full nurse wardrobe, snuck in the patients room and did what she did completely unscathed??
2) why would she want to do that to her daughter who would be operating on him? That seems pretty awful considering they have a great relationship.
3) the scene where Anne’s being shown the security cameras and the security guard is all I’ll leave you all alone in this room, HERE’S THE DELETE FOOTAGE BUTTON BUT DONT TOUCH IT, okay bye, lol it was just completely unbelievable.
The ending left a good cliff hanger to possibly create room for a second book which I would definitely read. So overall, I did enjoy reading this
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It kept my interest from start to finish! It has a great plot (the surgeons patient dies on the surgery table…but what really happened?) and while we are trying to figure out what happened, there’s a fatal attraction love affair going on too! So it definitely keeps you intrigued.
I took off .5 stars because there’s certain things toward the end that require you to REALLY suspend your beliefs. Like a little tooo much.
1) I’m suppose to believe her mom snuck into a hospital, somehow obtained a full nurse wardrobe, snuck in the patients room and did what she did completely unscathed??
2) why would she want to do that to her daughter who would be operating on him? That seems pretty awful considering they have a great relationship.
3) the scene where Anne’s being shown the security cameras and the security guard is all I’ll leave you all alone in this room, HERE’S THE DELETE FOOTAGE BUTTON BUT DONT TOUCH IT, okay bye, lol it was just completely unbelievable.
The ending left a good cliff hanger to possibly create room for a second book which I would definitely read. So overall, I did enjoy reading this
I would have given this a 1.5 if I could have. It was so obvious what was going to happen. There was a bit of a twist at the end but I just didn’t care for the story line. It didn’t keep my attention long. Honestly, I was ready for it to be over.
Really like this book! Some parts were a little predictable but still had me guessing at some parts!
⭐️ 2.75. I was really back and forth on what to rate this book. I was bored at parts, but the overall shocks of Anne’s mom killing Caleb by putting extra potassium in the pump and Paula only using derreck because Melanie was her sister were shocking turns.
Somewhere between a 2.5 and a 3...
This wasn't bad and it wasn't good, it was a bit interesting at times, but overall it was pretty boring. The dual POV was definitely a good choice, but some of the twists were a bit obvious. The motive for Paula was a little cringe because it seemed like a bit of stretch to do everything she did and all of the characters were pretty unlikeable.
This wasn't bad and it wasn't good, it was a bit interesting at times, but overall it was pretty boring. The dual POV was definitely a good choice, but some of the twists were a bit obvious. The motive for Paula was a little cringe because it seemed like a bit of stretch to do everything she did and all of the characters were pretty unlikeable.
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief
Moderate: Pedophilia
Minor: Child abuse, Child death