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chymerra's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Medical thrillers are not a genre that I typically read. It’s not that I don’t like them (I do); it’s just that they don’t show up on my radar very often, even when I am looking for a new book to read. So, I was intrigued when I was invited to review Fatal Intent. After reading the blurb, I knew I wanted to read this book. I am glad that I did because it was a great read.
There are trigger warnings in Fatal Intent. The huge, most obvious one is the angel of mercy killings. There are brief mentions of the death of a spouse and child through a drunk driver and the miscarriage. The author also talks about assisted death quite often during the book. This is a touchy subject and one that I am not going to discuss in this blog.
Fatal Intent is a fast-paced medical thriller that takes place in Florida. Kate is an anesthesiologist working at a university (or teaching) hospital. Kate lives with her great-aunt Irma, an eccentric German transplant, and her black lab, Shadow. Kate has had a rough couple of years. Her husband, Greg, severely injured by a bomb while deployed, has been in a coma for a year. She miscarried their daughter because of that. And the cherry on top, the chief of staff, Dr. Walker, dislikes Kate and makes her life miserable at work. Things start to snowball when Kate discovers several suspicious deaths on and off the hospital grounds. At the same time, Kate is accused of misconduct with a student and malpractice by an unpleasant surgeon, and Greg’s brother, Adam, is going ahead with a lawsuit to take Greg off life support. As Kate fights the lawsuit, the inquiry, and the malpratice accusation, she realizes everything is connected. Determined to get to the bottom of everything, Kate soon finds herself in a situation where she needs to make an impossible choice. What choice does Kate have to make? How is everything connected? Did the hospital have an angel of mercy?
The main characters of Fatal Intent surprised me. I was prepared to be annoyed or even not like them. But, right from the beginning, the author made them relatable. Also, she wasn’t afraid to kill off a couple of who I considered main characters. It made what happened at the end of the book so much more poignant.
- Kate—I liked and connected with her. She had a great relationship with her great-aunt Irma and 98% of her coworkers. She treated her patients respectfully and wasn’t afraid to speak up when she thought something wasn’t right. Her relationship with the chief of staff did confuse me a little at the beginning, but once the author explained it, a lightbulb went off. The only thing that she had a conflict of interest in was Greg. She didn’t want him to die starving to death. But her brother-in-law, Adam, thought otherwise. As for her investigating the deaths, she didn’t intend to become embroiled in that scheme. She was doing what she thought was right. My heart broke for her at the climax of the book. She had to make an impossible decision. No matter what she decided, it was going to hurt her.
I say this in every review, but the secondary characters made this book. Every single one added extra depth to the plotline. I liked how these secondary characters also tied into the main storyline. They had clues about who the killer was, why Kate was being singled out at work, and why Adam was insistent on taking Greg off life support. Secondary characters rarely do that.
If you look above, you see that I put a lot of genres down that this book fits into. The top three out of that group would be medical fiction, mystery, and thriller. Fatal Intent fits perfectly into those genres.
So, a little bit of a warning, the review will get a little longer here. Several main storylines in Fatal Intent are merged about halfway through the book. I didn’t understand why the author had so many until the end. Everything became crystal clear here.
The storyline with Kate, the medical student, and the accusation of misconduct made me so angry. I knew the medical student was up to no good from the moment the author introduced him. There was a point in the book where I thought that Kate would end up losing her job, but the author pulled out her hidden ace. It was mentioned, and I didn’t even think about it until it was mentioned. Of course, the ending to that storyline was very satisfactory and did tie into the storyline with the malpractice, Dr. Walker, and the angel of mercy.
Speaking of that, I was so angry about the malpractice inquiry that Kate found herself in. The surgeon was full of himself, and I couldn’t believe that the chief of staff would side with him instead of remaining impartial. I found it suspicious. Of course, this storyline ended the way I thought it would but still. I wanted to smack that surgeon upside the head and tell him to take it down a notch.
The storyline with Dr. Walker, Kate, and the deaths left a bad taste in my mouth. As I said above, Dr. Walker was so suspicious. His treatment of Kate was borderline abuse of power, and everyone in that hospital knew it. He didn’t want to listen to her when she brought up credible evidence about a new hire. Also, he was too involved with the medical student’s accusation and the inquiry. I wasn’t surprised by what was revealed during Kate’s investigation. I did like that what she turned up had an effect…haha. I was thrilled with how everything turned out. Dr. Walker reaped what he sowed.
The storyline with Kate, Greg, and Adam was one of the saddest ones I have ever read. I got why Kate didn’t want to take Greg off life support. I agreed with her that starving to death was a painful way to go, even if you were in a coma. And like Kate, my distaste for Adam was there from the beginning.
The end of Fatal Intent was heartstopping. The author was able to meld the above storylines together in a way that took me by surprise. A colossal twist (and a heartbreaking decision made) took me by surprise. It is hard to get one past me with thrillers; the author certainly did!! I didn’t see it coming and felt that I should have.
I would recommend Fatal Intent to anyone over 21. There is violence, non-graphic sexual situations (kissing), and language.
I want to thank Tammy Euliano and Oceanview Publishing for allowing me to read and review Fatal Intent. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Death, and Medical trauma
Minor: Child death
Explicit details of angel of mercy killings.bookaddict827's review
5.0
Holy Debut Novel! Fatal Intent is a fast-paced, suspenseful, keep you on the edge of your seat medical thriller. It also brings to light a very important discussion around end-of-life care/assisted suicide. I enjoyed that this book is action-packed and dialogue driven. I couldn’t stop reading the book, I needed to know how it was going to end! The fact that the author is an anesthesiologist is what made the book so realistic, credible, and enjoyable! While I had my suspicions about who could be behind it all, I was shocked at the ending; there was one thing that I never saw coming. If you’re a fan of medical thrillers, this one is for you!
srivalli's review
4.0
3.9 Stars
Anesthesiologist, Dr. Kate Downey, has enough issues to deal with. When the elderly patients who were under the care start to die, she worries how it would affect her already troubled career. As more deaths occur, and Christian, the son of one of the dead men, wants to check if there was something sinister, Kate agrees to check the reports with him.
The incidents at the hospital, the hostility from the Chief of Staff, a surgeon, and a medical student begin to push her into a corner. Kate knows she needs to get to the bottom of the issue. Together with Christian, Aunt Erm, and a few others, she starts collecting information.
She gets threats, has to take a leave of absence, and almost loses her life. With her husband, Greg, lying in a coma for a year with no signs of improvement, Kate has a lot to lose. How she gathers evidence, fights the killer, and finally comes to terms with some things in her life forms the story.
The book starts on a slow note, and with so many characters being introduced, it gets hard to keep track. But the story picks up speed, and it gets easier to remember the characters. Not all of them are important, so it’s easy once we get into the story.
The narration slows down and picks up at the appropriate places, making the story quite intriguing and engaging. While the readers know who the killer is and even probably why the way the climax was handled was very good. There is action, enough of it to keep us reading page after page without taking a break.
Some of the characters felt unidimensional as if that’s all they could do. It did bring down the interest a little. However, Aunt Irm, gets our attention. The way her mind works, and how she expresses it makes her a strong and sensible character. While Kate is hesitant, cautious, and wondering, Aunt Irm doesn’t hesitate or stall. She is straightforward and better at connecting the dots.
The theme deals with Religion and God, but the author handled it deftly without overemphasizing, taking sides, or preaching. This balance works well for the book.
Overall, the story needs some patience and determination to read the first 20%. But stick around, and you’ll enjoy a good medical thriller (even if some of it is too complex for non-medics to understand).
I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing and am voluntarily leaving a review.
#FatalIntent #NetGalley
Anesthesiologist, Dr. Kate Downey, has enough issues to deal with. When the elderly patients who were under the care start to die, she worries how it would affect her already troubled career. As more deaths occur, and Christian, the son of one of the dead men, wants to check if there was something sinister, Kate agrees to check the reports with him.
The incidents at the hospital, the hostility from the Chief of Staff, a surgeon, and a medical student begin to push her into a corner. Kate knows she needs to get to the bottom of the issue. Together with Christian, Aunt Erm, and a few others, she starts collecting information.
She gets threats, has to take a leave of absence, and almost loses her life. With her husband, Greg, lying in a coma for a year with no signs of improvement, Kate has a lot to lose. How she gathers evidence, fights the killer, and finally comes to terms with some things in her life forms the story.
The book starts on a slow note, and with so many characters being introduced, it gets hard to keep track. But the story picks up speed, and it gets easier to remember the characters. Not all of them are important, so it’s easy once we get into the story.
The narration slows down and picks up at the appropriate places, making the story quite intriguing and engaging. While the readers know who the killer is and even probably why the way the climax was handled was very good. There is action, enough of it to keep us reading page after page without taking a break.
Some of the characters felt unidimensional as if that’s all they could do. It did bring down the interest a little. However, Aunt Irm, gets our attention. The way her mind works, and how she expresses it makes her a strong and sensible character. While Kate is hesitant, cautious, and wondering, Aunt Irm doesn’t hesitate or stall. She is straightforward and better at connecting the dots.
The theme deals with Religion and God, but the author handled it deftly without overemphasizing, taking sides, or preaching. This balance works well for the book.
Overall, the story needs some patience and determination to read the first 20%. But stick around, and you’ll enjoy a good medical thriller (even if some of it is too complex for non-medics to understand).
I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing and am voluntarily leaving a review.
#FatalIntent #NetGalley
critter's review
4.0
Fatal Intent was a very interesting medical thriller. I loved the characters. They had great chemistry with each other. I especially enjoyed Aunt Irm. She was one of my favorite aspects in this book. This book has an interesting discussion of end of life decisions that I felt was handled very well. These topics can be very difficult and I don't believe that there is a single correct answer to how end of life decisions should be handled. These decisions are often very personal and everybody will view these decisions based upon different factors and life experiences. The medical aspect of this book is very easy to understand and follow along with, which I greatly appreciate. Overall, I really enjoyed in this book and I look forward to any future books by this author.
I would like to thank Oceanview Publishing for providing me with an ARC.
I would like to thank Oceanview Publishing for providing me with an ARC.
chattychapters's review
3.0
Being a Registered Nurse whose favourite book genre is thriller, I was really excited to dive into this medical mystery/thriller, I loved the whole setting being in hospital and mainly in the operating room or surgical suites. I personally really enjoyed all the medical terminology throughout the story, but I could also definitely see other readers finding it a tad heavy on that aspect. I enjoyed the main character and thought she had great development, but unfortunately the story just fell a tad flat for me as a whole. I found there was quite a bit of repetition / reading the same thing over and over. I felt like this story just needed more scare factor or suspense. I also felt the ending came super abruptly and left me unsatisfied. I appreciate the authors note at the end explaining how the story is to also shed light on living wills and makes you question prolonging life of those who are in a coma state or who are terminally ill. I thought it was super interesting taking this topic of discussion and turning it into a fictional thriller, I just don’t know if it fully worked to its best advantage. The author, Tammy Euliano, is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Obstetrics & Gynecology which is extremely impressive. I will definitely still be interested in reading more of her work in the future.
marikirst's review
4.0
Fatal Intent is an engaging medical thriller. I immediately was warmed by Dr. Kate Downey's character as well as her med student Jenn and her delightful Aunt Irm.
Kate has discovered that patients are dying in routine surgeries that most recover from easily. Working with Jenn and Aunt Irm, they discover that something is not right at the hospital. Certain incidents happen letting them know that the culprit is not liking them delving into the situations.
This story brings up medical ethics and the author's note really makes one think about end of life care and options. I would recommend this to those who enjoy medical mysteries with caring characters.
Thank you to FSB Associates, Oceanview Publishing, and author Tammy Euliano for the copy of this great debut novel.
Kate has discovered that patients are dying in routine surgeries that most recover from easily. Working with Jenn and Aunt Irm, they discover that something is not right at the hospital. Certain incidents happen letting them know that the culprit is not liking them delving into the situations.
This story brings up medical ethics and the author's note really makes one think about end of life care and options. I would recommend this to those who enjoy medical mysteries with caring characters.
Thank you to FSB Associates, Oceanview Publishing, and author Tammy Euliano for the copy of this great debut novel.
rainnbooks's review
5.0
Many thanks to Net Galley, Oceanview Publishing and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.
Fatal Intent, a debut novel by Dr. Tammy Euliano is a story that is gonna make you think, and think hard. A debatable topic of ending the life of a non-responsive patient is described with such sympathy that as a reader there were parts of the story that made me cry buckets.
DR. Kate Downey, is surprised to know the deaths of her patients after they have been released from surgery. A simple query to the practicing surgeon opens up a can of worms and when approached by Christian, the son of the deceased she has no choice but to check the possibilities of something seriously gone wrong. But Kate is herself not in a good place as she fights for the survival of her husband who has been in a vegetative state and moved to fulltime care facility. As Kate battles her brother-in law in keeping Greg alive, professional turmoil in the form of a vengeful student adds to her woes. The going is not all bleak as Kate finds support from her aunt, Christian and Jenna, a 4th year med student.
As the author is herself a practicing anaesthesiologist, the reader is given glimpses of how cases get handled by the team and the administerial and official policies involved in a hospital, and in spite of all the checks how the greedy ones still conduct their evil acts. As thrillers go, medical thrillers have always been a favourite of mine but honestly it has been a while since I got my hands on one. Fatal Intent has some emotionally charged moments with some brilliant writing that blew me away.
The villains are revealed early in the story as the reader plunges into the investigation concerning the deaths along with Kate but it is the climax with a numbing scene of ‘save or kill’ that left me torn to shreds.
Awesome debut! Highly recommended.
This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India and Twitter.
Fatal Intent, a debut novel by Dr. Tammy Euliano is a story that is gonna make you think, and think hard. A debatable topic of ending the life of a non-responsive patient is described with such sympathy that as a reader there were parts of the story that made me cry buckets.
DR. Kate Downey, is surprised to know the deaths of her patients after they have been released from surgery. A simple query to the practicing surgeon opens up a can of worms and when approached by Christian, the son of the deceased she has no choice but to check the possibilities of something seriously gone wrong. But Kate is herself not in a good place as she fights for the survival of her husband who has been in a vegetative state and moved to fulltime care facility. As Kate battles her brother-in law in keeping Greg alive, professional turmoil in the form of a vengeful student adds to her woes. The going is not all bleak as Kate finds support from her aunt, Christian and Jenna, a 4th year med student.
As the author is herself a practicing anaesthesiologist, the reader is given glimpses of how cases get handled by the team and the administerial and official policies involved in a hospital, and in spite of all the checks how the greedy ones still conduct their evil acts. As thrillers go, medical thrillers have always been a favourite of mine but honestly it has been a while since I got my hands on one. Fatal Intent has some emotionally charged moments with some brilliant writing that blew me away.
The villains are revealed early in the story as the reader plunges into the investigation concerning the deaths along with Kate but it is the climax with a numbing scene of ‘save or kill’ that left me torn to shreds.
Awesome debut! Highly recommended.
This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India and Twitter.
pinkfisher's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
readwithaimee's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
I haven't read a lot of medical thrillers, but when presented with the opportunity to read Fatal Intent, I couldn't pass it up. This book gave me SO MUCH anxiety! I had a great time reading this and had a lot of "OMG" and "holy shit!" moments. The pace is a bit slower at first, but when this picks up it doesn't stop until the very end. This book is incredibly sad and tense and unpredictable.
If you're super squeamish or bothered by medical events, hospitalization, etc., I'd proceed with caution.
Content warnings: miscarriage, infant death, suicide, death of a spouse
Thank you FSB Associates for the ARC!
If you're super squeamish or bothered by medical events, hospitalization, etc., I'd proceed with caution.
Content warnings: miscarriage, infant death, suicide, death of a spouse
Thank you FSB Associates for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Child death, Death, and Suicide
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