Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Do No Harm by Jack Jordan

27 reviews

bookellys's review

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dark tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

Primum non nocere - First do no harm

This is one of the things doctors swear to as part of the hippocratic oath. Dr. Anna Jones is given the choice: kill a patient or we kill your son - what would you do? 

This book has taken me a while to get through, I was supposed to read it as part of a Tandem Collective readalong but then life got in the way and in all honesty, there are ZERO characters in this book that I actually liked so there was nothing really compelling me to read it as I wasn’t that bothered what happened to them.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s suspense and a few twists and turns that make the story line a bit more interesting but the three main characters whose perspectives the book is written from had no qualities that made me care about them:
  • Dr. Jones - seemingly a robot devoid of most human emotions except when it comes to her son. Unnecessary addition of a hair pulling impulse
  • Margot - a thief and a liar that thinks she’s better than the very people she goes to for help
  • DCI Connerty - her son got kidnapped from a beach because she fell asleep and wasn’t watching him (but apparently it wasn’t her fault???)

The premise is interesting but in my opinion the ‘will she / won’t she’ that the book is marketed on was over too soon with far too much of the book then based on the underground crime world.
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michelles_book_nook's review

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challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

⚠️ TW: death, self harm, abduction, murder, drug use ⚠️ Wow this book is such a page turner! This book follows Anna, a cardiothoracic surgeon, whose son has been abducted by a criminal gang and she must kill one of her patients if she ever wants to get him back. But just when she thinks everything is going her way everything spirals. She knows she must get away with murder or she'll never see her son again. This was such an amazing psychological thriller! It's so chilling and had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through and I just could not put it down. This was a highly anticipated read for me and it certainly didn't disappoint. I loved how it made you question your own morals and whether you would choose to kill someone to save a loved one. And I loved the different pov's and the time stamps in each chapter which made it feel perfectly paced. Overall, I cannot recommend this read highly enough!
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jeanette_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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lifeonasofa's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

2.5

AD PR ⛔️ Do No Harm ⛔️ Review 

“My child has been taken and I’ve been given a choice…kill a patient on the operating table or lose my son forever. I’ve saved many lives. Would you trust me with yours?”👩🏻‍⚕️

⭐️⭐️💫 2.5 Stars

Thank you @tandemcollectiveuk @jackjordan_author and @simonschusteruk for sending me this copy as part of the readalong. 🥰

A really unique idea for a thriller from Jack Jordan. I too had that fear when looking at the anaesthetist before surgery, knowing you have no idea what will happen from that point. 😱

I enjoyed the short chapters and the tension build up to the surgery. That chapter had me hooked! I personally didn’t expect it to take the route it did, I’m not sure I enjoyed the second half as much. But it was a great debut. 👍🏻
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hilarylouise's review

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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librariangeorgia's review

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

W O W

This book was absolutely fantastic. It kept me gripped all the way through - so much so that I had to stop myself from going past each days pages! 

…. I did finish it a day early though because I couldn’t help myself ….

The short chapters helped build the tension and cliffhangers made you want to keep reading. The points where we were told to finish were always right as something juicy had happened and having to wait until the next day was a struggle.

I really liked the 3 characters perspectives - Anna, Margot and Rachel. They all helped to tell the story at different stages. I would’ve liked more about Rachel though, maybe a short story about what happened to Jamie as he’s repeatedly mentioned but we don’t really know what happened with that case.

My choice at the start of the book was to kill the patient. I thought that I’d change my mind as I found out more about who the patient was but I stick with my decision to save the child over the patient.

I highly recommend this book - a thrilling read! I’ll definitely be reading more by this author.
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travelseatsreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

If you had to choose between saving the life of your patient or that of your only child, who would you save? That is the dilemma which faces heart surgeon Dr Anna Jones when her son Zack is kidnapped and she is asked to leave high profile MP Ahmed Shabir die on her operating table in exchange for Zack's safe return. 

The book is definitely one of 3 parts, the first third is intensely gripping right from the start and I didn't want to turn it off as I needed to know what was happening. I was completely invested in Anna and Zack and how she was going to untangle herself from this disastrous situation. Unfortunately, the middle third lulled a little bit too much for me as there wasn't a whole lot going on and I did begin to lose interest for a short while. However, fast forward to the last third and we're back to rollercoaster territory with lots of plot twists and some very unexpected curve balls.

The story is told through 3 female characters, Dr Anna Jones, DI Rachel Conaty and Margot, a scrub nurse. Their perspectives alternate and are told by three different female narrators so it was easy to keep up to speed with the varying storyline. It did feel like Rachel and Margot's storylines were a little bit of a filler at times and I probably would have given a higher rating if certain sections were a little bit more condensed. 

Overall Do No Harm is a dark, chilling thriller which really made me question what would I do in that scenario. An enjoyable easy listen which kept me entertained during my daily commute. 
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