THE GRACEVIEW PATIENT

4 stars out of 5

Honestly, I'm not sure how to review this one. All the way through it was gripping - mesmerizing, even - but in the end I don't know how much that matters because it felt as it I were back at the beginning of a loop that will just keep going...and going...and going. Yeah, I know that doesn't make much sense, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

It begins innocently enough, though a bit out of my mental wheelhouse, as Margaret Culpepper enters Graceview Hospital as part of a treatment research trial. It seems she has an incurable condition - one that renders her nearly helpless and has resulted in alienation of all her famiily members and friends. Enter the trial, her medical consultants say, and there's a chance that you'll be cured once and for all. The process, which is long, involved and often painful, requires that her entire immune system be destroyed and a new one to be "rebuilt" from the inside out.

It certainly doesn't sound appealing to me, nor did it to Margaret; but given the prognosis, if she does nothing, she'll never get better. And after all, how many ways can it go wrong? Well, I lost count of that number in the first half-dozen chapters - and it shot higher from then on, as outlined in gory detail throughout the rest of the book. Suffice it to say Margaret alternates between being happy that she's getting a chance at a cure and trying desperately to escape from what is fast becoming a prison from which she - like other trial subjects who have gone before her - will never escape alive.

All told, it's creepy, unnerving and on occasion downright terrifying - and perhaps a little too often for my liking, off-the-charts unbelievable. Then came the ending, which as I alluded to earlier, isn't exactly an ending - reminding me of an old song by the late, great Peggy Lee, "Is that all there is?"

Do not misunderstand, though; I certainly recommend it to others who like this kind of thing. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me some by-the-minute thrills by way of a pre-release copy.

The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling (St. Martin's Press, October 2025); 297 pp.

SAVING MEGHAN

4 stars out of 5


Based on the official description, I figured this book would have a melodramatic bent. But in no time at all, the bent went for broke and stayed there till the end. That said, it's very well written, moves along quickly and serves up several doses of suspense. For those reasons, I'm comfortable giving it 4 stars even if it isn't quite my cup of tea.

Becky Gerard and her husband of 20 years, Carl, have an almost 16-year-old daughter, Meghan, who's been in and out of doctors' offices and hospitals for years. All that time, there's been no firm diagnosis and no let-up in Becky's all-consuming attempts to find one (and ultimately, of course, a cure). The book begins as Becky is leaving Boston on an airplane, reluctantly leaving her ailing daughter for California to visit her dying mother. When she gets a just-at-takeoff text from Carl telling her he's taken Meghan to the hospital yet again, the news throws Becky in such an  emotional meltdown that she gets thrown off the plane.

Chapters shift among perspectives of various characters, and next up is pediatrician Zach Fisher, who still gets nightmares about the death of his young son Will. Turns out he's the physician examining Meghan this time around, and he wastes little of it coming up with a diagnosis of mitochondrial disorder, the same disorder (aha!) that resulted in his son's death. Others at the hospital aren't as ready to accept Zach's conclusion, though; not only is there no specific set of symptoms, Zach has earned a reputation for diagnosing way too many patients with the disorder. Becky, though, has no reservations whatsoever; instantly, Zach achieves demigod status - and the devil take anyone who disagrees (including her husband, who after all this time is far less inclined to grasp at straws). 

Becky, now firmly allied with Zach, not only grasps the straws, she darned near squashes the life out of the suckers. Her emotional outbursts are epic, especially as Meghan's episodes become increasingly serious - prompting the medical community (sans Zach, of course) to conclude that Meghan may be a victim of her mother's Munchausen by proxy. Along the way, readers also learn that secrets abound - not every character is as he or she seems - thus building excitement to learn the truth. Near the end, the story takes a darker turn, resulting in a conclusion that for me was half expected, half not.

The overarching question, I guess, is how far would a mother will go to save her sick child, especially when the rest of the world is conspiring against her (and as a mother/grandmother myself, I concede that there are few, if any, boundaries). Overall, this is a story that should appeal to anyone who enjoys relentless angst mixed with a hefty dose of medical details and a few thrills. I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

Saving Meghan by D.J. Palmer (St. Martin's Press, April 2019); 374 pp.

BRAIN STORM

4 stars out of 5


One thing's for sure: The title couldn't be any more perfect. And although I'm a bit less enthusiastic about the rest of the book, it's a solid launch for what I expect to be a series. I'm a huge fan of medically induced dramas (characters like Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta, Tess Gerritsen's Maura Isles and yes, even James Patterson's Claire Washburn (she of the Women's Murder Club series) are among my favorites), and this one introduced me to a whole new profession: Death investigator. It is mostly for that reason - and the potential for an excellent series - that rounding up my actual 3.5-star rating to 4 was a no-brainer (half-stars aren't possible at most review websites).

Such is the job of lead character Angela Richman, who is felled by a series of six strokes and saved by the expertise of egomaniacal neurosurgeon Jeb Travis Tritt after being misdiagnosed by another full-of-himself doctor who practices at the same hospital. Interestingly, the author herself had a similar experience, much of which she no doubt used to shape this story.

But as Angela struggles to regain her investigative skills amid medical setbacks and hospital screw-ups, another drama emerges: Despite his obvious talent, no one at the hospital or in the community wants the neurosurgeon (who yes, was named after the country singer) around. He's not, you see, cut from the same cloth as the locals in the very close-knit community called the Forest. Not so for the  doctor who misdiagnosed Angela in the first place; his smooth talking manner - and more to the point, his family's heritage and money - make him a local hero whose image is untarnishable.

That the two doctors share a bitter dislike of each other is pretty much a given; so when the popular doc gets bumped off, it's no surprise that the "outsider" becomes the prime suspect. Angela, though, has serious doubts about his guilt (despite his late-night rants in her hospital room about the other doctor's ineptitude), but her mind is so much in turmoil as she recovers from her own brain surgery that it's hard for her to discern what's real and what's not. She gets help from her friend Katie, a doctor/medical examiner who's overly fond not only of salty language but of reminding everyone that the people who land on her table can't talk, sing, swim (fill in the blank). Okay, my dear, we got it the first time - they're dead. Now give it a rest. 

In the midst of all this, Katie is trying to round up loose ends on a case of her own; someone at the hospital, it seems, is a serial "Angel of Death," killing patients who otherwise should have survived (ah - could that be tied to the murder of Angela's neurosurgeon)? As Angela moves toward recovery of her former well-honed investigative skills, she unearths clues that lead to the answer of that question as well as the murderer's identity and illicit goings-on in the hospital.

The story doesn't end there, though; an epilogue describes how all the characters ended up after the major brouhaha has passed. That's a nice touch, actually, and I'm left with only one question: When Angela left the hospital, she was taking the blood-thinner Warfarin. But just a few days later, it's mentioned that she's on Coumadin (another brand-name blood thinner). Huh?

All in all, this is a great read-on-the-beach kind of book and I thank the author and publisher, via NetGalley, for a copy in exchange for an honest review. When the death investigator makes her next appearance, I hope I'll be on the list to read it as well.

Brain Storm by Elaine Viets (Thomas & Mercer, August 2016); 322 pp.