Do No Harm by Jack Jorden

Author: Jack Jorden 

Title: Do No Harm 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: 2022

Pages: 432

Genre:  Thriller 

     MY CHILD HAS BEEN TAKEN. AND I’VE BEEN GIVEN A CHOICE . . . KILL A PATIENT ON THE OPERATING TABLE OR LOSE MY SON FOREVER. The man lies on the table in front of me.

As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him. As a mother, I know I must kill him. You might think that I’m a monster. But there really is only one choice. I must get away with murder. Or I will never see my son again. I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES. WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?

     Whilst more often than not I will spend a great deal of time looking over the shelves in my local bookstore. Sometimes it's great to get a recommendation from others. And I'm lucky to have a few friends who always are ready to give me something great to read. So when I was suggested this book I knew it was going to be a good read. As it turns out I had also already read another book by this author a little while ago called Night by Night. It was one that I enjoyed and had in fact suggested to a few people. Now if I'm honest I'm really not great at remembering which authors I've read and which I haven't. Unless It's someone like Halren Coben and that's mostly because I've read nearly everything he has put out. Still, the blurb for this one sounded great. It was a slight step away from my usual police-driven narratives. And the few times I have delved into the world of medical thrillers each time I have been pleasantly surprised. In fairness, I probably should read this genre a bit more than I do. 

     Our hero here has a very big moral dilemma, it's one that I must confess I struggled with for most of the book. Would you or in fact could you kill another to protect the ones you love. I guess at some point it's crossed the mind of a great many of us. Still when actually face with the decision what would any of us do. Luckily for us here we get to find out fairly early on, But it does mean that we get to spend the rest of the book dealing with the conscience of this action. And the author has crafted this so well that we feel like we are sucked into this troubled world and with each turn the hole gets a little deeper for our hero. But this is a tale of many sides so getting to delve into those around her and how they deal with this only added to the thriller elements contained within the narrative. It's fascinating to see all those screws turning and ramping up the tension. Whilst I can't say that I always agreed with the decisions they made it would be easy to see that under all that stress you would not be thinking exactly in your right mind. But let's be honest here he has created an amazing dynamic between his cast. One that is both believable but also keeps us on our toes till the very last page. 

     The story itself really captivated me straight from the off. I think when a book starts with a solid premise you can't go all that wrong. And Jorden seems to have spent a great deal of time plotting out just where he wanted his narrative to go and then making sure everything adds up to a brilliant conclusion. But it's more than this the author has this way of making us feel like we are trapped in this situation along with our heroes. We can feel our hearts pounding along the surgeon and with each cut of her knife, we can feel it in our own hands. And because of all this, I did not want to put this book down for a single second. When it came to the end of each chapter, I surged forward into the next. desperate to see how each encounter would end and just who would make it to the end and escape this terrible dilemma.  Despite the lack of a who dunnit element as for obvious reasons we know this the book does allow you to play out in your head the million and one situations that you could make in any one of these heroes' places. It deftly felt a little refreshing for me and a was a nice break from my usual fair. 

     

     So when all is said and done the time I spent with this book for me was well spent. The author clearly is very gifted with his craft and knows just how and when to ramp up the tension. It is a book that builds and builds until you feel that just maybe you can't take any more. And then we get this blistering grand finally that is sure to please anyone who chooses to pick up this book and give it a chance.