Review of "Doing Harm: A Medical Thriller" by Kelly Parsons

Steve Mitchell is a senior surgical resident at Boston's University Hospital, and hopes to get a permanent position at the institute when he completes his residency next year.



University Hospital is among the best facilities in the country, and Steve wants to be a surgeon at the hospital AND teach at the associated medical school.



As the story opens, Steve is sharing a moment with his daughters, Katie (5) and Annabelle (10 months) before leaving for a cocktail party with his wife Sally. Katie is 'cooking' Styrofoam packing peanuts on her play stove, and when Steve warns her they're too small for Annabelle, Katie protests, "But Bella likes them."



Steve is soon frantically plucking peanuts out of Annabelle's stuffed mouth, who (fortunately) is none the worse for this 'dinner.'



Luckily for Steve, his wife Sally sees the humor in the situation, and he's not scolded for his lackadaisical oversight (though he should be 😮).

At the party, Sally - a charismatic Korean woman - playfully prods Steve's boss Dr. Collier about hiring her husband, and it appears that Steve is on track to get the University Hospital job.



Steve is a skillful surgeon and a competent supervisor to his junior resident Luis Martinez and - barring some calamity - things look like a go.

Steve's crew is then joined by a medical student named Gigi, who's rotating through the department for six weeks. Gigi is smart and ambitious, and it looks like her attitude and abilities will be a boon to the team.



However, things start to go downhill. One of Steve's male patients is slow to recover after an operation, and a woman's tumor surgery goes badly wrong - largely because of Steve's arrogance and overblown self-confidence. (This book will make you think twice about going in for surgery, that's for sure!)



Worse yet, a death occurs, and it looks like it's Steve's fault. There are official inquiries into Steve's botched cases, and the surgical resident - worried and brooding - starts to stay at the hospital night and day.....completely neglecting his family.

Then things REALLY spiral down. Steve discovers that there's a psychopath at the hospital who's purposely killing patients, and the maniac has targeted Steve as a patsy.



Moreover, there's 'evidence' that prevents Steve from tattling, or he'll lose his job. The nutcase challenges Steve to a kind of cat and mouse game - if Steve can prevent the next murder he 'wins' and the killings stop; if Steve can't prevent the next murder, he has to give in to the psychopath's demands.

(In the real world, this is when Steve should go to the cops. But then there wouldn't be a story.....so I'll grant author's license. 🙄)

There's a race against time as Steve maneuvers to save his patients and himself from an opponent who's exceptionally clever and manipulative.

The author, Kelly Parsons - who's a surgeon in real life - includes detailed descriptions of surgical procedures and surgical instruments in the book, which I enjoyed. Some readers, however, will probably find these parts tedious.


Author Kelly Parsons

I like the book's finale and epilogue, which are fitting and pull everything together nicely. I think many fans of medical thrillers would enjoy this suspenseful (if not entirely realistic) story. 

Rating: 3 stars