Published By: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 432
Released On: 26/05/2022
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?
*****
This is stupendous.
I could leave the review there actually, because I know whatever I write won’t fully reflect how fantastic this book is. If you’ve already read it, you’ll know what I mean.
I’d been seeing positive reviews flying round for this book pre- and post-publication, but I hadn’t really given much thought to what it was about, only to the fact that I had to read it. And I’m annoyed with myself that I waited so long to do so.
It is the very definition of on-your-edge stuff. It never lets up, never gives you a moment to breathe or settle down, never allows you to work out whether Dr Anna Jones is going to do as she’s asked, never allows you to work out whether Zack is going to come back unharmed, leaves you with question after question. With each passing chapter, you get more involved, more determined to reach the conclusion.
I couldn’t put the book down. I only received it yesterday afternoon and I didn’t put it down until about midnight as I HAD to know what happened. Even this morning, 9 hours after I’d finished it, I am still thinking about it. How expertly it’s written.
Now, I don’t know Jack Jordan’s background, whether he has a prior knowledge of surgical protocols and procedures, but he may as well have been the one in the theatre. Each sentence is thought out and perfectly encapsulates how I imagine a heart surgery is: tense, frightening, nerve wracking, but also exhilarating, satisfying and I suppose, a bit like playing God. You literally have someone’s life in your hands, and you can just as easily end it as save it.
I liked the addition of multiple POVs. We mainly see it from Anna’s view, as she is the one being asked to do this heinous thing, but then we hear from Margot, her nursing colleague who has reasons of her own for getting involved, and from the Rachel, a police detective. I find multiple POVs confusing, but this was the perfect amount, there’s no chance of forgetting who is who and what they mean to the plot.
There’s the main story of Anna’s son Zack being kidnapped and the request that she murders her patient. But Jack has cleverly woven in other stories, characters’ histories and motivations that all have an impact on the end of Anna’s story; he throws in twists and turns that are as unsettling as they are thrilling. There’s a plethora of secrets and lies from everyone, and you start to think whether there’s more to it than first meets the eye.
Do No Harm is an engrossing thriller, all-encompassing, addictive, tense but exciting. I knew from the first two chapters that this was going to be one of the greatest books I’d read, and that opinion doesn’t change at any point in its 400+ pages. If I’m honest, I’d not heard of Jack Jordan before and wasn’t aware he had written anything else but you can be damn sure I’ll be hunting down everything he’s ever written, thanks to this.
Books By Your Bedside 