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Published in USA
Feb 2014
368 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
Steve Mitchell, happily married with a wife and two kids, is in line for a coveted position at Boston's University Hospital when his world goes awry. His over-reaching ambition causes him to botch a major surgery, and another of his patients mysteriously dies.
Steve's nightmare goes from bad to worse when he learns that the mysterious death was no accident but the act of a sociopath. A sociopath he knows and who has information that could destroy Steve's career and marriage. A sociopath for whom killing is more than a means to an end: it's a game. Because he is under a cloud of suspicion and has no evidence, he knows that any accusations he makes won't be believed. So he must struggle to turn the tables, even as the killer skillfully blocks his every move.
Detailing the politics of hospitals, the hierarchy among doctors and the life and death decisions that are made by flawed human beings, Doing Harm marks the debut of a major fiction career.
"Starred Review. The descriptions of surgery and other hospital procedures by board-certified urologist Parsons may leave readers wary of going under the scalpel or even entering a hospital. However, as a medical thriller, this skillfully wrought debut gets high marks for building tension to a breathtaking climax." - Library Journal
"The author's attention to detail keeps the action chillingly plausible, until the climax when one too many twists sends this medical thriller skittering into silliness." - Publishers Weekly
"Parsons knows his subject and does justice to the medical side, although he needs to hold back a bit--telling all the details of a medical procedure and including inside physician jokes can be boring to civilians looking for nothing more than a great yarn." - Kirkus
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kelly Parsons is a board-certified urologist with degrees from Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins, and he is on the faculty at the University of California San Diego. He lives with his family in Southern California. This is his first novel. Visit him at facebook.com/AuthorKellyParsons
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