Book Review: Harvest

The trick with writing a good medical thriller is to be careful enough not to saddle the plot with too much of arcane medical jargon, and I cannot overstate how effortlessly Tess Gerritsen achieves this with Harvest, mixing the narrative with right dollops of frisson that guarantees enough surprises to keep you turning the pages until the very end. At its very core, Harvest is about Dr. Abby DiMatteo, a bright second year surgical resident at Bayside Hospital, whose dreams of making it big in the profession come crashing down after unforeseen life-threatening events begin to take a toll on her personal and professional life alike.

As the first medical thriller post Gerritsen's genre-shift from romantic-suspense novels, Harvest is rooted in reality and a spine-chilling read. No less interesting is her strong-willed female protagonist, who bravely faces any hurdle that comes her way and her portrayal as someone who single-handedly takes on the dark side of organ transplants is believable, as is her relationship with Mark which forms a strong undercurrent to the proceedings.

But the real highlight of the book is the theme (inspired by a conversation with a homicide detective), which makes us question the lengths people can go to treat their loved ones. Medicine is a profession ruled by trust and ethics (much like Law), but when these sacred principles (otherwise called the Hippocratic Oath) are flouted by doctors for their greed and lust for money and power, do the needy patients get a fair treatment? Tess Gerritsen answers this question by indulging in a powerful yet moving story that takes a moralistic look at the repercussions of such malpractices. A first-rate page-turner!