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4 out of 4 stars
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Days of the Giants by RJ Petrella is a medical thriller about a politically tumultuous Boston city in the early 1900s. Despite the life-threatening condition of his own, a medical intern Slater Barnes starts his training at one of the most demanding teaching institutions in the United States, Boston City Hospital, B.C.H. for short. A passionate young doctor soon falls in love with the hospital and its patients, even though, most of them are uninsured, homeless, and to whom medical care is being provided at the expense of the Boston city. Just across the street from B.C.H., there is a private Academy Hospital whose president Melvin Garrott happens to be Spake’s stepfather. These two institutions differ like night and day. Yet, despite dissimilarities, the merger of Boston City Hospital and Academy Hospital is unexpectedly announced, causing major confusion among the staff.
Two narrators - the protagonist Staler Barnes and his late father - tell the story of Days of the Giants. Slater focuses on the events that happened in his presence, while his father fills in with an omnipresent view, especially the political affairs, that happened without Slater knowing. As the author tells us in the preface, all the characters, events, and institutions were fictional except for the history of Boston City Hospital prior to the 1970s, which was described as accurately as possible in the form of a novel.
Days of the Giants is a very intriguing and thrilling book. It caught my attention from the first page with an opening scene of a resident being attacked. Moreover, I was astonished by the accuracy of all the medical details, which was not that surprising anymore after I found out that the author, RJ Petrella, was a physician himself. Nonetheless, all medical terms were simply explained to the reader, therefore it will not cause any difficulties to understand.
However, the plot took quite some time to unfold, and at some point, I felt a bit lost with all the political and administrative affairs. Yet, I understand that those parts were important to the overall story, hence there is nothing I disliked about this book.
The editing was excellent. I only found one mistake. Therefore, I rate Days of the Giants by RJ Petrella 4 out of 4 stars. I strongly recommend it for those, who love medical thrillers. However, the book contains some violence and profanity, hence if it is not your cup of tea, you should leave this one be.
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Days of the Giants
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