Review by oziboagu1 -- The Surgeon's Wife
Posted: 13 Jul 2018, 13:40
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Surgeon's Wife" by William H. Coles.]
3 out of 4 stars
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The Surgeon's Wife by William H. Coles is the story of the tragic love affair between Mike Boudreaux, a surgeon and Catherine, the wife of Mike's teacher, mentor and fellow surgeon Clayton. Clayton had exhibited not only poor performance and dangerous lapses which had endangered patients' lives at the operating room but was obsessed with bariatric surgery for the obese even when he has not undergone the necessary technical training on the use of laparoscopy.
Mike's efforts as the Chief of Operations and a close friend to persuade Clayton to take a break drives him closer to Catherine. Clayton refuses to back down and is restricted by the operating room committee. Not minding his restrictions, Clayton goes ahead to carry out another operation which results in the avoidable death of a patient and mortal complications on Helen Rappaport. Consequently, the OR committee totally suspends him.
Frustrated with his poor performance and angered by the snatching of his wife by a colleague, Clayton becomes depressed and makes divorce difficult for his adulterous wife and "questionable" daughter Melissa. Following their separation, Catherine finds a brief respite from her loveless marriage of "convenience of social acceptance and advancement" in the arms of his caring Mike. Their happiness is short lived as Catherine's mother falls sick. She soon dies and Clayton comes to her funeral with a gun. He shoots Catherine dead and is about to kill Mike before Melissa blasts his head off.
The Surgeon's Wife has many attractions to commend it. First is its entertainment value. Even though it is not a thriller, the book is very interesting. Once you start reading it, you will hardly want to put it down. It has a great plot and flowing narrative which truly justifys the author's selection as a Shortlist Finalist in the William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition.
Secondly, the book is very educative. Displaying a thorough knowledge of Medical science, it describes surgical processes and terminologies so well that it can stimulate ones interest in medical practice. Most importantly, the book like The Guardian of Deceit by the same author makes the case for probity, sincerity and professionalism in medical practice. Its concern for an efficient, innovative and wholesome medical service geared towards good patients' care is commendable.
The author is a moral crusader with an aversion to the splendour and selfish luxury of the upper echelons of society who live "among sections of third - world - style poverty shacks teeming with angry sick people."
Divided into parts 1, 2 and 3, the book portrays a kind of dialectical momentum of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. It becomes more interesting as one reads it. The Surgeon's Wife has few typos and the editing is superb. I would highly recommend this book to lovers of intelligent stories with strong moral instructions. Overall, I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
******
The Surgeon's Wife
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
Like oziboagu1's review? Post a comment saying so!
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The Surgeon's Wife by William H. Coles is the story of the tragic love affair between Mike Boudreaux, a surgeon and Catherine, the wife of Mike's teacher, mentor and fellow surgeon Clayton. Clayton had exhibited not only poor performance and dangerous lapses which had endangered patients' lives at the operating room but was obsessed with bariatric surgery for the obese even when he has not undergone the necessary technical training on the use of laparoscopy.
Mike's efforts as the Chief of Operations and a close friend to persuade Clayton to take a break drives him closer to Catherine. Clayton refuses to back down and is restricted by the operating room committee. Not minding his restrictions, Clayton goes ahead to carry out another operation which results in the avoidable death of a patient and mortal complications on Helen Rappaport. Consequently, the OR committee totally suspends him.
Frustrated with his poor performance and angered by the snatching of his wife by a colleague, Clayton becomes depressed and makes divorce difficult for his adulterous wife and "questionable" daughter Melissa. Following their separation, Catherine finds a brief respite from her loveless marriage of "convenience of social acceptance and advancement" in the arms of his caring Mike. Their happiness is short lived as Catherine's mother falls sick. She soon dies and Clayton comes to her funeral with a gun. He shoots Catherine dead and is about to kill Mike before Melissa blasts his head off.
The Surgeon's Wife has many attractions to commend it. First is its entertainment value. Even though it is not a thriller, the book is very interesting. Once you start reading it, you will hardly want to put it down. It has a great plot and flowing narrative which truly justifys the author's selection as a Shortlist Finalist in the William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition.
Secondly, the book is very educative. Displaying a thorough knowledge of Medical science, it describes surgical processes and terminologies so well that it can stimulate ones interest in medical practice. Most importantly, the book like The Guardian of Deceit by the same author makes the case for probity, sincerity and professionalism in medical practice. Its concern for an efficient, innovative and wholesome medical service geared towards good patients' care is commendable.
The author is a moral crusader with an aversion to the splendour and selfish luxury of the upper echelons of society who live "among sections of third - world - style poverty shacks teeming with angry sick people."
Divided into parts 1, 2 and 3, the book portrays a kind of dialectical momentum of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. It becomes more interesting as one reads it. The Surgeon's Wife has few typos and the editing is superb. I would highly recommend this book to lovers of intelligent stories with strong moral instructions. Overall, I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
******
The Surgeon's Wife
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
Like oziboagu1's review? Post a comment saying so!