4 out of 4 stars
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I am sure you have heard people say their departed loved ones are watching over them. R.J Petrella takes this concept a notch higher by magically spinning it into a fictional crime thriller that is literally out of this world! In Days of the Giants, a deceased church minister, watches over his son, from the city of God – naturally! In doing this, he decides to help the son, Slate Barnes, document a certain event. The bizarre part is, Slater does not know his father is giving the reader ‘insider’ information on the tale he is narrating! Isn’t this setup clearly in the stranger than fiction domain?
A physician from Boston, Petrella ‘treats’ the reader to a very convincing, first-class tour of both public and private hospital medical provision. The insurance politics that usually plague service delivery in these hospitals is interesting to follow. Medical school routines, patient diagnoses, and treatments are discussed in terms that don’t fly over the reader’s head! Even where medical terminology is unavoidable, its usage somehow still leaves the ‘lay’ reader in the loop! The book is compelling, right from the title, which incidentally, refers to the era legends in the medical field walked the corridors of Boston City Hospital.
Unlike the proverbial fool and his money - who are soon parted, politics and corruption are never strange bed-fellows! Two ‘sister’ hospitals, separated by a walkway, are at the center of this book’s politics – and the tag-along uncanny corruption. Boston City Hospital is a government managed public hospital. Its infrastructure is dilapidated and literally falling apart. The high-end Boston Academy Hospital, on the other hand, is privately owned and boasts state of the art infrastructure. Having more than enough money from its elite clientele, the Academy hospital wants to expand but its expansion proposal is denied due to a technicality in the city by-laws.
Coming hot on the heels of the Academy’s expansion rejection is the mayor’s big political gambit - the legacy he envisions himself leaving. He announces the expansion and refurbishing of City hospital at an astronomical amount, never mind that the government can't really raise even half of it! Herein lies the opportunity of a lifetime, that a shrewd government official discovers: His department could ‘help’ the Academy buy City Hospital, on the pretext of taking over the shortfall in the mayor’s expansion plan. Wouldn’t he and a few others then earn the ‘good life’ they deserve - through bribes, of course?! A few staff members at City Hospital, however, smell a rat and refuse to accept the proposed 'merger' lying down. In the same vein, the corruption ‘conveyor belt’ stretching from some individuals at the Academy to the compromised government officials would rather play foul than back down. You just have to pick up this book if you want to see how the stand-off degenerates into a dangerously twisted drama!
Slater Barnes, an intern at City Hospital, charmingly narrates the drama in the first person. His narration takes the form of a one-on-one conversation with the reader. His dad intermittent makes clarifying additions in the third person, throughout Slater’s narration. I must commend Petrella for using this interplay between the two characters to develop an exciting true-story-like quality read. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I was reading a memoir! The author also cleverly engages the reader’s deductive skills. You see, somebody died in the prologue. The author masterfully uses this piece of information to keep the reader on tenterhooks, every so often fearing a character was soon going to be whacked! I thoroughly enjoyed holding my breath in such moments!
There are many subplots to this story, which the author effectively reins in so that the reader is never too far from the main plot. This is no minor feat, though, because each subplot comes complete with its own twist! My opinion kept shifting with each twist. For example, I first thought Slater was simply being the snarky adolescent with his stepdad. Then I graduated to the feeling that he had unresolved personal issues. Finally, I arrived at the ‘what the heck?!' zone. The characters were also so well developed that reading the book felt like watching an episode of ER that has a lot at stake! The protagonist, Slater, grew from an indecisive alcoholic to a focused fighter and leader. Sophie, Slater’s girlfriend, also outgrew her insecurities.
Greed and the ‘power of the masses,’ formed a significant part of this story. Nevertheless, the most outstanding theme was the fact that we are all wired differently. This makes us thrive in different realms. The doctor who finds fulfillment in relieving the suffering of a homeless man, for instance, will not be effective in an establishment that wants to first ensure a patient can pay for its premium service.
The few typos I encountered in the book did not interfere with the flow of the story. The downside to having so much happening at the same time was that a few threads were not properly tacked-in. To give an example, I still have not figured Slater’s brother’s role. He remained abstract in the whole story. In addition, descriptions were occasionally too long, and the protagonist consistently used the phrase, ‘I swear to God.' I think this could be offensive to people who are serious with God.
The minor issues above have no hold in the bigger picture of the superb plot delivery. I, therefore, have no reason not to rate Days of the Giants 4 out of 4 stars! I recommend it to all readers looking for a casual, engaging read. Even younger readers can have a blast with this one! In addition, the different concepts stirred up by the book could provide many discussion points to book clubs.
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Days of the Giants
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