Review by Shrabastee -- Days of the Giants by RJ Petrella

[Shrabastee Chakraborty]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Days of the Giants" by RJ Petrella.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Consider yourself an ailing patient ready for admittance to a hospital. Would you prefer the Academy Hospital with its plush interior and decked-up doctors to the dingy brick building of the Boston City Hospital? Days of the Giants by R J Petrella might be able to shed light upon this dilemma.

The two hospitals are drastically different in their culture. Boston City Hospital has opened its doors to all, including those lacking health insurance. The doctors are thorough and diligent. On the other hand, Academy Hospital boasts a lavish appearance and a highly organized system. However, the doctors there are more concerned about the insurance status of the patients than the treatment. In fact, they simply despise patients coming from the non-creamy layer of the society. Now, some unscrupulous administrators announce a takeover of the City Hospital by the Academy Hospital for their personal gain. People from City Hospital try to stage a protest and a possible strike to retaliate, but does everything go as planned? How will Slater Barnes deal with his almost-broken relationship and a high-risk medical condition to boot? Can he find the courage to stand up against corruption, even at the cost of his career?

The story is told using two different narratives. The gaps in Slater’s version are filled in by his deceased father, who is aware of every occurrence from his heavenly abode. To the author’s credit, the two voices distinctly sound different. I never had trouble distinguishing Slater’s slapdash style of narration from his late father’s more sophisticated approach.

In spite of Petrella displaying his cards from the very beginning, the book never lacked suspense. In fact, revealing the crime to the readers made them aware of the imminent dangers. At times, I desperately wanted to warn the characters not to do something stupid.

I could relate very well with Slater. As a researcher closely related to the field of medicine, I could empathize with his dilemma concerning the medical profession and the moral duties it entails. Very often we tend to glorify a certain profession and invest our lives preparing for that. However, only after taking that as a career option do we comprehend how the real scenario differs from the imagined one. However, even as Slater starts second-guessing his choices, he maintains a valid point:

How do you know if you are made for something unless you live that life yourself?

The novel performs an excellent job on the character development of the protagonist. Slater starts as an ill-tempered young man stressed out by the complications of life. But towards the end, he becomes a mature person, fighting for things he believes in and letting go of things beyond his control. The best thing about Days of the Giants is that the medical thriller gradually turns into a book depicting self-realization.

Underneath the main story, the author highlights several high-impact issues related to health care. Foremost among them is the lack of health insurance in a certain section of the population and the scarce medical attention they receive as a result. Another one is the malpractice of extracting money from the patients without paying attention to their proper treatment and well-being. By contrasting the medical practices of a public and a private hospital, Petrella reinforces this point.

I can think of only one negative point in the book. An unscrupulous character is last shown trying to slither his way out of his predicament. I would have liked to know what happened to him afterward.

However, this did not undermine my reading experience in the slightest. I rate Days of the Giants a well-deserved 4 out of 4 stars. The absence of grammatical and typological errors indicated that the book was very well-edited. I recommend the novel to anyone who enjoys medical thrillers. Additionally, those who like moral transformations of the characters can also take up this book. This is one of those thoroughly enjoyable stories where the readers will be reluctant to distinguish the truth from the fiction.

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Days of the Giants
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Like Shrabastee's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Kajori Sheryl Paul]

The story is told using two different narratives. The gaps in Slater’s version are filled in by his deceased father, who is aware of every occurrence from his heavenly abode.

I really like this aspect of the book. Also, a well edited book is always a treat to read.

Thank you for the great review, Shrabastee.

[Espie]

You've just made me recall one wise person's words. "Truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction needs to stick to possibilities, but the reality doesn't have to." It seems like this piece highlights one facet of that quote's relevance. Regardless of what we'd believe in or go for, I just hope that it would always be for what's good, fair, and just in general and not entirely merely for the powerful and influential few. Thank you for your insightful review.

[Sunnyroyish]

These days, it's getting hard to distinguish between a doctor and a dacoit. Though there are exceptions. Thanks for your review.

[Shrabastee Chakraborty]

These days, it's getting hard to distinguish between a doctor and a dacoit. Though there are exceptions. Thanks for your review.

So true. In last month alone, I had seen two such occurrences where the doctors were unable to make an accurate diagnosis even after assigning multiple tests and taking up a considerable amount of time. The exceptions are very few, it seems. Thanks for commenting!

[Sahani Nimandra]

The two hospitals are drastically different in their culture. Boston City Hospital has opened its doors to all, including those lacking health insurance. The doctors are thorough and diligent. On the other hand, Academy Hospital boasts a lavish appearance and a highly organized system. However, the doctors there are more concerned about the insurance status of the patients than the treatment. In fact, they simply despise patients coming from the non-creamy layer of the society.

This clearly puts a dot on the identity of Nightingale. Medically is much more than people think in this fast-track world. Thank you for your descriptive review! A good self-realization read as this would do good to our society.

[Shrabastee Chakraborty]

The two hospitals are drastically different in their culture. Boston City Hospital has opened its doors to all, including those lacking health insurance. The doctors are thorough and diligent. On the other hand, Academy Hospital boasts a lavish appearance and a highly organized system. However, the doctors there are more concerned about the insurance status of the patients than the treatment. In fact, they simply despise patients coming from the non-creamy layer of the society.

This clearly puts a dot on the identity of Nightingale. Medically is much more than people think in this fast-track world. Thank you for your descriptive review! A good self-realization read as this would do good to our society.

In recent years, this malpractice seems to have increased. As one private hospital after another pops up, the quality of medical attention seems to have deteriorated. In our state, a few cases have also been lodged against the private hospitals.I wonder whether anything will be able to make any change in the mindset of those corrupt people.
Thanks for your input, Sahani!

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

I think the topics approached in this book are very important: we all are affected by healthcare politics and problems. The fact that the characters are so well-developed is important for me and the narrative from the deceased father definitely catches my attention.
Thanks for such an interesting review. Your opening questions are very engaging!

[Shillah Andeso]

This is such a detailed review. Thanks to your recommendation I read the book and enjoyed it.