Review of Deadly Vision

[sayjil gordhan]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Deadly Vision" by T.D. Severin.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Deadly Vision by T.D. Severin, follows a talented and ambitious resident doctor, Taylor Abrahms, who, along with his team—Malcomb and Helen—has created a Virtual Heart Project (VHP). This project combines virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and surgery. Taylor is the doctor and leader presenting this magnificent project to the world, while Malcomb and Helen are responsible for programming and robotics creation. Together, the optimistic team hoped to help the general public with a better solution to angioplasties and change cardiac care. Unfortunately, Taylor’s project headlines in the media during the electoral period. Senator McIntyre has run his campaign on how healthcare is crippling the country financially but remains ineffective. Senator McIntyre blames biotechnology for this and plans to stop it once elected. The potential success of the revolutionary Virtual Health Project threatens Senator McIntyre’s campaign. Not only do Taylor and his team become targets politically, but Taylor also becomes targeted by experienced doctors. The young team of intellectual idealists enters a world of deception, manipulation, and murder. Will they succeed with their project or see everything destroyed?

The book is written in the third person. The author depicts a vivid scene at the beginning of every chapter, which keeps the reader captivated. What I absolutely loved about the author’s prose is that it is never pedantic. Everything written is either to evoke emotions in the reader or contribute to the plot and character development. This is just one of the reasons that marked this book as an almost flawless execution in the thriller genre. The author enlightens the reader on the motives and backgrounds of every character, including the antagonists, Preston and Crawford. The author does not always state explicitly what motives the characters have, but perceptive readers will solve the deeper meaning. For example, when Crawford looks at old medical books or when he spots the Hippocratic Oath, those give the reader knowledge as to why he got tangled in the web and why he eventually tried to do the right thing. 
 
Every character was written with great detail, and it is apparent that the author tried to create them to mimic realistic people. For instance, the reader will easily be able to see Senator McIntyre embodies deceit, selfishness, power hunger, narcissism, and narrow-mindedness—which are in real-life politicians. In contrast, Taylor was also created to excellently depict young doctors and intellectuals who have committed to long hours of hard work to change the world but also because academia fulfills them. Taylor is even written to display how oblivious doctors can be to their own emotional intelligence.
 
 
What I loved about the book was that real issues were being highlighted by the author. For instance, one of the reasons the experienced doctors (Preston, Crawford, and Browne) acted badly was that they feared biotechnology, of which they had little knowledge and training. This, to me, says those who fear knowledge can be easily exploited. Again, there is something else highlighted in the medical world that affects talented young doctors and patients. The characters’ generational conflicts appear to be an accurate reflection of reality. In the book, older generations of medical professionals tended to see younger professionals and new technology as the enemy. Whilst they stated it was because of “budgets,” the characters would reminisce on the “good old days” of medicine. This indicated that older generations preferred orthodox routes. The author illuminates how idyllic academics are crushed by the cruel world. It's even stated by Dr. Browne that “blind idealism is a death sentence.” As an introvert who has spent a lot of time in academics, this is an accurate representation. Sometimes introverts tend to ignore the outside world and focus on academics, only to be crushed when the work is shared and not received well. The last important issue that I think the author highlighted is that the rich wage war while the poor suffer. Everyone opposing the VHP had been rich and unconcerned about how the general public would benefit. 
 
In terms of any criticism (what I would change), I would state that the pace of the book slows down because the author is concerned with introducing many details of the project and characters into the story so you forget that there are targets. It is not pedantic, but this, in my opinion, should not be done in thrillers. As a thriller reader, I want to feel a sense of urgency. It's the only reason the book has lost one star. I cannot speak to the accuracy of medicine, AI, and robotics, but since it is fiction, I do not think the accuracy matters greatly. The book does contain some profanity. I think this is an excellent read and recommend it to anyone who likes science-fiction, thrillers, AI development, and fiction on medical technology. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and rate it four out of five stars.
 
 
 

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Deadly Vision
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[Kutloano Makhuvhela]

Wow! Indeed, medical care in America is wrought by many factors that people on the ground feel let down by it. Politicians blame everybody, including the patients themselves, while the patients blame big pharmacy, insurance et cetera. So I think this book came at the right moment, when people are starting to critically scrutinise this industry and ask important questions like, do they serve the poor mass or their self-interests? I am interested in reading the book. Your review was amazing and thorough.

[Raddex mani]

This is really a great literature of science fiction reflecting both imaginary ideology and contemporary realities as though in a mirror; while the readership of all characteristics can have a view from within the lines and paint a comprehensive picture even in different forms of conviction and comparisons. The ugly truths that explodes to light when the brilliant inventions of a sound mide such as that of Mr. Tailor are freily and openly refuted by another entity(s) of influence such as those likes of senator McIntyre's and co all on the notes of baseless or miopc reasons which can not be established in a long run to be true, but will seems to be more accepted due to reasons of influence against what has been known to be the salvation even through generations.
The prose provide a quite convincing story both from the choices of characters and their names; as the name "Tailor" is answered by most inventors such as Frederic wisdom Tailor(1856 to 1915), Richard E. Tailor or Zachary Tailor and the maturity to use the character of a senator figure to give a sense of authority and influence to mimic a strong an devastating antagonist character. The positions of characters with a picture of their respective view points accompanied with a consistent sense in their choices of words expressing their kinds minds, feeling and view points to it's readership is perfect.
I believe that this is an art work of literature in its master class that will be appreciated by many people across the world. It's truly Thrilling and for that I'll give it a 4.5 if not 5 star rating.
**** +

[sayjil gordhan]

Wow! Indeed, medical care in America is wrought by many factors that people on the ground feel let down by it. Politicians blame everybody, including the patients themselves, while the patients blame big pharmacy, insurance et cetera. So I think this book came at the right moment, when people are starting to critically scrutinise this industry and ask important questions like, do they serve the poor mass or their self-interests? I am interested in reading the book. Your review was amazing and thorough.

Thanks! I think it was a really good book. I agree that on the book came at the right time. The political climate and need for healthcare in USA definitely is interesting. I think the author may have personal experience in the field but I am not sure.

[sayjil gordhan]

This is really a great literature of science fiction reflecting both imaginary ideology and contemporary realities as though in a mirror; while the readership of all characteristics can have a view from within the lines and paint a comprehensive picture even in different forms of conviction and comparisons. The ugly truths that explodes to light when the brilliant inventions of a sound mide such as that of Mr. Tailor are freily and openly refuted by another entity(s) of influence such as those likes of senator McIntyre's and co all on the notes of baseless or miopc reasons which can not be established in a long run to be true, but will seems to be more accepted due to reasons of influence against what has been known to be the salvation even through generations.
The prose provide a quite convincing story both from the choices of characters and their names; as the name "Tailor" is answered by most inventors such as Frederic wisdom Tailor(1856 to 1915), Richard E. Tailor or Zachary Tailor and the maturity to use the character of a senator figure to give a sense of authority and influence to mimic a strong an devastating antagonist character. The positions of characters with a picture of their respective view points accompanied with a consistent sense in their choices of words expressing their kinds minds, feeling and view points to it's readership is perfect.
I believe that this is an art work of literature in its master class that will be appreciated by many people across the world. It's truly Thrilling and for that I'll give it a 4.5 if not 5 star rating.
**** +

I actually had no idea that Taylor was the name of many inventors. I will say that I did wonder why the author chose that particular name for the protagonist.

[Gerry Steen]

This book illustrates the working of a doctor's mind in contrast to a politician's mind. The Virtual Heart Project team is intriguing to me. I gather from this review that Deadly Vision could be a worthwhile read for me as I am interested in medicine, AI technology, and science fiction. Thank you for the thorough review.