A drug-laced conspiracy. A former Navy surgeon with a harrowing history. Will a covert frame job end his career… and his life?
Zack Winston can’t outrun his mistakes. Working in the high-pressure environment of the ER, the widowed doctor is haunted by lives he should have saved. But when he fails to resuscitate his coworker’s husband from a fatal cardiac arrest, he’s blindsided by the livid ICU nurse launching a career-threatening malpractice suit.
Falling under harsh criticism when he tries to investigate a strange poisoning in the hospital, Zack comes face to face with his traumatic past during courtroom depositions. And as he and his alluring lawyer look closer into the suspicious body count on the rise, uncovering the source could land them both in the kill zone.
With shadowy accusers eager to get him fired, will his fight for answers see him flatline?
Dead Already is the nail-biting first book in the Zack Winston series of medical thrillers. If you like nuanced characters, endless adrenaline rushes, and vividly realistic settings, then you’ll love emergency physician Mike Krentz’s suspenseful drama.
Offering a potent blend of medical drama and suspense, this series kickoff from Krentz (author of the Mahoney & Squire series, among other thrillers) centers many of its heart-stopping developments in the emergency room of Bethesda Metro Hospital, where Zack Winston, an ER doc haunted by the death of his wife and the patients he’s lost. After the shocking death of another patient, despite Zack’s “extraordinary measures,” Zack finds himself targeted by a negligence lawsuit filed by the nurse who is now the widow of the deceased. With his name dragged through the mud, plus a surprise attempt on his life, Zack begins to realize that he is facing some kind of conspiracy. Fortunately, as Krentz’s story surges ahead, Zack’s got a top-notch defense attorney and the will to tell himself to “Man up and carry on, sailor.” Taking full advantage of its tense, convincing ER setting, Krentz’s swift storytelling is both exciting and humane, as invested in the mystery Zack faces as the challenges of serving as a front-line medical professional. Every page is alive with striking medical and technical detail, with situations that force Zack into hard choices and self doubt, or convincing legal drama, or straight-up suspense as the body count starts to rise. The major players have hidden depths to them, especially Zack, plagued with uncertainty after once having felt like a “bad ass” doctor, and brilliant, empathetic defense attorney Bridget Larson, whose best moments showcase her legal brilliance even as she’s beleaguered by issues with family.
Krentz’s leads will win readers over with their power-through resilience, their ability to work towards a hopeful outcome even when there’s scant promise of victory. But what mystery lovers might most appreciate is Krentz’s deft plotting, from red-herrings to narrative sleight-of-hand involving what’s filtered through the perspectives of characters. Dead Already favors the hard work of saving lives and finding the truth over empty action.
Takeaway: Medical mystery series starter, as an ER doc faces conspiracy.
Comparable Titles: Kelly Parsons’s Doing Harm, Gary Gerlacher’s AJ Docker Medical Mystery series.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
