Surgical Risk

Rating:
Summary: Katz leads the reader around by the nose
Review: Richard Katz is a faculty member at State University of New York at Stony Brook. He was educated at Columbia College and Northwestern University Medical School. His first novel, Edward Maret, was published and won the ASA Literary Prize in 2001. He is currently at work on this third novel, which will be a sequel to Surgical Risk.

Richard Kurtz is a surgeon with a few hidden talents, like knowing how to take care of himself in a threatening situation. He has a practice in New York, enjoys the good living in a luxury apartment on the East Side, and has a girlfriend named Kathy, who is writing her dissertation making connections between t.s. elliott's Wasteland and J.R.R. Tolkien's Mordor. Kathy is intelligent, good-looking, and is somewhat of an intellectual snob.

Kurtz harbors regrets about a relationship has had with Sharon Lee. When she is murdered while taking a nap in a break room at the hospital, Kurtz's own sense of duty leads him into a semi-partnership with Detective Barent, especially after a robbery and more bodies begin showing up after they've chosen a schizophrenic suspect who is locked up on the psych ward:

"'We have a problem,' Barent said. He stopped, frowned down at his desk and swirled his cup of coffee with one hand. 'Harry and I are no longer as certain as we were that Bill Mose is the one who murdered Sharon Lee.' 'Really...' Kurtz sat up straight in his chair. 'That's a surprise.' Barent morosely nodded. 'Two nights after she was killed, Sharon Lee's apartment was robbed. All of her jewelry was stolen.'"

Robert Katz knows his way around a hospital. He also knows how to weave a complicated plot line with an excellent setting (New York); criminals and bodies popping out in all directions; and a doctor who is a hero and doesn't even know it. Kurtz can get himself out of a desperate predicament as ably as Indiana Jones, and his exploits are certainly as interesting. Katz leads the reader around by the nose, and who is the culprit is anyone's guess. Katz employees a dispassionate and clinical tone in describing all sorts of patient pathology, and pokes holes in the reader's notion of glamour in the medical profession. Surgical Risk doesn't disappoint.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: A well written surgical mystery.....
Review: Surgical Risk is a well written mystery novel set in New York City. Robert Katz's novel keeps the reader turning the pages, with an ending that is a complete surprise. Each chapter keeps the reader guessing on who could have done it. As a health care professional it was interesting and enjoyable to read a mystery novel set in a medical setting. I highly recommend this novel to everyone, and I look forward to the sequel.