"terrO.R." deals with Islamic terrorists fund-raising methods. Here are some recent news:
http://www.tobacco.org/news/264222.html
In my novel (fiction ?) rather than killing themselves just to kill and intimidate like in Israel, Iraq, London, Madrid, Twin Towers in NYC. etc.), young terrorists now hatch a new plot. They commit suicide under anesthesia, in American Operating Rooms from coast to coast. After their death, and in order to fill the empty coffers of their organization, medical malpractice law-suits are filed by next-of-kins with impunity. Here, in the US of A, families are allowed to refuse post-mortem examinations for religious reasons.
This is the "terrO.R." review and the Distinguished Book Award - for Thriller Novels awarded by the American Author Association:
In the era of "second medical opinion," in an age when average magazine readers know more about face-lifts, nose jobs and breast reductions than family doctors, 75 percent of people who have had anesthesia, do not even remember the name of the anesthesiologist. Life in the operating room is similar to life in a submarine: no windows, no daylight, and always the same people present. The only "visitor," is usually asleep. Life in the O.R. is also similar to life in a cockpit: hours and hours of satisfactory boredom, interrupted by moments of sheer terror. The anesthesiologist is the pilot who will fly you safely through somber surgical clouds. The passage of time in an operating room is comparable to the passage of time in a cockpit: hours and hours of blessed boredom, interrupted by moments of sheer terror. If a person dies suddenly in a hotel room, the first diagnosis is always "heart attack." If a person dies suddenly in an operating room, the first diagnosis is always "anesthetic death." American citizens are innocent until proven guilty. American physicians are guilty until proven innocent. Just check the never ending ads of "medical malpractice lawyers" on television, Yellow Pages and public benches. But medical innocence is hard to prove in front of well selected non medical juries. Raising the "professional liability insurance" fees for doctors is much easier. In 2007 the one year professional insurance for a Long Island brain surgeon was over $300.000! But physicians are not always guilty. "terrO.R." is here to prove it
Professional Reviews
Gas passing at its Best!,
I think TerrO.R was a great medical thriller. I am a Medical Technologist and have experience in both a doctor's office and a hospital so I could relate to all the stuff that goes on in the book with the docs. Reading this book made me think that this kind of thing could really happen. That's what makes the book so good. It was a great plot. I would never have thought of that. I also really learned a lot about the gas passing world I didn't know before. Thinking about all the malpractice suits makes me wonder if being a gas passer would be worth it though. The docs work really hard and it is a stressful job. It's sad to hear about lawsuits with them. Anyway, I wish the best tothe author, Joe, with this book and I hope he decides to write more. I will surely read them and recommend them to others.
Lisa Bateman MT(ASCP)
Read and Shiver
TERRO.R. is something you need to learn about. Place it near the top of your reading list! Read it and shiver, but read it now!
Traditionally we have been taught to classify "going under the knife" as major surgery or minor surgery. From the patient's point of view, all surgery is major. From the anesthesiologist's point of view, all anesthesia is major. The person who can keep a person experiencing surgery alive is the anesthesiologist. While most people can remember who their surgeons were twenty years ago, few notice who their their anesthesiologists are. These dedicated, highly skilled physicians with the ability to make split-second decisions, maintain airways in challenging circumstances, and secure intravenous lines without fail, spend their work days and nights alternating between putting out fires and standing around watching surgeons do their work. Anesthesiologists, who call themselves "gas passers," are on the front line of health caregivers.
Anyone seriously interested in the practice of medicine realizes that the top priority is maintaining an airway - keeping an opening that will allow uninterrupted breathing. While it may appear that an anesthesiologist's main priority is to "put people to sleep" to make surgery possible, his (or her) main goal is to make sure that his patients are able to breathe while he anesthetizes them. One of the most interesting aspects of TERRO.R. is the use of details about securing airways. In layman's terms he explains precisely how to pass a tube between the vocal cords and check to be sure that the tube is appropriately placed. With skilled explanations, Dr. NoShots leads his readers to see through his observant eyes and to feel with his educated fingers. He works the experience of endotracheal intubation into the events of the novel.
The doctor in the novel, who must be like our own Dr. Joe Neuschatz, once saved a man's life and knocked out a bad tooth during the intubation process. The patient's family emitted threats of lawsuits over the missing tooth. The reader of this book will wonder why anyone goes into medicine as a physician or as a nurse; yet I know the lure of the medical profession - the desire and the call to help sick people and to fix things that people need fixing. The doctor in the novel seems to be determined to practice medicine as long as he can no matter how many problems he faces.
Don't be put off by a slight language problem. Not a native speaker, sometimes the good doctor slips into charming verb tenses that speak of conventions from other languages. Other grammatical gaffes are laughable. For example, his characters enjoy a "buffer" breakfast. (They are eating a "buffet" meal.) "Lead" is used when "led" is needed. "Had wrote" is used for "had written." The problem interferes with my reading pleasure because it jolts me out of the mood. Part of the pleasure of reading a novel is to suspend reality for a few moments in order to enter the fictional world of the characters. When any author is struggling to write in English, there's a need for help. Before he publishes his next book, I urge him to employ a grammar cop. Despite his struggles with our language because he became facile in three other languages before he learned English, he is still able to use clever nuances and provide amusing turns of phrase. This book has a message too large to let a little problem with English usage prevent reading.
The book has shades of Robin Cook with its medical-legal suspense. Dr. NoShots explains medical procedures so that intelligent readers without the benefit of medical backgrounds can learn valuable information about patient care. He kicks open the door of the operating room. Neuschatz does not belabor his explanations or dumb down the information until he insults his readers. He does not layer his information to create a tome of repeated explanations. Instead he carefully selects what he includes.
He builds suspense and provides a unique plot. The subject of this novel is related to what is going on in the world NOW.
Since the book is a mystery, the emphasis is not on character development; however the author thoroughly develops the main character so that we enter his mind and enjoy seeing what he thinks. Dr. Newman applies his resources, including a brilliant mind trained in logical processes, to solve the mystery.
Dr. NoShots is a naturally funny person. His humor pops up occasionally but not so often that he belittles the patients in the story.
The dialogue is portrayed realistically. The voices of the leading character and the people with whom he interacts provide echoes of conversations I heard when I worked as a hospital nurse.
I highly recommend TERRO.R. to anyone who works in a hospital, who will ever be a patient, or who has a family member requiring medical care. I recommend this book to anyone who has heard about terror in the United States. Read this book now!
A Riveting Medical Thriller
As a retired OR nurse with 34 years of experience I can say that the author portrays the operating room environment in a totally realistic and feasable manner. I respectfully disagree with other reviewers stating that the dialogue wasn't believeable. One has only to work in an OR for as long as I have to know that, in fact, the exchange of words between the characters are oh so credible.
The plot to this book just blew me away. All I could think was OMG could this really happen?? Suffice it to say when I thought about it for some time I came to the horrifying conclusion that indeed it could potentially happen, especially in this time of political terrorism.
Hopefully Dr. Neuschatz will continue to write many more of these "page turner" novels to excite those of us in the medical profession.
New Sheriff! Now a Target of Corruption!
Newly elected Sheriff Todd Mercer faces a county run by one family, the Fords. They’ve controlled everything in the city and county for many years and now will fight Todd and his friends, who want to
Crowley County Series, Novels 4-6
An uplifting series with romance, mystery and suspense.
Join the people of Crowleyville as they face the challenges of small town life while struggling to welcome an influx of newcomers.
