Title: Do No Harm by Christina McDonald
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 336 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by the Author
Summary:
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Behind Every Lie and The Night Olivia Fell comes an unforgettable and heart-wrenching novel about the lengths one woman will go to save her son.
Emma loves her life. She’s the mother of a precocious kindergartener, married to her soulmate—a loyal and loving police detective—and has a rewarding career as a doctor at the local hospital.
But everything comes crashing down when her son, Josh, is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
Determined to save him, Emma makes the risky decision to sell opioids to fund the life-saving treatment he needs. But when somebody ends up dead, a lethal game of cat and mouse ensues, her own husband leading the chase. With her son’s life hanging in the balance, Emma is dragged into the dark world of drugs, lies, and murder. Will the truth catch up to her before she can save Josh?
A timely and moving exploration of a town gripped by the opioid epidemic, and featuring Christina McDonald’s signature “complex, emotionally intense” (Publishers Weekly) prose, Do No Harm examines whether the ends ever justify the means…even for a desperate mother.
Review:
Do No Harm by Christina McDonald is a fast-paced, suspense-laden mystery.
Dr. Emma Sweeney is happily married to her police detective husband, Nate. They have one son, five year old Josh. Their world is completely turned upside down when Josh is diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of leukemia. Emma feels very lucky to discover an old family friend, Dr. Harmon, is now on staff. He recommends a treatment that has an extremely high success rate. However, Emma finds out it comes with a hefty price tag that has to be paid before the procedure is performed. Neither Emma nor Nate bring home big paychecks and she is still repaying her college loans. But with their son’s life on the line, is there anything Emma will not do to get the money for the treatment he needs?
Emma is good at compartmentalizing. She and her brother Ben were orphaned after their parents died in a car accident. They managed to go to the same foster home but their paths diverged when she stayed focused on her education and Ben turned to drugs. Due to his ongoing drug addiction, Emma has not seen her brother for several years. She has also kept a lot of this information from Nate.
Nate is a detective with their small-town police department. He is deeply in love with Emma and like her, he will do anything to save Josh. So, he makes the decision to continue working on his current murder investigation in hopes of securing a promotion. Nate is working on the murder investigation of local Santiago Martinez. His murder is unusual but seems linked to the recent rise of oxycontin overdoses in town. Then another suspected murder takes the investigation in a turn that hits a little too close to home.
Emma will literally do anything to find the money to save Josh. She makes a fateful choice that unexpectedly provides a different viewpoint about the impact the opioid epidemic has on how doctors treat their patients’ pain. Emma also finds herself facing people from her past that she would much rather not have anything to do with. But she is desperate enough to take any risk or deal with anyone in her attempt to save her son.
Do No Harm is a multi-layered mystery with an intriguing moral question. All of the characters are richly developed with relatable foibles. The storyline is engaging, filled with suspense and moves at a break-neck speed. With stunning twists and jaw-dropping turns, Christina McDonald brings this clever mystery to a poignant conclusion. Highly recommend to fans of the genre.
