Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a lawyer and my father is a retired surgeon. We both read this book, so we can give views from both sides of the aisle. I found this book painful to read for its woeful lack of any substantive knowledge of how the legal system actually works. Lawyers are portrayed very badly; essentially we are all Brooks Brother wearing, BMW driving, yacht owning sharks out to get the poor innocent doctors. As I spend more than fifty percent of my practice representing abused kids, I was offended by the caricature. It is difficult to list all the legal inaccuracies without major spoilers, but I shall divulge a few. In the book it takes an extraordinary long time for the autopsy on the girl to be completed (this was something my father also noted as unrealistic). Before the autopsy is concluded, a case has been brought, experts have been hired and deposed (which would be very expensive) and the doctors have all been deposed. It would be impossible to adequately prepare a case without knowing what the cause of death actually was. Once it is revealed, Dr. Heaton is told that she may be facing potential criminal charges. Again, this would never happen! The only time a doctor would be charged is in the event of gross negligence, e.g., performing surgery while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. That was not the case here. Dr. Heaton has a huge "woe is me" attitude about why this is happening to her when all she wants to do is help others. There are many references in the book of other characters (particularly her sister) telling her that her work is so much more important than anyone else's as she saves people. At one point the character refers to herself as God helping people. My father liked the book better than I did and would probably give it three stars. He liked the use of correct medical terminology, but thought it would be a bit dense for the average person to understand. I concur with him on this point. He also liked the twist at the end which I won't reveal. However, he could not buy that an anesthesiologist was left holding the bag for a potential missed underlying medical problem. It was his position that the responsibility for a medical history lay with the surgeon and not the anesthesiologist and if there were an error, it would be on all of them. In summary, if you are employed in either of professions, I do not believe you will be able to suspend your disbelief enough to buy this story. If you are a "layman" take everything with a grain of salt. However, ultimately the character of Marie was just not that likeable. All she did was mope about why this was happening to her. There is a subplot that involves her estranged father, but never explains the estrangement nor is the plot resolved. This was not an enjoyable book to read