If fast-paced thrillers, racing hearts, pulsing veins, and stories of redemption excite you, then Dr. Richard Mabry's Medical Error will be "just what the doctor ordered." Mabry provides a superb balance of suspenseful thriller with a tale of forgiveness and restored relationships.
The novel follows the chaotic life of Dr. Anna McIntyre, an extremely talented physician with a penchant for bad luck. First, she becomes the victim of identity theft. Next, one of her patients dies of unknown causes, just about the same time Anna is accused of drug trafficking. The directors of the hospital where she works have serious doubts about her level of professionalism and are on the brink of firing her and driving her out of medicine. Just when she thinks life can get no worse, she receives results from a blood test that tells her she is HIV positive. This is a traumatic revelation, for Anna has been developing a love relationship with a medical pathologist named Nick Valentine.
Mabry piles on the frustrations for his main character, even to the point of wearying the reader. However, amidst it all, there is a rising knowledge that a Great Physician is at work in the lives of the doctors in the story. Much in the way that authors such as James A. Michener and Arthur Hailey wrote novels that explained the inner workings of hotels, airports, and universities, Mabry provides insights on how hospitals, clinics, and medical schools function. He helps readers understand the pressures put upon doctors and administrators to cure diseases, stay in budget, discover new cures, comfort grieving families, and maintain one's personal health and sanity.
Because the readers feel empathy for Anna in her dual role as a healer and as a victim of a dreaded disease, there is a great bond that keeps them turning pages. Mabry spent many years as a family physician and medical teacher, so he knows first hand the environment he is describing, and the need for the strength of God to endure the harshness of the emotional and physical challenges associated with medicine. For an informative and entertaining story, this one is first rate. J. Theodore Bane, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com
