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Victoria Lucas

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Steady upward climb--brilliant thriller!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-27-14

I think that it’s a gift for any writer to utilize technical knowledge into a gripping narrative that appeals to everyman. H.S. Clark succeeded in that respect in his book, Secret Thoughts: A Medical Thriller. Einstein supposedly said that if you can’t explain something simply, then you don’t know it well enough. Not only did H.S. Clark paint a very clear picture of the medical world and in a manner that even someone with no background knowledge about it will understand what he wants to communicate. He also managed to create a brilliant story line—an exciting plot that zooms off into action from the moment you start reading.

As a fan of medical thriller, there are certain elements that I look for to get my attention. One is the sense of authenticity. There are so many novels that deal with topics that are clearly out of the author’s range of expertise, and sometimes, no matter how much they try to make the story sound accurate, there is still something amiss. With Secret Thoughts, Clark clearly knows what he’s doing—being an anesthesiologist himself—and just how much to use to fuel the story.

Other elements I look for in a medical thriller are heartbreak and betrayal. Yes, it can’t be an effective thriller without it breaking your heart first into a million tiny pieces before the redemption in the end. And I remember telling myself when I started reading the prologue, “I swear, if Kayla dies, I will flip.” But of course, the child dies, because how else do you start a thriller apart from introducing a mother-child fiasco that ends with the little daughter convulsing and literally dropping dead before her mother’s eyes?

On the one hand, the novel is fast-paced despite its heavy medical jargon. What’s even more wonderfully surprising is the ease with which you follow the story from page to page. On the other hand, although is brilliantly written, it really does leave me thinking how great this will be as a movie.

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