This was a surprisingly good book. While I haven't read any other book by this author, I found this one to be a great book that does not need any background information from the other books part of this series. It was a fast read and well researched.

Act of Negligence is the 4th Doc Brady medical mystery by Dr. John Bishop. Released 15th June 2021, it's 282 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This book and this series are entertaining and well written with cleverly crafted medical procedural mysteries starring a good-guy orthopedic surgeon and his colleagues, family, and friends in the highest echelons of Houston society. Dr. Brady is a bit of a southern conundrum, well educated and urbane (and he really loves his wife), but who's also a Silverado driving, smoking, drinking, cowboy-boots-wearing patriarchal white-guy who has never once questioned the order of the universe or his place in it. All that being said, he is appealingly written, competent, and has a strong desire to see justice done.

The author doesn't shy away from using correct medical and procedural terminology, and it gives the book verisimilitude. Medical terms are used in context and will (mostly) be easily understood by the majority of readers without any problem.

This is a series which has achieved a degree of success despite being independently published, and, in my opinion, deserves a much wider exposure and following. Although this is the fourth book in the series, it works fine as a standalone. There are some minor references throughout this installment which hearken back to things in the earlier books, but no major spoilers, and they can be read in any order.

The language is PG/R rated with some realistically raw cursing. There is also some strongly implied consensual sexual content. Main character Jim Bob likes his wife a lot and the feeling is emphatically mutual. It's nice to see a middle aged married couple who still love one another. They even have a good relationship with their adult son. It's wholesome and I really like that aspect of these books.

Four stars. I am looking forward to reading more.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Many thanks to Net Galley, FSB associates, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

John Bishop MD, the author of this medical thriller Act Of Negligence was an orthopedic surgeon for 30 years and as such reading this story made me feel like a fly on the wall in Dr. Brady’s life. I had also checked the author’s website before reading and the book literally transported me to the world of medicine with the kind of effective writing and imagining the author himself as the character Dr. Brady. On that note, I think this is surely one for TV adaptation as an excellent medical series.

Medical thrillers are always a dicey option, some may work coz they don’t overburden the reader with too much information that may sound Greek and Latin to a casual reader but also provide the necessary facts that would authenticate the unfolding drama. In this, Dr. John has worked wonders, yes of course there are terms of orthopedics that went over my head but there’s a good balance that provides the easy acceptance of the info.

The mystery that surrounds the experiments on dementia patients was fantastic and the doctor has clearly used his experiences of a hospital culture in rendering the story. The villains are known beforehand but the painstaking effort by Dr. Brady and Dr. Jeff to get to the truth of the matter keeps the reader entertained till the action-packed end. The frustration of convincing insurance personnel of the necessity of admitting patients comes thru brilliantly. It was easy to empathize with the medical professionals when they are forced to offer treatment on the basis of being insured or not. The sexy relationship between Dr. Brady and his wife was exciting, conveying a feeling of warmth and coziness which also adds to the kind and loyal character of the protagonist.

Cuddly!

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Facebook, and Twitter.

Overall, I felt kinda meh about this book. Not necessarily bad, but not particularly memorable either. Giving it 2.5/5 Stars.

Detailed passages involving orthopedic surgeries and pathological findings of dementia patients from Pleasant View nursing home. Much of the story involved Jim Bob and Mary Louise and their love life interspersed with the medical mystery. While informative, the details detracted mystery portion of the book. Fans of Dr Brady are sure to enjoy and welcome this addition to the series.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Act of Negligence by John Bishop is his fourth book with Dr. Jim Bob Brady as the protagonist. I’ve read them all, and Bishop has a talent for relating medical mysteries. Brady is an orthopedist at the Houston Medical Center, and while he has a remarkably good survival rate for his patients (especially because he’s mostly a hip and knee surgeon), suddenly he gets four admissions from a nursing home and three of the patients die from the mysterious onset of bradycardia (a slow heart rate). He’s not initially concerned, but the time of the fourth death, he’s quite concerned that something fishy is going on. He and a colleague from medical school, Dr. Jeff Clarke who has become a pathologist. Clarke is quite the scientist who quickly gets hooked on trying to understand what has been happening. So, the adventure begins amidst an epic rainstorm in Houston that results in horrible flooding and that keeps most patients and staff from getting to the hospital while trapping all the ones who did not get home before the storm.

While I’ve raved about his earlier books, during the early sections of this book, I felt at times as if the author was simply telling stories to add to the length of the book, giving unnecessary details about characters, their activities, and the Houston local, for no purpose that served the plot or character development. But, Bishop made up for that with a rocking hot final 100 pages. Bishop does a good job explaining the science that Clarke was talking about to help understand the deaths. While it’s true that patients at a nursing home die frequently of various causes, but those causes should still be clear and understandable. In the end, I loved this book as the three that preceded it. More stories about Jim Bob Brady, please.

Another excellent medical thriller in this series. The story covers all aspects of the disease and the suffering. The medical terms might be too much for those without the background. But with the fast pace it could be overlooked. This time the sleuthing is done by a colleague and Brady only plays second fiddle. Still a joy ride. Enjoy it.

This book was brilliantly written. There is a beautiful love story of the lomg mafrried couple with the husband pursuing a passionate career inorthpaedics and shhe supports him brilliantly. He picks upo right away that some patients of is are dyimg on his watch, which doesnt sit well with him, He never has people die on his operating table. The stars align and a plan comes together which involves the nursing home and doctor in charge of the nursing home where all of these deaths are stemming from. Its medical mystery at its best and I was on the edge of my seat right to the end. This doctor is a real good guy.

A Medical Thriller

Doc Brady book #4

Dr. Jim Brady, a Houston orthopedic surgeon and amateur sleuth finds himself in a medical mystery when a colleague of his from a Nursing Home refers dementia patients with orthopedic problems to his care, irrespective of the treatment each patient dies....Autopsies are performed that revealed unusual brain pathology...Unaccustomed to these findings, both Dr. Brady and Dr. Frazier, the pathologist, need to get at the bottom of this mystery.... Time for sleuthing.....and plunging us into one of those medical mysteries none of us would like to be involved in.....

Although this latest is part of a series it stands well on its own. The story is unique and captivating, along the way the author, a medical specialist, delves with minutia into the progress of Alzheimer’s and other dementia’s conditions. Actually he does that extensively, may be a bit too much for the average Jo like myself. But the mystery is so intense it is easy to overcome all the technical medical terms, move on and get into this cracking tale of mystery and suspense. I was riveted in this saga from start to finish omit its educational side let yourself be pulled into a fast-paced and exciting mystery who brings curious men on an adventure that sees them running for their lives.

This story is written with expertise and is played out by pleasant characters that are entertaining even the evil guys. This drama captured my attention.... could this really happen? Do doctors experiment on dementia patients supposedly for their good....scary...

Well-said

Thank you to #Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read "Act of Negligence", the new medical thriller by John Bishop, MD in return for a fair and honest review.

Having read one other in this series - and planning to read the other two - I jumped at the chance to read the latest adventure of Dr Jim Bob Brady, Orthopedic Surgeon, along with his wife Mary Louise and his associates.
This time, Jim Bob is involved in the world of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and other dementias, as well as medical experimentation.

When four patients referred to Dr. Brady die after what should be routine surgeries - for age-related issues such as broken bones - and all due to rapid heart failure, Dr. Brady becomes suspicious; especially when all four were referred to him by the same doctor at the same Long Term Care facility. And it appears that a) they are early-onset AD sufferers.

Enlisting the pathology head to examine the brains of these patients, it soon becomes apparent that there is 'something fishy' about both their diagnoses, treatments and deaths. So, it's Dr. Jim Bob, amateur detective time.

As in his previous novels, Dr. Bishop delves into the minutia of his operating procedures, sometimes a little too deeply, but if you've read his other books, this should not come as a surprise. Sometimes I feel as if I could perform the same surgeries after his exhaustive explanations and step-by-step expositions.

We are introduced to extensive explanations of the reasons for Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias, but along the way we're also treated to a cracking good mystery, with a hair-raising climax.

Certainly this book can be read as a standalone, but it would be a good idea to start at the beginning of the series, so you get a feel for Dr. Bishop's style. Recommended for anyone who enjoys an in-depth mystery with a lot of medicine thrown in.

Jim Bob is back and better than ever. I was disappointed in the smaller role of his wonderful wife, but the nature of the story warranted it. As Alzheimer’s/dementia patients are passing away in excessive numbers following routine surgeries, the good doctor’s curiosity gets him involved in investigating what’s causing the deaths. Fast-paced, educational, and very exciting!