(2) The Last Surgeon

Michael Palmer

The Last Surgeon was mentioned in Twitter and I followed its author's Twitter. The book was launched on 16 February 2010. I'm writing this second post on the book, 4 days after it was launched.

Medical thriller writer. Read the excerpt here:
http://www.michaelpalmerbooks.com/the-last-surgeon

Previous post and Advanced Reading Copy comments/reviews:
http://www.librarything.com/work/9005733

Composite Review:
"The Last Surgeon” by Michael Palmer is one fast-paced, action-packed thriller. The two main characters are Dr Nick Garrity and Gillian Coates. Dr Nick Garrity has been searching for a long lost war buddy Umberto Vasquez when he meets Gillian Coates, whose sister Belle seemingly committed suicide, but Gillian thinks otherwise. A comic book clue “Nick Fury”, led Gillian to Nick and together they find clues of a much bigger conspiracy. They discover that patients are dying in the operating room and there is a connection between some of the deaths. Soon they are on the hit-list and must not only find out who is behind it all, but keep themselves and others around them alive. Franz Koller, a highly paid master of the "non-kill" art of murder that doesn't look like murder, has a new agenda, to see that Gillian and Nick are dead.

Character profiling:
There are six characters with Nick and Gillian as the main characters.


Dr. Nick Garrity is a trauma surgeon suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving time in Afghanistan. Nick's PTSD, as well as his struggles helping war veterans receive their Veterans Authority (VA) benefits, is truly heartbreaking because of the truth behind them. How many of our soldiers are coming home facing these same issues with no help whatsoever? Nick dispenses medical treatment from a mobile clinic to the homeless in Washington D.C. and Baltimore. 


The two nurses are sisters Gillian Coates and Belle Coates. Gillian is a Psych nurse while Belle is an ICU nurse.

Franz Koller is a sociopathic mass murderer who is a master of disguise and who earns his living murdering people while making it look like an accident or suicide.


Other minor characters are Beth and Reggie.