I’ve seen so much hype surrounding this book, and it’s clear to see why. The premise is simply stunning. Original and intriguing.

You’re a surgeon. You come home one day and find that your son has been abducted. Want him back, then kill one of your patients: an MP. And you must get away with it.

I think the premise sums it up. This is a proper thriller. The story holds no punches. There’s plenty of action from early on. I am no surgeon, but it sounded like the author had done his research because I found the surgery scenes really tense. There’s so much at stake. The book is narrated from three POVs:
- Anna, the surgeon. Her son has been abducted. She’s recently divorced and her husband is already ringing her, asking for more alimony. She seems cold and arrogant, but she has to maintain a sense of authority. Secretly she’s incredibly anxious and suffers from a condition that compels her to pluck her eyelashes and her general body hair.
- Margot. The nurse. She’s broke and in debt. To make ends meet she steals. She’s just about scrimping through life. Until she sees an opportunity. She’s witnesses Anna in the operation room. Killing a man.
- Detective Rachel, who is investigating the death of Paula who was babysitting Anna’s son. Paula has been found in a well, with her teeth pulled out and her fingerprints burned. Who would want to murder an elderly retired woman by shooting a bullet through her head?
The chapters are short and fast paced. I tore through this. I did find Anna overwrought though; she made me so anxious. But I guess that shows good characterisation. Also I was hooked by Margot and Anna’s dynamic. Margot’s character especially was intriguing. She’s so deliciously messy. I did find the ending uncomfortable. The story is resolved and it’s done well, but I really felt for some of the characters. The author doesn’t put things in a nice neat box. Original, unexpected and tense. 5/5.

I adore lots of books, but this one got me excited like no other! I’m so grateful that my NetGalley wish has been granted!

Do No Harm is about heart surgeon Anna Jones. She is scheduled to operate on a high profile patient, and unfortunately for her, people want him dead. Anna comes home the day before the surgery to find her home invaded and her son Zack missing. If she wants to see her son alive again, she must kill her patient. Her son or her oath? She must decide…

This is a fantastic crime/thriller story, one of the best I’ve read (and I’ve read a LOT).

The pacing is excellent, and it is just effortless to read. The narrative is split between surgeon Anna, surgical nurse Margot and detective Rachel, and I felt that this really kept the momentum going. I was gripped throughout, as Jordan teases the reader at the end of each chapter so I never wanted to put it down!

Characterisation is well executed too; you truly get a sense of why the characters are acting the way they are. Emotions such as maternal love, guilt, panic, loss, grief, remorse and terror are perfectly woven throughout, giving the three leading women an emotional depth that can be missing from some thrillers. Yes the plot is vital and moves the story along, but the way the characters do what they do is just as important for me.

A lot of characters are quite grey, neither wholly good or bad, which I think helps them to become even more relatable. No one is perfect, so how would we react to the events of the story?

A fantastic read to the very end, which was heart-stopping stuff-ironic for a story about a heart surgeon 😉

One of my new favourite thrillers, I will be cheerleading this title when it is published next year: it’s definitely one to watch!

Thanks again to Jack Jordan and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy via NetGalley!

Back in the day I used to devour medical thrillers. They were my go to read, but thinking about I haven’t read many books in this genre for a long time, but ‘Jack is back’ with a medical thriller that makes for a belter of a read! Jack Jordan sure knows how to grab the readers attention with a heart stopping opening, he keeps you in his clutches all the way to the thrilling conclusion. Do No Harm ‘did me harm’ I lost sleep, woke up early to finish it, and even went without lunch! it’s a book that’s impossible to put down once started. Chilling, horrifying but utterly gripping the book is told from three perspectives, Dr Anna Jones, DI Rachel Conaty and nurse Margot.

I love a book that gives the reader an impossible moral dilemma, I find myself wondering would I? wouldn’t I? It’s an intriguing premise. A heart surgeon must choose to kill a patient on the operating table, or her kidnapped son dies. A mother’s instinct is to put their child first, but on the flip side you have a Dr who has taken the Hippocratic Oath, a vow that includes do no harm.The main characters are fascinating, their not perfect by any means, as each women has their own personal flaws, but it helps to make them far more relatable.

An overwhelming sense of dread fills the pages as the date of the operation looms which adds to the tension tenfold. Do No Harm is terrifying, nail biting, and superbly plotted, it’s a book that is not beyond the realms of possibility which makes it far more terrifying. If I was having an operation anytime soon, I would definitely be having seconds thoughts! Jack Jordan has created a high-octane medical thriller that moves along like an express train, with twists and turns galore that will make your head spin. I have a feeling this book is going to be a HUGE hit on its release in 2022.

Do No Harm - Jack Jordan

This is the first book I've read by this author, I was immediately attracted by the premise, a heart surgeon must choose to kill a patient on the operating table, or her kidnapped son dies.

Told from the perspectives of the three female leads, Dr Anna Jones, DI Rachel Conaty and Margot, a scrubs nurse.

The plot is tense, dark and unpredictable and the pacing fast. Probably the fastest thriller and most unrelentingly tense thriller I've read since The Chain.

I found Margot's character a little obvious, but her role in the plot is well developed.

This was at the non-stop drama end of the scale of books I enjoy, but it stays away from action movie territory.

Highly recommended if you want a fast, tense and unpredictable thriller. I will definitely be reading more of Jack Jordan's books very soon.


Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster

So full of tensions and twists! POV of three female characters. Would you want this surgeon to operate on your heart?
So glad Netgalley and Simon and Schuster permitted me to read this.

‘‘Primum non nocere’ ~ Hippocrates
‘First, Do No Harm…’ ~ Hippocratic oath’
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Heads up, this review is EARLY as this book doesn’t come out until next May, but my word is it going to be worth the wait! A gut wrenching scenario that you are on the edge of your seat watching unfurl…
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My son has been taken. And I’ve been given a choice…
Kill a patient on the operating table. Or never see him again.
The man lies on the table in front of me.
As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him.
As a mother, I know I must kill him.
You might think that I’m a monster.
But there really is only one choice.
I must get away with murder.
Or I will never see my son again.
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This book had me GRIPPED! I’m sure from the premise alone most people are already gripped!! The book is told through a few different characters narratives, and each of them was so enjoyable to read. Even those I hated, I loved! Haha, and it had me thinking the entire time, if I was put int his position, what would I do!? Could you take an innocent life to save someone you love? I don’t want to comment too much more on it for fear of spoiling anything, but trust me when I say this is one to look out for!!
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All round a thrilling ride of a book, and one that I’m sure will be flying off the shelves come May 2022! Thank you so much to Netgalley, Simon&Schuster and Jack Jordan for the arc!!

I rather wish I wasn’t the first to review this book, as it’s difficult to be positive in my response to it. I think the best I can do is to compare it to a British tabloid newspaper - sensationalist writing and style over substance, but hugely popular nonetheless. A surgeon and mother is given a stark choice when she comes home to find her house full of very nasty men, her childminder dead, and her son kidnapped. She must ensure that a high profile patient doesn’t survive his heart bypass operation or her son will be killed. As the Hippocratic oath begins, ‘First, do no harm’ what is she to do? The premise of the book is pretty preposterous and the writing style constantly aiming to shock, but I suspect the book will find a readership - it just isn’t for me.

I never read this author b4 and fancied a change.

The plot from the very beginning gripped me. The story line with dr jones and maggot is brilliant.

Jack Jordan does it again! The characters, the plot, the pace and tension; everything about Do No Harm was absolutely brilliant. Jack’s books grip me like no other and even when I think I have the ending figured out I’m taken by surprise every time. It is clear how much research Jack puts in to the subjects he writes about and his storytelling in second to none. Netflix next? :-)
I feel lucky to have received the opportunity to read Do No Harm ahead of release and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a book to get lost in. Keep doing what you’re doing Jack, you’re the best!!

This is quite unlike any thriller I’ve read before, and the innovation really adds to your interest. Believe me, you’ll not want to put this down, and I read this in one flustered go. Anna is an experienced, well regarded surgeon who has been given an impossible choice: save the life of the man on her operating table and she’ll never see her son again. As a doctor, she has agreed to do no harm, to always look for the preservation of life, but with her son abducted and trying to pretend everything is perfectly fine, Anna is struggling. The novel and plot takes twists and turns that are unexpected to say the least, and the secondary characters all feel necessary and serve a purpose. You’ll question what you’d do if in a similar situation, a situation that keeps progressing and developing and Anna feels less and less close to her little boy. Blackmail, bribery, theft, deceit and lies, they just keep growing and growing. A great book for 2022.

Absolutely loved this latest thriller by Jack Jordan which kept me hooked from the very start! I couldn't sleep one night and picked it up to read for a bit to help me nod off, but 3 hours passed and next thing i knew I had finished it. A surgeon is given an impossible choice after her only son was kidnapped. In order to get him back, she was told that she had to kill her patient during a routine heart operation. The plot pulled me in many directions and had me gasping out loud. All the stars from me!

Having loved Jack Jordan’s previous two books (Before Her Eyes and Night by Night), I knew I would be in for a treat reading Do No Harm and it was absolutely phenomenal! From the moment I first read the synopsis I was intrigued, and I feel incredibly lucky to have had my wish granted to read this book nine months early.

Dr Anna Jones’ son Zack has been taken and she has been given a choice by her son’s abductors. Kill the man who will be on the operating table in front of her in less than two days time, or never see her son again. Tell anyone, and the outcome will be the same. As a surgeon, Anna’s job is of course to always save the patient in front of her. But as a mother, she knows she must kill him and then get away with the murder to stand any chance of being reunited with Zack.

From beginning to end, this story had me gripped! The pace and the tension never once let up and I found myself racing through the pages to find out what would happen next. The descriptions were always so detailed making the gruesome reality of the events in the book feel even more sinister, which I loved! Anna is a cardiothoracic surgeon and the scenes when she was operating made me feel like I had delved inside the world of Holby City! They were so realistic and had me shivering at times, especially when the oscillating saw came out! I would love to be able to hear Jack speak about the research he did for these sections of the book as they were so incredibly rich in detail (I am keeping my fingers crossed for book events when Do No Harm is published next year)!

I particularly loved how there were chapters not only from Anna’s perspective but from Margot’s and Rachel’s too. These additional characters brought so much to the story and I thought it was really effective having these narratives interspersed. Margot works in the hospital alongside Anna, assisting her in theatre, and is facing her own demons both inside and outside of work, whilst Rachel is a Detective Inspector. I really enjoyed Rachel’s chapters and seeing the development of her investigation.

The whole plot of Do No Harm is incredibly clever and I never knew what to expect next as I was reading, especially in part two. I still cannot believe one of the things that happened at the end of the book and who caused this!

I honestly cannot recommend this book highly enough and just know it is going to be a huge success in 2022!