Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of The Surgeon by Leslie Wolfe in exchange for an honest review. This book was amazing and I listened to it all in one day, staying up till 3 to finish it. It starts with two viewpoints and I wasn't sure how they connected, but it was slowly revealed. I really enjoyed the suspense and mystery as well as the two viewpoints. It's interesting to see how different people see things and it changes their whole reality.

Thank you NetGalley and Leslie Wolfe for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Surgeon is a twisty, slow-burn medical thriller that's told through the POV's of two different characters: the protagonist and the antagonist.

This is my first novel by Leslie Wolfe, and I really appreciate all of the research that went into this because there is a lot of medical terminology used throughout the story. I honestly didn't know what to expect going into this, but I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it.

I will definitely recommend to anyone looking for a medical thriller.

This was such a solid audiobook. It kept my attention the entire time, which has proven challenging for me in the past.
Leslie Wolfe tells a story with a cast of characters I had so much fun rooting for or against. She made an unlikeable character super interesting. And the ending…DID NOT SEE IT COMING. Multiple twists I didn’t predict but the final one was the cherry on top! I will be finding more titles from Lisa Wolfe. Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for my ARC of the audiobook!

A young surgeon had never lost a patient, until she did. When her first loss occurs, it not as simple as one would think and suddenly she finds herself being investigated as a murderer. The investigator will stop at nothing- in fact, she is out for blood.

I was throughly unprepared for this story line and as a result, I was pleasantly surprised. While I was hooked on the actual story, I do not recommend listening to the audiobook- all of the narrators were either whiney, brutal, whispery, or just plain annoying.

The Lost Patient

She studied hard and she made it as a woman surgeon following in her father's footsteps. She has a husband she loves and a wonderful career. She is the "Heart" girl, she has never lost a patient....until she does.

That morning started out like many others. A routine heart surgery, but something happened, when the heart should have restarted it didn't. She tried to restart the heart....until she looks at the patient's face....then she stopped.

Now she is being investigated by the Justice Department. But why?....she did everything right and was cleared by the hospital board. The lady investigating her would not give up. Then she finds out why...why the heart stopped beating...why the investigator would not give up....why her career is in danger.

This story was so good. I listened to the audio book and the narrator did a fantastic job. It was full of twists and turns. The ending was good and I think that she made a great decision....wonder what was in her mind at that moment.

Thanks to Leslie Wolfe for writing a great story, to Gwendolyn Druyor for a great narration, to Bookouture for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the audio book to listen to and to review.

The Surgeon by Leslie Wolfe Narrated by Gwendolyn Druyor was one of the hardest audiobooks to get into......I think it was the narrator.
But I was so glad I had the book to read! and WoW I loved it. Once I started to read it I was hooked from the start till the end and found it very hard to put it down. Leslie has a way of writing that will just pull all their audience in from the very first few pages, Hence why I did not want to give up on it, especially as I ended up reading it in 2 sittings. It has lots of lots of tension, twists and turns throughout that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat.

I highly recommend this book.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Leslie Wolfe's latest medical thriller, THE SURGEON —is packed with twists and turns where nothing is as it appears with a jaw-dropping twist.

Dr. Anne Wiley is a cardiothoracic surgeon who lost a patient, Caleb Donaghy, on the operating table. She has never lost a patient on the table until now. Did Anne call death too early? Could she have done more? Something was not right.

She recognized the patient. He was an evil man. Was she glad he was dead? Is she a murderer? Will the hospital investigate?

Set in Chicago, we met Anne, Derreck, and Paula—a triangle. The players have more in common than they know.

Anne's husband, Derreck, is an attorney and hopes to soon be Mayor. He is also having an affair with Paula.

Paula Fuselier is ambitious, with State's Attorney Office, and on her way to becoming the State Attorney General. Paula and Derreck spend their time in hotels. Paula knows Derreck will never leave his wealthy wife. Anne is the one with the money.

However, Paula has a hidden agenda. She is obsessed. She wants to bring Anne down. She is using her office and position to push this investigation into the death and Anne.

Anne's mom (she also has secrets) lives with Anne and Derreck, and later in the book, we find out, they adopted a foster child named Melanie. Anne loved her little sister and we learn she died, but we do not know how until later.

Everyone is keeping their own dark secrets.

Paula is evil and manipulative, and soon Derreck finds out about Paula. Paula has been waiting months for the famous Dr. Anne Wiley to make a mistake. He still does not know how far she will go and why.

Two questions haunt Anne:
Why did his heart refuse to start?
And why has the State's Attorney Office made Donaghy's heart into a case worth investigating?

How do all these storylines connect, and how does the man on the table fit into these lives? I did not see this one coming. Readers will be pleasantly surprised.

A dark and chilling tale! Gripped from page one of this shock-inducing medical thriller of revenge, obsession, and ambition— prepare to be hooked.

I alternated between the e-book and the audiobook narrated by Gwendolyn Druyor. My concerns with the audiobook were either the narrator or how the book was intended with the two main characters.

Both voices were to the extremes. Anne was very naive, whiny, and soft-spoken and did not come across as an intelligent and confident surgeon. On the other hand, Paula was over the top, mean, unglued, and in your face, and not composed for someone of her position. I also noted other reviewers with the same line of thinking.

Book 4 Stars
Audio 3 Stars

My first book by Leslie Wolfe, and I look forward to reading more.

Thank you to #Bookouture and #NetGalley for a gifted e-ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: March 8, 2023
My Rating: 3 Stars
March 2023 Must-Read Book

The Surgeon is a twisty, tense medical thriller with legal elements. If you like medical dramas, I think this will appeal to you.

Our main character is a well respected but also envied female surgeon. When she loses a patient in surgery for the first time, she experiences suspicion from her superiors and the local DA’s office. Was the death intentional? Was someone else at fault?

There’s also a subplot about the surgeon’s husband who is running for mayor. Told from a second perspective, we learn about his infidelity and his lover’s avarice.

It was well researched enough to impress me as a layperson, but I’m not a medical professional so I’m not sure if it holds up at that level of scrutiny. One major twist is partially revealed early on and that did a lot to hold my attention. The final twenty percent was twist after twist, Alice Feeney style. If you’re looking for a medical thriller, this might be worth a go.

This was my first book my this author and it did not disappoint. There were so many twists that I never saw coming. There were some slow parts but it picked up pretty quick and then I could not stop listening. The narrator did a good job. I would definitely read more books by this author.

I'm sorry, but I wasn't expecting the main character to be into sado-masochism. It's just not for me. No judgment on the writing - I'm just not the right audience for this audiobook.

3.5 stars from me. It was a great story that dipped a little in the middle but the twist at the end I didn't see coming.

Anne Wiley is cardiac surgeon, happily married to Derek, a lawyer with political dreams. Talented at her job, she's never lost a patient, not until now.

When she comes under fire for not spending long enough trying to resuscitate a patient the story unfolds as to how she knew him and we wonder whether she deliberately didn't try to bring this man back to life.

I thought the charactisation was great. As was the narration.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review of it!
This book was a lot of fun – there were SO many twists! Anne Wiley is a heart surgeon with a loving family; she lives with her mom and her husband. Her late father was also a surgeon, Anne followed in his footsteps her entire life. Since leaving medical school and finding a job, Anne has never lost a patient – until now. She also has never hated a patient until now. How will the first death on her operating table affect her, and was this done on purpose?
I really enjoyed the twists that Leslie Wolfe was able to craft into this story. As soon as I thought I had something figured out, another twist would come and leave me shocked! I enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen next, something that I can usually figure out as a frequent reader of thrillers and mysteries.
This author did such a fantastic job of building characters! These characters are truly complex, and no one is truly innocent or truly evil (except maybe one character… I’ll leave that for you to decide!) As I read this book, I would swing from liking a character to disliking them, and the complexities of situations made it difficult to judge all their decisions.
There are a good number of medical references featured in the book, and this was clearly well researched. For most of the book, I felt that all medical talk was well placed and helped the story along; however, in the last 25% of the book I felt that there were some medical metaphors used that didn’t really do anything for the plot. Some of these felt a little forced to me. Overall, the author did a good job of making the medical references sound very authentic.
I truly enjoyed listening to this book. The narrator did a good job of putting emotion into the story, and I could tell the difference in how she read the different characters. It was not my absolute favorite narration job – but it was good and kept me entertained. If you aren’t *super* picky about narrators, I think the audio works well for this book!
This book rates 3.75 stars for me (I am rounding up here). It was an enjoyable story; the characters were almost real to me and I had to know what happened to them. I think Leslie Wolfe did a great job, and I will be reading books by her in the future!

Great ending, I didn't see that coming!!
Although the book took a little while to get into, once I was it was very enjoyable to listen to. Very well narrated and written. I'm going to listen to more by this new, to me, author.

I want to thank the author, NetGalley and Bookouture
for the opportunity to listen to this terrific new book.

Anne Wiley is successful cardiac surgeon, quite literally the poster girl for the hospital she works at. She’s married to Derek, a successful lawyer with political aspirations. On the surface it looks like Anne has it all.

Then, one day, a patient inexplicably dies during a surgery she performs. She’s sure she did everything by the book and everything she could have done to save him. This is the first patient that she has lost and takes it badly. The situation is further exacerbated when the death of the patient is investigated by the Assistant State Attorney.

The story moves along from the perspective of Anne and also from Paula Fuselier. Anne tries to uncover why the Assistant State Attorney became involved, and undertakes a covert investigation into the patient and Paula. Paula is driven and wants to advance her career and doesn’t let anyone get her in way.

Without revealing any spoilers, there are lots of twists and turns and I didn’t see all of them coming.

The narrator, Gwendolyn Druyor, had a great range for all the characters in the book. That said, the voice she used for Anne Wiley was irritating and Anne came off as being very whingey which I think detracted from the story.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Bookouture Audio for making this e-audio ARC available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

3.75⭐️

Tagline The narrator wasn’t the best fit for me.

I had the audiobook version read by Gwendoline Druyor. I really didn’t like the voice given to Anne, she is given a timid feeble voice, it didn’t fit a strong woman at the top of her career, it was also grating on the ear, and unfortunately the dominant character. The voice fit the prosecutor well, the male voices were ok.

We have 2 perspectives, Dr Anne Wiley a cardiac surgeon who has her first Intra operative death, she is the main narrator. The second is the Assistant State Attorney Paula.

I couldn’t settle into the narrator.
I would advise reading the book instead. It’s a slow burn, the plot appears uncomplicated but develops to a satisfying finale.

I don’t even know where to start with one as I was in the edge of my seat the whole time!!!

I totally did not connect the dots on either of the twists near the end.

I can’t imagine the stress surgeons/doctors are under, especially when things don’t go to plan.

This was my first Leslie Wolfe book but won’t be my last! Already put a few of her books on hold at the library!

At first I found the narrator to have a very similar voice for the two characters but as time went on was easier to know who was who.

Doctor and Wiley is not only a great surgeon but she’s a loving wife and daughter and until her patient Caleb she head in unblemished fatality rate. To make it even worse she did that surgery with Dr. Bolger The anesthesiologist who also doubles as her nemesis. She is shocked by the death and even more shocking is that she knows him but how she knows him isn’t told until much later in the book. We know it has something to do with her sister Melanie who is no longer around. Her husband Derek is supportive but being a lawyer he ask Heard the hard questions. They’re high school sweethearts and still very much in love. As the book develops the investigators want to know if it was just a death or a murder and who did it? Trust me when I say the answer will surprise you because it certainly surprised me it’s amazing how you could make a story that on the face of it seems cut and dry but as they say the devil is in the details in these details are certainly devilish. This isn’t my first book by Leslie Wolf will definitely not be my last won’t say I absolutely loved Gwendolyn dryers narration although she has a pleasant voice it isn’t a a voice I would think that’s a high-pressure surgeant but what do I know I only have male doctors in my family and have never needed a heart surgeon… Thank God. Either way her narration Who is OK. I also like the real world characteristics she gave to AN and the other characters not all authors are great at nailing the details but I find Leslie Wolfe is really good at that. Like the scene with Leslie and her husband and the bell I know a lot of high pressured professionals like that and thought that was a great addition to her already complicated personality. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I received this book from NetGalleyg and Bookoucher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Doctor! Doctor! Can't you see I'm burning, burning

Book Information

The Surgeon was written by Leslie Wolfe. It’s due to be published on March 8, 2023 and is 316 pages. I listened to the audio version which is narrated by Gwendolyn Druyor and is 10 hours and 46 minutes. Thanks to Bookouture Audio for providing me with an advance reader copy for review.

Summary

Dr. Anne Wiley is a very successful surgeon. She is very successful in general. She is married to her college sweetheart who is now a lawyer. She is the face of the hospital, literally, on billboards across the city. She had never lost a patient on the operating table—until today. She also never recognized a patient on the table—until today. Finally—she never wanted a patient to die—until today.

Did she kill him? Does anyone else know? Will she be arrested? Fired? Will it ruin her marriage? Her life?

Ann is thrust into a world where for the first time she is on unfamiliar ground---where she doesn’t know who to trust, or even if she can trust herself.

My Thoughts

I’ll start by saying this is a good book. It’s a good story. I was entertained. I think the author did a good amount of research to make all the medical references and procedures sound authentic. There were also a good number of twists and turns—some predictable but some surprising. It’s a slow reveal as Wolfe doles out bits and pieces until you have a full picture of what’s really going on.

But I struggled with parts. Anne, the face of the hospital surgeon was written (or perhaps performed) as indecisive at best or weak at worst. It’s hard to imagine such a successful surgeon being such. She also was painfully naive. There were parts that I found hard to believe—such as Anne not meeting with her patient the morning of the surgery (which would have prevented the entire story as she would have recognized the patient before he hit her table). I also really disliked Patricia. Really disliked her. I am ok disliking a character—that’s often a requirement in mysteries or thrillers but she just grated on me to the point that I lost enjoyment in the book when she was prominent.

The narration of the book could be part of my issue. It’s hard for me to parse out whether Anne was written to be perceived as weak or if the performance of the book overly highlighted that trait. Whether Patricia was genuinely so dislikable or if the narrator did such a good job making her so that it pushed her over the edge.

Again—not a bad book. Other’s reviews suggest I may be in the minority with my opinions so your mileage may vary. Sometimes a book just doesn’t speak to a given reader—this one didn’t to me.

Recommendation

If you like twists and turns, psychological thrillers, medical dramas, and careers/lives hanging in the balance---you may enjoy The Surgeon.

Rating

3 Maybe She Did Kill Him Stars

A twisty story that makes it hard to root for anyone. No one is likable, everyone behaves poorly and everyone is sympathetic in their own way. It ended up creating an interesting dynamic.

I do have to say that I wish I'd read a physical copy as the narration was grating and distracting which is a shame because the story was so stellar.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy. It is my pleasure to write an honest review.

I have to say I did not like the narration. Paula and Derek are such unlikable characters and they definitely stay that way. What an unsatisfying ending too. I did enjoy the plot twists and I do believe I would have enjoyed this book more if I read a physical copy.