In Days of the Giants, the new novel by emergency doctor and researcher R.J. Petrella, not only do readers get a close-up view of the kinds of cases doctors on the front lines face everyday— shootings, drug overdoses and heart attacks— they get an insider’s look at the politics that go on in our nation’s hospitals. Though entirely fiction, the story, which is told in both first person and through narration by the main character’s father, was inspired by Petrella’s own experiences as a resident.