Assessment:
Plot: The authors effectively convey the professional challenges of their lead characters, while integrating elements of a police procedural. A romantic subplot provides a breezy undertone.
Prose: The prose adequately serves the story and will engage fans of mystery and romance, although the flow of the text is at times clunky and dialogue can be inauthentic. The use of technical terminology provides valuable verisimilitude.
Originality: Narratives that depict the personal lives of first responders and ER personnel are ubiquitous. As a result--and despite the book's strengths--this look into the lives of forensic nurses can, unfortunately, feel stale. The absence of many ethical challenges, along with a somewhat predicable ending, makes later sections less engaging, and at times repetitive, despite the suffering of the people portrayed.
Character Development: While the characters are individually compelling as dedicated pros who are, nevertheless, eager for romance, neither lead character changes substantially by the story's conclusion.
Date Submitted: April 02, 2019
A debut novel follows two Baltimore forensic nurse examiners who search for evidence in cases of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Trauma nurse Addie Donovan’s long hours evidently become too much for her fiance, who suddenly breaks off their engagement. She packs her things and moves in with her friend Rachel Tristin, a nurse and death investigator. Though she’s upset, Addie uses the opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming a forensic nurse examiner. It’s a demanding job that requires, for instance, a rigorous examination of a gay man whom two attackers brutally assaulted and sexually tortured. But Addie has a passion for helping people, and Rachel, seemingly inspired by her friend, becomes an FNE as well (“She wanted to help living victims of horrific crimes get through the worst day of their life”). Both women find time for potential romance with men they’ve met in the course of their work. Addie frequently confers with ruggedly handsome Detective Frank Knight on cases, and Rachel is immediately smitten with firefighter David, though he doesn’t call her after their first date. Meanwhile, there’s a possibility that a serial rapist is stalking and attacking women in Baltimore, ultimately resulting in one of the two friends being in peril. Keating and Shoenfeld’s novel often feels like a series of short stories. Chapters, for example, typically focus on a stand-alone subplot: Addie happens upon an icy-road accident involving a bus of handicapped children, and Rachel works her first case as an FNE. While the serial rapist story arc mostly sits on the back burner, the various subplots skillfully showcase two empathetic, professional women. Their thorough examinations entail gentle but direct questions as the nurses explain to the victims every aspect of the exam (for example, what they’re photographing and why). The authors’ extensive medical backgrounds produce meticulous descriptions and an unflinching but enlightening look at what constitutes sexual assault forensic exams. While Addie and Rachel have personal lives (primarily dating), time spent between the two friends is unfortunately negligible. But readers will likely hope for a sequel with the two laudable characters.
An engrossing and educational look at forensic nurse examiners.
