Did anyone ever warn you that sometimes you will reap what others sow? I’m not talking agriculture; this “Harvest” is within a medical thriller. This novel is a chilling, heart-pounding look into the world of transplant medicine. And especially a look into what is reaped when a system goes unthinkably wrong.Dr. Abby DiMatteo is a medical resident at Boston’s Bayside Hospital, with a bright future ahead. Her career path, her personal life, and her love life are all exciting and promise fulfillment and joy. She has her choice of positions after her residency. She has friends and she is in a relationship with a handsome, successful transplant surgeon at the hospital. She is a happy person, for awhile.Then Dr. Abby runs head on into an ethical question about a patient at the hospital. She takes action to help this patient, a teenage boy, receive a donor heart. He is in critical need of a transplant. He is next on the list to receive a matching heart, so why is the available heart being diverted to a wealthy, elderly woman patient? Abby’s actions have repercussions that turn life threatening for her when she uncovers dark secrets. These secrets may hide a tragic, unimaginable nightmare.Or is Abby imposing herself in procedures she’s just not qualified to understand? Abby is determined to do the right thing, as she sees it. Others are determined to stop her. Who are they? Who at Bayside Hospital remembers to uphold their Hippocratic Oath, their promise to practice medicine honestly?The author, Tess Gerritsen, is well qualified to write this book, one of the most suspenseful novels I’ve discovered. She studied medicine at University of California at San Francisco, was a practicing physician for years, and is now retired and continues to successfully write. “Harvest” is the first of several medical thrillers that she’s published. In 2001, she published her first crime thriller, “The Surgeon,” which introduced the character of homicide detective Jane Rizzoli along with another character, medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles. You may know these characters from the television series “Rizzoli & Isles.”Gerritsen’s characters are smart and passionate. Some pursue what they believe is right. Others pursue what is profitable. And others pursue power. The question is, who can Abby trust? And how can she prove the incredible accusations she suspects? Discovering proof while in this fever-pitch chase requires great stealth and deception, neither of which are Abby’s strengths. She relies on some help from her friends, but as she uncovers information she begins to wonder who her friends truly are, and so will you.Thereby hangs a tale . . . .
Abby is a second year surgical intern at Bayside medical center, and is finally getting to where she wants to be in her career. So when a heart becomes available she assumes it will go to the deathly ill 17 year old boy who is crashing multiple times a day and has minimal time left to live. Instead, she's told it'll be going to a 46 year old woman, who is a private patient. Suspicious that she's only getting it because of her money, Abby makes sure the heart gets transplanted to the boy instead. But when another suitable heart becomes immediately available and the woman gets transplanted, Abby has to wonder where it came from, because after all, they couldn't possibly be getting hearts illegally....could they?Although not one of her best thrillers, I did enjoy this book, especially the heart transplant storyline which was interesting to read about. You figure out within pages of the beginning what the whole storyline will be, but there are a few bits that fit together more as the story goes on. I did find some of the characters hard to connect with, but I immediately fell in love with Yakov, he seemed so damaged, yet he was the character with the most personality and loveability. Abby was a strong, determined young woman, who was willing to do whatever it took to find out what was going on, even at the risk to herself, which I liked. It's always good to read books where there's a strong female lead. As with her other books, Gerritsen draws on her medical knowledge and that makes the books so much more realistic and enjoyable to read. Overall, Harvest is decent, but as it was her first thriller, it's not quite as good as her other books, such as her Rizzoli/Isles series.
What do You think about Harvest (1997)?
I read Harvest first, and it was great! Loved it, read it again a few years later and was still great! Being a scientist with a strong medical interest, and an eye for something thrilling to keep me reading, this would be a fine one to start with. I think I gave away my copy, and got it again used somewhere...if I have it you are welcome to borrow it - or if not, try the library.The Bone Garden is good too, I just finished it and still have it if you want it. I don't think you need to read one of any of them before another, they are pretty much stand alone books... no previous experience required, but for some, a strong stomach is required (very descriptive of medical situations - not always "pleasant" to read/see/know about, but realistic enough to make you "feel" it.Karen
—Karenshaff
Dr Abby DiMatteo felt like she was in a good place; a second year resident at Bayside Hospital, and working with the elite cardiac transplant team – she was just beginning to feel that all her hard work, the study, the years of staying at home when her friends went out partying and her huge student debt; it was all worth it. With the devastating loss of a female car crash victim, brain dead but healthy in every other aspect it meant, with the husband’s permission, the heart was ready to be harvested to save a critically ill patient. The wealthy Nina Voss was the recipient, but Abby was confronted by the fact that a seventeen year old boy would also die without this heart. The decision Abby made in that emotional moment of matching the heart to the two different patients suddenly had her facing the intense rage of an extremely wealthy man – a man who could buy anything he wanted; a man who would also do anything to get what he wanted. Suddenly Abby’s world tilted on its axis. Something was wrong – desperately wrong. As she began a covert investigation into hospital files and past transplants, she wondered who she could trust. What about Mark, her brand new fiancé – she should be able to trust him, shouldn’t she? But the intricate web of deceit and deception went deep; Abby was in danger and didn’t know where to turn. Would anyone help her? Or was she in way over her head? I thoroughly enjoyed this dark psychological medical thriller. Author Tess Gerritsen never disappoints. The plot was fast paced and full of intrigue, with twists and turns until the very end. Gripping, twisted and full of a terror that what was happening in this fictional book could be actually happening out there in the real world. I have no hesitation in recommending Harvest highly.
—Brenda
Harvest is a great read! The book gives the reader a view of transplant surgery with a twist as only Tess Gerritsen can. If she practiced medicine as well as she can write a really great story then the medical world has lost a treasure. Her knowledge of medicine and the hospital OR makes her stories all the more believable. Harvest is the story of Dr. Abby DiMatteo, a second year surgical resident. Her decision to do what her heart tells her gets her into more trouble than she (or the reader) could imagine. The story ends with all roads open and essential questions unanswered. This is the perfect formula for a continuation. Harvest is a great achievement (in outdoing many previous works) of a truly great mystery writer.
—Thom Swennes
