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Read Medicus (2007)

Medicus (2007)

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Genre
Rating
3.71 of 5 Votes: 1
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ISBN
1596912316 (ISBN13: 9781596912311)
Language
English
Publisher
bloomsbury usa

Medicus (2007) - Plot & Excerpts

Thoughts on the Overall Book: I'm really glad I gave this book a go, because now I have found another historical series that I really love! "Medicus" is a somewhat quirky, easy to read historical fiction novel, and just the kind of book I love to sit down with before bed. I never thought I would enjoy a 'hospital drama' so much, but I really wouldn't put it in that category at all anyway. Number one, Ruso is an army surgeon who I always have much more respect for and can usually like, and two, it's light hearted, and not based around the hospital, so plus, plus.Cover--Yea or Nay: I like the cover. It's obviously set in the Roman era, and it's simple, yet it looks like a mystery novel.Characters: Okay, so I loved Ruso right off the bat. I adore dry witted characters, and even though this book wasn't in first person, it feels like it is because you're pretty much in Ruso's head. He's so good hearted, yet all this stuff happens to him because of it which totally makes for a sympathetic hero. I loved the quips between him and Valens. Ruth Downie writes men's relationships very well and can also tell truths about them only women would ever write about--such as the anti-cleanliness on their living quarters. Reading about how filthy their bachelor's quarters were and how they didn't care just made me crack up because I know all too well how true that is. I also really loved Tilla. She's just the kind of female protagonist I love to read about. She was capable of doing what she needed to, and yet she was never once annoying, though I wanted to shake her a couple times for listening to people she should have known better not to trust. But that all just made me sympathize with her in the end. Priscus was throughly fun to hate too. And though he wasn't a really evil baddie, the reader still wished to see Ruso get the better of him.The Romance: There's not much at all, but it's definitely hinted (and expected) that Ruso and Tilla will have some sort of relationship in later books. And I support their romance because I genuinely care for them.Writing Style: While not the most engaging mystery plot I have ever read, the characters were who really drove this story and made it enjoyable. You cared a lot for the characters. If I hadn't, I probably would have been more disappointed that there wasn't a better mystery plot line, but I really didn't feel cheated at all at the end of the book because of it. Ruth Downie's writing style is what really sold the book though, and made it work. It's filled with lovely wry humor that I adored, and is snappy, and engaging without being overly descriptive as some historical novels can be at times. I also appreciated that she addressed all the inaccuracies in the book in her author's note. As an author, and one who has dabbled in this time period and setting, I understand completely how hard it is to find real information for thorough research. The reader will notice the somewhat modern flair in the novel, but it is only going to make it a funner read unless you're a really stuffy person who shouldn't be reading anything but text books.Problems/What bothered me: I really didn't have any complaints which made me really happy. Even though parts of this book take place in a brothel, nothing is described in detail. And for the people who don't like blood, there's not much of that either, considering this is a novel about army surgeons. I was really glad that the birthing scene was not detailed but even as it was, there was still too much detail for my liking. That is one of the few things that can make me want to throw up while reading.Conclusion:4 stars, I really liked it, and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.Recommended Audience: People who like an easy historical read would enjoy this. Also fans of the Falco novels would appreciate Ruso.

Gaius Petreius Ruso has recently arrived in a cold and rainy Britannia. He is recently divorced and has suffered bad news about the death of his father, which has left him with a great deal of debt and an extended family to support. However, despite his new good intentions to obtain promotion and, hopefully, some wealthy paying patients, things do not seem to be starting well. Although he has pledged to live frugally, he somehow ends up buying a young slave girl, whose arm is badly injured and who is being brutally mistreated. As he is staying with his friend, and fellow doctor, Valens, this leaves him with a problem of where she can sleep and, eventually, he opts for the rather dubious location of Merula’s – a bar which seems to have rather carelessly lost two of its dancing girls, one of whom was recently hauled out of the river. To add to his problems, Ruso ends up making an enemy of the rather pedantic hospital administrator Optio Priscus and be rumoured to be investigating the death of Saufeia, even though he doesn’t really want to be involved.This is the first mystery in the series and there is a lot of introducing the characters and setting. Ruso is a likeable enough lead character, who tries his best to make things right. It is fair to say that the authorities are not particularly eager, or worried, about the death of two dancing girls – but Ruso feels there is more to the mystery than he first realised. Why did one of the dancing girls run off, when she was supposedly in love with a soldier at the garrison? Why was another, surprisingly able to read and write, suggesting that she would not be there long before going missing and what is making certain customers at Merula’s ill? Ruso attempts to discover the truth, even without really wanting to, while trying to care for the unwilling new acquisition to his household, the beautiful young Tilla, stave off debt and try to get some sleep in between tending to patients. Overall, this was an interesting mystery, although too much of the book seemed to be about introducing the characters and the storyline was a little slow to get going. Now that the characters of Ruso and Tilla are established, I wonder whether the second novel in the series will be faster paced. I would certainly give the second book a try, as this was a light and enjoyable read.Rated 3.5

What do You think about Medicus (2007)?

#1 in the Gaius Petreius Ruso historical mystery series set in Roman-occupied Britannia. Ruso, a recently-divorced doctor who has moved from his family home in Gaul to an army outpost in Deva (modern-day Chester, UK) and stumbles immediately into a mystery, with the dead, naked body of a young woman brought into his surgery. Most of her red hair has been lopped off, and he's curious not only about her, but about her killer. When he discovers that she was a "dancing girl" from one of the local bars and that another woman who worked there has disappeared, and no one is investigating, he takes an unofficial but widely-known interest and begins nosing around. All this while attempting to deal with long hours in his duties as a doctor/surgeon, a slave girl he purchased who has a bit of an attitude problem and is unable to do anything because of injuries that need healing, a roommate (in a rather run-down, filthy home) who is vying with him for the position of Chief Medical Officer--a job Ruso badly needs so he can send his family money and avoid their farm going under, and a host of other little problems. Poor Ruso! He's made the mistake of being someone who cares and seems to get slapped down for it time and again in a series of unfortunate events. The story is written in an engaging style with plenty of wry humor and well-developed characters. The only regret I have is that this book sat on my TBR stacks for way too long--but I am glad to have the next two waiting for me. Excellent! A+
—Spuddie

What have we here? Medicus. I picked this one up about a year ago in the dollar store! I had picked up another book before that in the dollar store and LOVED it, so I figured I try my luck again. I should not have...Medicus is a historical fiction mystery. Or at least that is what the inside flap promises. It was historical fiction. It was superbly researched. It did have a mystery in it. But it all got lost in details! I did like the "hero" of the story, the medic Ruso, quite a lot actually. He was not the "here I come to save the day" type. He sort of stumbles into situations and becomes a reluctant hero. Very refreshing.The poor guy is harassed by debt his father left him after he died and an extended family that relies on him and his brother to pay off the debt and keep them all fed. And we get told this bit OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER.... AND OVER again. OMG!!! I GOT IT!!!!!Ruso is a medic in the Roman army. Just came over to Brittan after being stationed in Africa for a while. He also is rather fresh divorced. He rescues a slave girl which in turn gets him into a bit of trouble, because she wants him to help with another slave girl, that was not really a slave, but rather a free born, abducted and then sold into slavery.Of course under lots of grumbling and worrying and harrumphing he goes and helps. He also gets suckered into figuring out who killed two prostitutes in the bar down the street from the fort.Every time the story picks up speed and gets interesting, the author puts on the breaks again, by telling us about the blasted debt, or the blasted loan, or she looses her trail in details. I DO love details. I do love getting the feeling for a place, but it can be overdone. It absolutely stops the progress of the story. Mrs. Downie has a wonderful sense of humour and the book made me laugh out loud a few times, but it just wasn't enough to make up for the slow pace. She rather gets off on these tiny little "substories", that make for a great laugh, but don't progress the story of the actual book "you came to read". I don't mind a bit of slower going, but this was unreal. Every time I thought: "Ok, all right! We are getting somewhere! Now it's getting interesting!" The story dipped off again into long lost memories, fretting.. I do understand it is important to understand the characters motivation and frame of mind, but really we got it. It does not have to be reiterated in EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER.For example: Ruso finds out that the hair of the first murdered girl was sold. YES! WOW... LET"S GO AFTER THIS LITTLE CLUE! but nope.. that clue gets dropped in the next sentence until a few chapters later, when it gets brought up again only in passing and then forgotten all about. It gets tedious and boring to watch the book build up steam, then fizzles, build up steam, then fizzles. Do it once, I put up with it. Do that twice, shame on you, Mrs Author!Do it three times: The book goes on the free pile!By the end I didn't care any more who killed the girls, if the evil Priscus was embezzling, if Merula was going to get it, if Ruso was going to keep Tilla, or if he was going to get involved with her...I just wanted to "get out". I closed the book with about 20 more chapters to go (most chapters are merely 2 pages long) and did not pick it back up! This book is like the promise of a luxury cruse with a four star meal, only to deliver a row boat on a lake and a can of Sardines...Gosh how I hate writing bad reviews!!! This book had such promise! I would have loved to love it. But I happen to hate Sardines.
—Bridgett

Looking forward to the next in the series!Medicus and the Disappearing Dancing Girls is the first of a series of novels that follows the misfortunes of a Roman Army Medical Officer, Gaius Petreius Ruso, after his posting from the warm climes of North Africa to the dreary grey drizzle of Deva (pron. Dewa); that's modern day Chester.Ruso is down on his luck and doesn't own much more than a few mounting debts. As well as trying to support his own life in the British garrison town, he is obliged to send funds home to his brother in southern Gaul lest his family find themselves destitute and homeless.His medical colleague at the garrison hospital, who shares his squalid house with Ruso, takes life as it comes and has a wicked sense of humour, and is no help at all. Consequently, Ruso has very little support from anyone as he tries to traverse his difficult life. Almost by accident he finds himself burdened with further unmanageable debts, becomes the reluctant owner of an injured slave, Tilla, and is in continual conflict with the hospital administrator and many of the local Britons.There are many reflections of twenty-first century society in this book, ranging from the financial and administrative pressures on the health service to the very serious issue of the white slave trade. I am sure that these parallels are deliberately drawn by the author to provoke the reader into thoughts beyond the main storyline.Ruso becomes an unwilling detective, trying to track down the truth behind the disappearance of several dancing girls from the local brothel and bar. The story moves at a leisurely pace and, in the main, insinuates the brutality of the age rather than going into explicit detail.I have always been a big fan of historical novels as, with conversations and images, they bring history to life around those dry, boring dates and names that I had to learn in the school classroom. Medicus does this for me and, at the same time, introduces some interesting characters whom I very much look forward to meeting again as the series unfolds. I strongly suspect that Ruso's slave, Tilla, will become his driving force.This is an excellent detective story, and the links between Roman Britain and Modern Britain are particularly pleasing. I would recommend Medicus to anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction.
—Lance Greenfield

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