Dysplasia

Rating:
Summary: Move over Michael Crichton and Robin Cook
Review: '"We took care of the dysplasia," Chessman would say, knowing the patient would ask what "dysplasia" meant. Chessman would launch into how some cells just become evil and then beat up on the good cells. Left unchecked, an evil dysplastic cell continued to become more and more evil, reproducing and bringing in other bad cells, until the good cells just couldn't take it anymore.' That's how Dr. Donald Gardner began to see Dr. Hank Chessman, the senior partner of the obstetric/gynecology practice. Hank invited Don into his graces and then trampled him till he mirrored Hank, or so it seemed for awhile.

The designer clothes, the exotic vacations, the prestige, the power, his wife's, Linda, extravagant spending, the Associate Professorship at Columbia University, and the appointment at Morningside Hospital in Manhattan were starting to be a burden for Don, instead of an asset. The more procedures Don did, the more money he made. To Chessman riches weren't enough. He wanted more. So corners were cut and risks were taken, especially when it came to the poor patients at the hospital, the non-people. That's what Hank considered them.

Appointed to make a review of the OB/Gyn practices in the hospital to control time and cost, Don planned to add his own cause, improve the care of Medicaid patients. Warnings came when Don considered changing things at the hospital. Would warnings stop Don or would danger ensue? Enter the real world of medicine, where not every doctor's cause is to provide quality care. Instead power, money, beautiful women, deviant sexual practices, and cover-ups come first. Vicious murderers may dwell here.

As a medical practitioner with experience in hospitals, family practice, and women's care, the realistic scenes and medical knowledge excited me and horrified me as I realized, this could happen in my own neighborhood. Move over Michael Crichton and Robin Cook, here comes Brad Lewis. The reader's goosebumps will have bumps until the twisted ending. Nancy B. Leake, Reviewer, Write Time, Write Place,

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Definitely not a 5 star read. Plods for the first 300 pages, then picks up the pace a bit. Far too much detail about the characters' clothing. Perhaps the repetitive brand-label name dropping is meant to convey the materialism of the characters, but it felt like product placement to me.

Rating:
Summary: Dysplasia
Review: Dysplasia is a fascinating page-turner mystery novel. I literally could not put it down. The characters sure reminded me of some New York doctors whose homes I've decorated. In my business you really meet some unusual characters, but Dysplasia took it one (or two or three) steps further with some very frightening and simultaneously intriguing situations. It made me wonder if some of these things really do go on, and if so to what degree are they gotten away with. Perhaps we should investigate our doctors more thoroughly before we entrust our bodies to them! The suspense and twisted (in more ways that one!) plot line literally left me breathless. A must read.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been much better/shorter. Not what I expected.
Review: I thought I was try out this novel since it was categorized as "medical thriller", it was rated pretty highly, and I had exhausted all of Tess Gerritsen's and Michael Palmer's works. However, the "thrilling" part really does not begin until about 300 pages into the book. As the previous reviewer, "MaryH" stated, it really drags on in the beginning with dribble drabble about the clothing, cars, apartments, parties, and the luxurious life of the practice's partners and their wives. This easily could have been condensed into 3 chapters at the very most. I was ready to quit reading this story thinking it was another Jackie Collins trashy novel, but decided to hang in there, thinking it couldn't get any worse. Luckily, the story finally did pick up with murders, a murder investigation, some evidence, and plenty of suspects. At this point, I just couldn't put the book down. The kinky sex was a little much for me, but it added to the theme of the story. To be picky, I found numerous typos and errors in the book. At one point, one of the murdered characters, Melinda, was called "Melissa". And what's with these one or two line paragraphed-sections? This got to be annoying after awhile. These sections did not flow and did not provide the continuity that was needed.

I certainly would not give this book 5 stars. If you want a good 5 star rated medical thriller, pick up Tess Gerritsen, Michael Palmer, John Case, David Best, or one of F. Paul Wilson's medical thriller genre books. If I had to rate this book, I would give the first 300 pages 3 stars and the last 200 pages 5 stars. So I guess that averages out to 3.8 stars? Therefore, I round it up and give this book 4 stars.

Rating:
Summary: A totally compelling novel of sex, drugs and deviancy
Review: In Dysplasia, oral surgeon and novelist Brad Lewis uses a fictional format to examine the sordid lives of esteemed physicians in a high-profile New York based OB-GYN practice. The parade of characters includes chauvinists, egomanics, and greedy doctors performing ethically and medically suspect operations to increase their cash flow. Lewis' depiction of "celebrity doctors" and their celebrity clientele is interwoven with infidelity, sexual deviancy, racism, and murder. Dysplasia is a thoroughly fascinating, totally compelling and contemporary novel of sex, drugs and deviancy.

Rating:
Summary: Bookviews.com by Alan Caruba
Review: It's a medical thriller that chronicles the road to Hell of a renowned OB-GYN whose sexual habits are bizarre. This is not for the squeamish and it should not come as a surprise that it is written by a surgeon, Brad Lewis. He maintains that his portrayal of high-profile surgeons is not an exaggeration and, if true, you will not want to let one of this fellows get within a mile of you. The interplay between inflated egos and dependent patients works against the background of unnecessary operations, the profit mentality of many medical practices, and frightening inattention to new research. In short, physicians will hate this book, but readers will no doubt find it fascinating, if not terrifying.

Rating:
Summary: doctor in the house?
Review: Put it this way: this book had me seriously considering cancelling my next check up with the doctor. If half of this story is based on reality ... oh boy. A great book to read, with characters that sound all-too-real!@

Rating:
Summary: It's like the commercial -- This guy is good!
Review: Super stuff! A real page-turning-thrilling-chilling novel. I guess you can tell that I really liked it. Lewis paints a dismal picture of our health care system, and the money-driven doctors that are caught it the system. In this case they are OB-GYNs, so the ladies may get a little jolt, probably a good idea, since DYSPLASIA shows these guys to be very aggressive -- and I don't doubt it for a second. The book is full of real medical stuff that gives it an authentic feel. I hate to read books that pretend to know a subject. This novel is for real and I think it's time someone pointed out the shortcomings with these kind of doctors. It's very entertaining. I'm giving it to my girlfriend. It's a must read. I think women will be helped by this book.