Do No Harm is an addicting page turner about a mother who will do whatever it takes to save her son, no matter the cost. This book captured my attention from the very beginning and it's one that I've thought about long after turning the final page. Easily one of my favorite books of 2021, this is a must read!

Dr. Emma Sweeney loves her little family. She is married to Nate, a detective. They have an adorable five-year-old son, Josh, and an elderly dog, Charlie. She can't imagine a different life. After losing both of her parents as a young teenager and losing her brother, Ben, to prison, Emma can't imagine having any other life. Her little family is everything to her. Then one day Josh passes out while his grandmother is watching him and he is diagnosed with cancer and her entire world comes crashing down. And it gets worse. Her insurance won't cover the treatment necessary to save his life. Emma is willing to do anything to save her son. Is she willing to risk it all and throw away the oath she took to Do No Harm?


Do No Harm is a thriller that examines what a mother will to save her son's life. On paper, Emma and Nate Sweeney appear to be a successful career-driven couple. In reality, they are in debt and rent their house from Nate's mom. (This is the first inconsistency I noticed). But Emma allegedly used her parent's life insurance for college. So where is all the debt coming from? When Emma finds out that her insurance won't cover Josh's treatment, she immediately went down the path of no return. It was like she didn't explore any other options. With each passing page, it made me dislike Emma more and more. She went from being a doctor who saved lives to this lawless creature. It wasn't really believable. And the end was even more incredible. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS. The entire book disappointed me. I have enjoyed Christina McDonald in the past, but this one seemed like she phoned in it.



Bottom Line - Do No Harm fell short of my expectations for Christina McDonald. It was predictable and disappointing, not at all like her previous novels. I hope the next one is better.





Details:

Do No Harm by Christina McDonald
On Instagram
Pages: 368
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: 2.16.2021
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the free book in exchange for an honest review.

Do No Harm will make you ask questions about what you're willing to do when your child needs life saving treatment and you don't have the funds to make it happen. I like that this was a medical-based thriller, and the drug aspect was a nice twist to take this from typical medical drama to the next level.

Another great book from this author. Emma needs to find money fast! Her son is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and the treatment is very expensive. Emma is a doctor and her husband is a detective and between them they don’t make enough money for the treatments. Emma has to let her values and morals go in an effort to raise the money and she stands to lose everything if she is caught. This is a definite must read. I have loved this author’s books ever since I read The Night Olivia Fell and this is another amazing story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

While I liked The Night Olivia Fell, her sophomore book, Behind Every Lie was just okay. I had hoped that her third book would be better. It was, just a little, bit still not great. While the premise, 'what lengths would you go to to save your child', had you really thinking about your own moral compass, the book just didn't deliver. Some parts were predictable, and I guessed the last "twist" before I finished. The very end surprised me a little, and was disappointing, after everything I was mad that's the way it ended. Emma wasn't a great main character, but she loved her son fiercely. Nate was a better person, and he deserved better. All around.

Another great novel by Christian McDonald. Dark, suspenseful and it kept me on my toes the whole time. When something happens to one of your loved ones you never know how far you will go to save them! Great pace, great character development and well-written. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

This page turner kept me reading to see how the main character would ever escape the predicament she put herself in. While I appreciated Emma’s willingness to do anything to save her son, I felt that her journey into the drug world was too quick and a bit unrealistic. I would have liked to see her grapple with the decision a little more. I did think that our society’s current issues with pain killer dependency was well represented and I understood the characters who had to turn to illegal drugs just for pain relief. Overall it was a good read and well written by the author.

This ended up being SO GOOD! I can’t recall why I sat on it for as long as I did, but dang, what a mistake! I was sucked in from page one, and couldn’t believe the ending!

This was my first Christina McDonald book. I enjoyed the characters and the plot but just felt like something was missing. It felt a little too repetitive at times and pretty slow moving in several parts. I definitely did not see the ending coming though and I like when a book can surprise me. I will definitely give another one of her books a try. This was an interesting read and mostly held my attention but didn't WOW me.

As a fourth year pharmacy student, this book really intrigued me. I was so excited to see a story told from a perspective I have continually learned about and devoted countless hours to studying and fighting. It was an enjoyable read and really gave some insight into the side of the opioid epidemic I don't see as a student.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit and think most medical professionals would enjoy it too!

This is my third book by Christina McDonald and I really enjoyed this one. Darker, gritty, suspenseful and kept me guessing!

Do No Harm
by Christina McDonald
Published Feb. 16, 2021

I have not read this author before, but I found this book to be thrilling and a great read. What is a mother willing to do to save her child's life? What a dilemma. I found myself wanting to know more about this family and what was going to happen. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me the digital ARC.

3 star

How far would you go for your child? That is exactly what we see in this fantastic thriller.
You do not want to miss this one !!

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for fair and honest review.

Incredibly thought-provoking--and this original and high-tension page-turner will haunt you for a long time. What would YOU do in the same situation? Every time you decide--you'll decide to think again. Perfect for bookclubs!

My goodness! I was on the edge of my seat seeing how this was all going to play out. This is quite the study in what a mother will do to save her son. She went from 0 to 60 in no time and was so far into the weeds in such a short time. Was it always believable? Heck no. But it was completely riveting and sad and indicative of the health care and opioid epidemic facing our country. I loved it!!

I've never had a problem handselling Christina McDonald's books. The reason is simple. Once a person reads her novels they are a fan of her work for life. Do No Harm was an outstanding psychological thriller. It'll be so easy to recommend. Her characters and arcs are always so exciting to explore. Bravo!

This book made me uncomfortable given the ongoing opioid crisis going on in our country. Interesting premise but didn't work for me.

Another gift from Christina McDonald.

What would you do as a mother to save your child?
What ever it takes!
Do No Harm is a fantastic read about the lengths a logger will go to save her child no matter what.
Lots of twists and turns. One you won’t want to put down.

As a mother, you do whatever it takes to protect your children. And that was exactly what Emma did. She did what she could to save her son.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is nice to read a thriller that isn’t about husbands or wives cheating and/or killing each other. There were times I wanted to scream at and shake both Nate and Emma. They both seemed naive and gullible in their own ways. Emma constantly seemed to throw someone under the bus. But I guess that was part of doing whatever it takes. I didn’t see the twists coming which is also a good change of pace. I wish things could have happened differently but I guess can’t always get a 100% happy ending.

Bestselling author Christina McDonald is back with her third suspense novel, DO NO HARM, a tautly plotted, socially informed drama about how far one mother is willing to go to save her son.

Orphaned at a young age, Emma Sweeney is used to being independent and stable. For years her ambition has guided her, and now she is a respected doctor, loving wife to police detective Nate and proud mother of a bright kindergartener. But when Josh starts complaining of exhaustion and flu-like symptoms and comes home from school covered in strange bruises, Emma’s perfect life begins to fall apart. When he is rushed to the ER after a fall, Emma and Nate receive the most horrifying and life-changing news imaginable: their precocious, fun-loving son has cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and unless they do something fast, the prognosis is not good.

Although Emma knows a bit more about the disease than most parents in similar positions, no amount of education or preparedness can help her when she hears how much the best treatment, CAR T-cell therapy, will cost: a whopping $500,000, only a small portion of which is covered by insurance. In a series of phone calls, emails and research that will be all too familiar to most Americans, Emma is able to find a workaround. However, instead of a clean bill, she learns that the treatment will cost $96,000, and she and Nate will have to acquire the funds within one month, or their son’s life will likely end within the year. Emma is still young in her career and not making anywhere near that kind of money, and though Nate is a second-generation cop, he will need a major promotion to even think about a sum like that. Backed into a corner with few options, Emma can’t help but notice the unlocked, unattended extra prescription pads at her clinic, and she makes an instant decision.

For the past several months, Nate has seen his city ravaged by the opioid epidemic; he and his colleagues are called to overdoses practically every day. But when a police informant is murdered, and his toxicology report indicates the presence of fentanyl, the pressure is on for Nate and his department to figure out why overdoses are spiking and who is bringing fentanyl into their community. Feeling helpless at home, he sees the opportunity to solve the kind of case that will mean an instant promotion --- and enough money to protect his family from nearly anything. Little does he know that this epidemic has close ties to his own family.

With Emma reuniting with shady characters from her past to sell prescriptions for opioids and Nate homing in on the seedy underbelly of his town, their relationship takes on a visceral tension, fueled even further by the stress of their sick child. DO NO HARM takes on the air of a cat-and-mouse thriller, with each character trying to outwit the other and come out on top. Drawing upon the searingly timely topic of the opioid crisis and adding some much-needed context to the severity, classism and racism of the issue, McDonald pens a suspenseful thrill ride that is as socially aware as it is meticulously plotted.

What makes the book stand out is the inclusion of characters from all walks of life. As McDonald illustrates, the idea of the “junkie” is only a small portion of the drug crisis ravaging America, and although she makes no excuses for crime, she highlights the many reasons that people have turned to drugs to solve much larger problems. From patients trying to mitigate symptoms of painful diseases to doctors who are afraid of attracting the attention of the Drug Enforcement Administration and even more stereotypical addicts, she paints a picture of an America that is suffering, and reminds readers that there are many motivations behind those involved with opioids.

While the idea of a doctor wife and a police detective husband with an adorable yet horribly sick child might seem a bit too tidy, McDonald uses this highly specific situation to unpack a world of other, more common ones. At the same time, she uses Emma’s character to frame some poignant questions about motherhood, morality and the idea of ends that justify means.

DO NO HARM is an intensely raw and real thriller, and it is clear that McDonald has done incredible amounts of research into the opioid crisis, medicine and (groan) insurance. But do not let the social commentary fool you; this is not just a close examination of social issues. Instantly gripping and full of gasp-worthy twists, the book is clever, tense and utterly addictive. You won’t stop until you’ve turned the last page.