Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

If this book was shorter, I would have given it more stars. This book is one of the rare occurrences were less is more.

i was pulled in from the cover and i'm glad I did, it was a great mystery that I wanted to keep reading even after the end. The characters were great and I enjoyed this read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Brown Dog Books for providing me with an ARC for Scalpels Out in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book was very much not for me. I only finished fully reading this so I could feel right in providing this review.

Finding the cover and synopsis on NetGalley, I thought this looked like it could be a good bit of fun to read, as I like a nice thriller every once in a while. What I got was very much not what I expected, and I don't mean that as a positive.

From the very onset, Morris' description of every feel matters only on their looks and how they use them to get what they want (or how they're so slovenly that they could never hold the male gaze except out of a sense of pity). In the first 30% of the novel at least, a woman could not be described without making sure the reader knew if she had perky, appetising breasts, or saggy, sad breasts.

Like I feel with so many movies lately, this probably could've made a perfect, quick novella. Instead, Morris makes sure the reader gets that he knows a lot of fancy words and can create a lot of characters. We are not in the age where you get paid per word, but this will make you feel like you're back in those times. There are so many characters and subplots in this, with sometimes little to denote that we're going from one character's POV to the next, that it was hard to keep track of just what all was going on.

Sadly I think the only positive I can personally provide for this is that it didn't feel like it took a very long time for me to read. If this was whittled down just to show the POVs of the three main young doctors, I think it could've been a lot more interesting. Instead, we are provided with so much detail that the story just comes off dull and uninteresting.

What an adventure to read, especially when you have a medical background and can relate so much.
I am still in the middle but has been fun and addictive since the first page.
Great work by Peter Morris and looking forward for more books.

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Peter Morris for providing me with an ARC of this title!

I have always had a huge interest in the healthcare field, so I was drawn to this book. This wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was okay nevertheless. Kind of confusing, very wordy.

Thank you again for allowing me to read and review this ARC!

Complicated - plot, characters and their relationships with one another. . Lots of other stories which added more confusion and weren't always relevant . I felt the book started to lose it's way half way through when one of the main characters went to Greece . A lot of sex, much fairly believable (I have worked in hospitals for many years and it is mostly common knowledge about who is bedding who) .
Positives, it made me laugh in places and was an interesting read.
Negatives - some parts were irrelevant but seemed to be added to let us know how clever the author is (Greek history/language lessons ) and medical details which were not part of the story and not followed up on (did she have Grave's diesease?) The timeline was erratic which made reading it even more complicated.
On the whole the book could do with a good editor- the story of the three young doctors at disciplinary hearings is a good base for the book, the detail about their collegues was sometimes too farcical (may be the intention) which undermined the book. 3 stars because 2 seems a bit mean, though the author does have old-fashioned ideas about staff working in hospitals, this reflects the attitudes of 30-40 years ago. Do not read if you are easily offended. I `m still not sure whether this is tongue in cheek or not.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Who talks that way really? Unnecessarily wordy throughout which almost put me off but I persevered as the story istelf was interesting, if not confusing at times.

So many characters with little background to whom they are.

Interesting stories of professionals intertwined make you want to keep on reading to see what other mischief they get themselves into.

Over wordy.

Mentioning a characters full name once then expecting you to know who they are when they're referred to as either "prof" "first name" or "last name"

Outdated terms such as negro and red Indian

The stories of each characters turn out ridiculously random! This is not what I was expecting. Plot points just appear out of nowhere for no apparent reason. Espionage now?

Everything seems to be written as a metaphor. Or random sayings. Someone has used a thesaurus.

"Three young doctors, summoned to London, expect to be struck off the register for trivial, though politically sensitive, errors.
They devise a plot in which each apparently mistreats another so that their employers can be sued."

By this line, I was hooked to request this book, and I wasn’t disappointed. The book starts well, with such promise. As the leads hatch their plan and set out to bring it to fruition, you sit up in anticipation of how it will proceed. But as the story progresses, the author adds too many elements that keeping track of each and everything becomes a bit difficult. The story slowly pans out from the revenge saga to focusing on their individual lives, explaining the need for so many side stories, but it made the story a bit confusing at a few places, making the reader rack up their brains to recall who the character shown at the moment is and how they’re related to the lead/s. Otherwise, this is a fun story to read. It shows the reality of bureaucracy with a dash of exaggeration. An entertaining story, albeit a little muddled in a few places.

Three young doctors are up before the panel for minor transgressions which could see them struck off. They plot to exact revenge on their employers....

What started well rapidly descended into an extremely confusing and ridiculous series of events. Far too difficult to keep track of each separate story

I enjoyed this book, probably more so because I work in healthcare myself. I do feel like the storyline got lost slightly in parts however still a good read.

An interesting book, not quite what I expected and not quite what the synopsis describes but a worthwhile and enjoyable read regardless