Cover Image: Riding The Lightning

Riding The Lightning

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Member Reviews

This book was a super captivating read. It begins like any memoir; we hear his life story and the events that led to his choice of profession, personal stories of love and loss, and we go through the motions of everyday life in the ambulance. It soon takes a turn when we get to the pandemic. No one’s quite sure what the symptoms of COVID really look like and there’s no solid system in place to handle such a widespread event. America’s biggest city is hit the hardest and Anthony Almojera brings those days of the pandemic to life. The stress of overfilled hospitals, concerned family members, growing rates of infection, and no time off is enough to drive anyone over a cliff.

It read to me like a medical thriller, capturing me in the early stages of contamination. The author did tend to trail off sometimes which would throw me out of the rhythm but soon I’d be hurled back in. Almojera highlights some of the frustrations that come along with his job, and I was glad to hear that he is an outspoken advocate for the EMT community. I highly recommend this if you have experience, know someone on the front lines, or are curious about some of the real people saving lives every day.

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I recently finished reading Riding The Lightning by Anthony Almojera. This was a tale of a paramedic during the pandemic of COVID-19. The book is very interesting but it sometimes reads like a stream of consciousness. I also was a bit confused as to why it is supposed to be a book about the pandemic but he made it a book about his whole life and touches on the pandemic later in the book. The book was good though and I'd recommend it to others.

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This book has opened my eyes to an entire profession that I have always acknowledged as "heroic" yet never really stopped to think about all they truly endure in this career. This is a gut wrenching story of pandemic life from an emergency services prospective. I heard and seen the news of how NY was collapsing during the pandemic, but it never crossed my mind about the emergency services taking the calls, working the calls, and seeing death every single day. The toll that seeing any sort of death no matter the cause is traumatic, but having no where to take patients that need to be in the hospital, no beds, no vents, long wait times and lines just to drop off, etc. is an entirely other level that these emergency service men/women have never had to deal with. This book wrecked me! I wanted to hug the author, Anthony and tell him thank you and I'm sorry that life almost got you down to the point of no return, but I'm so glad you are still here. Your friends/family need & want you around, that he has so many more adventures to go on and places to see.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

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Almojera does an amazing job describing what life was like before and how things chance during COVID. He has a very down to earth and likable writing style. We used medical lingo but what he made it even better by explaining exactly what they mean. The personal back story make this an even better read. The only struggle I had while reading this book was that the author bounces between stories. But overall this was an amazing read.

Thank you NetGalley and Mariner books for the ARC in return for my honest opinion.

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The stories in this book are interesting but it's written a little like stream of consciousness where the author just jots whatever comes to mind in flow with their thoughts. That style has never worked for me, literary or otherwise. I also didn't really enjoy the way the book came together. It was OK but not something I'd read again.

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Thank you Netgalley and Mariner books for access to this arc.

I've seen plenty of autobiographies from nurses and doctors about their experiences during the early days of the Covid crisis but for some reason EMTs and paramedics have always interested me more. They are the ones often <i>really</i> on the front lines who usually deal with patients first. Here Almojera talks of how the EMTs and paramedics with whom he works as a lieutenant first heard about a new virus causing lockdowns first in China and then in Lombardy before it hit NYC like a tsunami. As Covid spread, the working conditions went from the normal overworked to dangerously stressed to the point of almost breaking. In one day, the author attended approximately 16 arrests (heart attacks) in the field due to the stresses put on the body by the disease, all of whom died. People became either frantic or cavalier about protection.

The stress on the EMTs and paramedics was almost worse due to struggling and often failing to save patients too sick or too unwilling to call for help before their situation deteriorated beyond help. Patients waited hours on the line after dialing 911 but often when staff finally reached them, the patients were already dead. Frantic and overworked doctors and nurses begged the EMS service personnel to take patients to other hospitals but all were packed, forcing ambulances to wait to transfer the patients into the ER. And then there were the idiotic memos from the higher ups who rarely appeared at stations to see what was really needed by those on the frontlines trying their best. (WARNING) Depression and suicides among first responders followed.

These sections were alternately riveting and horrifying but Almojera includes a lot of background information about himself and his fellow EMS personnel that takes up a good portion of the early part of the book. Some of this explains long term friendships, how the stressors affected them all, and that many of them were from broken backgrounds. Though I felt for these people, since I don't know them, these sections didn't draw me in as much. The author also breaks up the Covid sections when he goes off on tangents about more of his past.

He does a great job of explaining some of the technicalities of the job, how the virus affected those already in poor health, or underprivileged. I just wish there had been a little less of his life and more about the job. B-

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Overall I enjoyed this book, it was more of a memoir about the authors life then I day in the life of a NYC paramedic but interesting.

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This book takes you to a whole different place than where you were throughout the Covid Pandemic, (unless you live in NYC). I grew up in NYC and left in my 20's and have no idea how people survived there during this time. Interspersed with stories of his own life and those he works with, the author takes you on a harrowing ride that throws your head back as he answers call after call. This is an honest account of what the author goes through physically and mentally. Even after reading, I do not know how he and the EMS found the strength to go on and on. I thank NetGalley and Mariner Books for the advance read.

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hard-reality, emergency-workers, self-destructive-behaviors, self-worth-issues, contagion, nonfiction, real-horror, biography, memoir*****

This is not an unbiased review. I am a retired RN who has worked inner city mission hospital and jails in a COUNTY of over 941,997 people as opposed to the NYC borough of BROOKLYN's 2.6 million residents. But I've worked around the front-line workers and know more about necessities shortages and front office BS than some. Besides, my daughter lives and works in Brooklyn.
The author starts with a lot of personal background as well as background of the EMS service in NYC before moving into the devastating and mind-numbing effects of working and grieving in the horror that came with Corona virus. Along the way he translates medical language into words and explanations suitable for the general English-speaking public. An excellent wake-up call, but don't forget all the souls lost in rural areas that do not have the services expected in cities.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Mariner Books via NetGalley. Thank you

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I real life look into the life of an EMS paramedic before, during, and after the covid pandemic. I loved reading how the kept their heads above water during the height of the pandemic when NYC was a hotspot with no beds available in the surrounding hospitals. Thank you netgalley and author Anthony Almojera for allowing me to read this book.

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I loved this glimpse into what it's like to work as a paramedic in New York, particularly during the pandemic. Anthony Almojera does a great job explaining medical procedures without being too technical and truly cares about his work and his patients. There was a lot of jumping around, which made it a little difficult to keep track of what was happening in the present but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of this memoir.

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Anthony has lived quite the life…seems like someone I would like to have a cup of coffee with, or maybe even save my life in an emergency.
A memoir of his life in the life saving business, a fascinating look inside the world of a paramedic in New York City.
I can’t comprehend some of the trauma he has seen, and he describes it with such respect and compassion.

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“According to a study, the rate of suicide in EMS is more than double the rate of the general population. That has a lot to do with the trauma they see everyday. And the poor pay. But there’s also the fact that a lot of EMS workers are damaged before they set foot in EMT school.”
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Anthony Almojera describes what life was like as Lieutenant EMS worker in NYC during the height of the pandemic.
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Almojera does an amazing job describing what life was like before covid and how things changed curing covid. He is very likable and down to earth in his writing. I love how he uses the medical lingo and then explains exactly what that means for the non medical folk. He has great stories that really pull you in. He also describes his life growing up… explaining the trauma he has and how it lead him to become a EMS worker.
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My only complaint of the book was his stories bounce around a lot. He would start a story and then it would stem off to another one so at times the timeline was hard to follow.

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Wow--this was an exceptional book! Almojera is a Lieutenant Paramedic with the FDNY's EMS. He takes you through a paramedic's life before and during the pandemic in NYC, when NYC was a hotbed of COVID and there was no way that ambulances and hospitals could keep up. They were working like crazy just to keep their heads above water. I loved reading about the calls they go on. This is one seriously tough job. Almojera is also a higher up in the Lieutenant Paramedic's Union and he makes an extremely compelling case for the importance of raising wages (which are way too low, especially considering the cost of living in NYC) and benefits (they don't get unlimited sick leave like firefighters do). The EMS was underfunded even before the pandemic. Many of the EMTs and Paramedics were new to the job, because wages and benefits weren't good, so staff doesn't stay long. This robs the city of experienced emergency services. Even when we're not in a pandemic, it's important to have experienced emergency personnel who can respond to 911 calls. I hope this improves, although after the pandemic, NYC threatened to cut 400 EMS positions, so it sounds like they still don't get it. A compelling, honest, raw, well-written and easy to read memoir. Highly recommended.

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Riding The Lightning
Anthony Almojera

A look at Covid-19 from a NYC EMS worker who experienced it firsthand. The stories describe the confusion, stress and overwhelming nature of a new virus slamming the biggest city in the US.

This is a must read for everyone. The average person should understood the long hours, low pay & high stress that paramedics face each day. They help us on the worst days of our lives.
Accolades aren’t enough. They should be given fair compensation for the hard work they do everyday.

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I have always loved watching true crime, and shows like Rescue 911 and Nightwatch, so naturally it was only fair to say I love reading books too like that. This book was so honest and made me feel like I was right there in the action but instead I was at home reading it. For anyone who loves full adrenaline shows then this is the book for you!

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When someone who isn’t a professional author writes a memoir, it can go one of two ways. The book can wind up disjointed, boring and self-indulgent. Conversely, the book can be a wonderful, realistic and often heartbreaking affair. Riding the Lightning falls into the second category. Anthony Almojera has been an EMT in New York for a long time and he has plenty of stories to tell from his time saving lives. Some of these stories are inspiring, some are terribly sad, and some are pretty damn funny. Almojera spends most of the first half of the book introducing you to NYC, his friends and himself. He does a pretty fine job of bringing you along for the ride in his “bus”. Often, books of this nature are somewhat amateurish in their writing and pacing, but this works in Almojera’s favor here. It works because he’s a likeable guy with likeable friends and reading Riding the Lightning regularly feels like you’re sitting there with the author, having a beer while he tells you about the crazy things he’s seen.
Honestly, it’s pretty surreal reading a book mostly set during the COVID-19 pandemic. On one hand, it feels like we’ve been living with this virus forever, but on the other hand it feels like it hasn’t been that long (and it really hasn’t). March 2020 was when it started to get real in the United States and here we are in March 2022. It doesn’t seem like it’s been long enough to be having books written about it, yet here we are. 2 years later and there are still people who don’t believe COVID-19 is real. There are still people who say, “Oh, it’s just the flu. It’s only got a 1% death rate”. We developed a vaccine using amazing methods and in record time, yet there are those who refuse to take it. There are those who say the vaccine is deadly, that it’s part of a government conspiracy…that there are microchips in it to control you. This book should be required reading for these people and probably for everybody. A 1% mortality rate sounds pretty good until you or your loved ones are in the 1%. At what point did we become so callous and uncaring toward our fellow human beings that we start to think in terms of “acceptable losses”? Riding the Lightning shows that people are not expendable and that there is a life attached to that number. It is heartbreaking to read the effects of our failures to be ready for a pandemic, the failures of our leaders to lead and the failure of people in general to behave like civilized beings. On the flip side, it’s inspiring to read about people who had to deal with this every day and did the absolute best they could with what they had.
Riding the Lightning probably isn’t going to change people’s minds about the pandemic. If, at this point, you don’t believe the pandemic is real or you think it was overblown and “not that bad”, I don’t know what would convince you. Still, I encourage you to read this book so you can see what people had to deal with. At the very least, you will read an interesting book with a lot of great stories held within it’s 256 pages. Maybe you will think a little more about people on the front lines of medical and other crises. Maybe you will say “Thank You” a little more. Maybe you will find some compassion that they weren’t aware was needed. I know I will. Thank you to Netgalley and Mariner Books for providing me with an advance copy of the book. I really enjoyed it.

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Anthony Almojera is a brave brave man. He has encountered hardship in his upbringing, family, relationships, work, in the places he goes and so on. You cannot help but admire this guy and his book feels so genuine and authentic. It's a little rough around the edges and I will say that it works in this case. If it was a so-called "smooth read" it would not be true to his spirit.

And you just know he's one of the good guys. And he's working so hard to keep the good guys alive. Okay, you just sort of have to love him and his story is well worth reading. I finished it... and immediately wanted to know, what the heck is Anthony doing now? How do I connect with him? Is he okay? How do I thank him? And please, please, also have him write about his travels.

A good guy, a good book!

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I wish this book would have gone further in depth. While there were many pages of text, most of it turned monotonous for me. I really feel this gentleman had a story to tell, but I wish he would have done more than skim the surface of his experiences.

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I got early access to RIDING THE LIGHTNING by Anthony Almojera and I enjoyed this memoir. I rated it 3.5/5 stars!

Paramedic lieutenant Anthony Almojera recounts a year of his life: the year the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and changed life for everyone. He shares stories about patients, fellow emergency medical services (EMS) professionals, and his family.

Trigger warning for death, medical scenes, suicide, suicidal ideations, and related topics. I thought this book was very readable. Almojera works to make complex medical protocols accessible to the reader and keeps us entertained. I do have some criticisms. This memoir is very stream of consciousness: Almojera jumps from a case, to a memory, to a more distant memory, back to the case. I think there also could have been less emphasis on Almojera's life, especially since the subtitle of the book is "A Year in the Life of a New York City Paramedic," and that the memoir could have focused more on 2020 than his life in total.

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