Dead Wrong

Dead Wrong

Release Date: 
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
# of Pages: 

Neurosurgeon Dr. Tom McCarthy is looking forward to his long holiday weekend but before he can finish out his day his life gets changed dramatically. Coming into his office are men that work for the Department of Defense and they are there for him. With papers and orders that say he is a terrorist that has stolen classified information, Tom finds himself about to be arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Trying to explain that they have mistaken him for someone else, the situation turns into a nightmare as the silenced guns are brought out and used. Trying to escape the maze of the hospital that he works in while being chased down by government officials, hospital security, and the Seattle police department who all believe that he's a cop killer and a terrorist. With the help of a fellow doctor, Dr. Sarah Hamilton tries to keep Tom alive long enough to escape the hospital, the men set on killing him, and try to discover why this is all happening to him. If the two don't learn the true reason that Tom has been branded a terrorist quickly the men sent after him will surely kill him and they will do it gladly in the name of freedom and their job.
Ok, you see the more detailed description for the plot above but here's a real quick one, the main character is framed, government spy guys want to kill him, he somehow keeps away from them. If you like to read about a semi-sort-of conspiracy plot book then you probably will like "Dead Wrong". Written by a doctor, Allen Wyler, uses what he knows to put into this book, neurosurgery and hospital life while adding in the aspect of drama of being chased. Since this is my review I have to say what I thought about this book, which is I did like reading it but I also found a lot of it hard to believe.

It's not the parts about having the government coming after Tom thinking he has stolen classified government secrets, selling them, and then having them chase after him wanting to kill him. That's actually something that I can believe, what I don't believe is how everything seems so easy to fall into place for the majority of the characters. Without giving away any of the story I can't say exactly which parts I mean or which characters, but it seems like they went from point A to point L while only giving maybe a half of one middle point as to how they did get to point L. If that don't make sense let me say it this way, the characters are in a situation, they have an idea, why did they have that idea I don't know, now they have the answer but how did they get that answer, I don't know. At times there are good reasons as to why and how the characters come up with reasons to their actions but mostly it just so easy and happens.

Taking in that this is just a book I had to discount some things that I would think would actually happen in this kind of situation and just read. When I did that I found that the book was entertaining because I was wondering the whole time how would Tom get out of this. It's a very easy book to read, and I really mean a very easy book to read because I'm a slow reader and even at my speed I finished this book in two weeks, which is for me almost a record time. It does have some decent twists and turns happening in the story where I do get taken for a ride and I can easily picture everything that Allen Wyler writes about. Though he might have some grammar errors his description of the characters, their surroundings, their feelings, and narrative is written well. One problem I had with his description writing is when it came to the surgical terms because with not knowing anything about medical terms I found this to be too much description. I didn't need to know all the medical terms that he uses in the book, sure it kind of helps along the moment but it also just makes me, the reader, feel that I'm missing some part of the knowledge that will enhance the meaning of the book.

There are also a few areas in the book where there are parts of the story that don't need to be in there. These part don't hurt the book yet they don't help it either. It's basically small filler parts that have some bit of information but with or without it there's no change in the outcome of the book. But with all that aside, my one and only real problem that I had with the book was the ending. There are two things that I didn't like about this ending. One is that it's way too predictable of an ending. I knew the ending a few pages after the action of the story started. Granted the middle of the story does give some twists and turns, it keeps me guessing as to what the characters will do next, but the ending, that's seen and it's known. Maybe not the small details on how it happens, but the large outcome is predictable. Secondly, I didn't like how it was wrapped up so quickly. All the buildup leading to that ending, the pages of wondering how it as going to happen, what will be done, then it just happens and it's over. I wasn't looking for anything drawn out, I just wanted more of what there was there to happen.

It might sound like that I had more negative to say about this book then I do positive but that's not true. Allen Wyler does do a good job at fleshing out the characters, they all seem like real people, the story does flow along at a nice quick pace, and there are some good twists and turns. I also like that he was able to intertwine all the characters where they have a point in being used in the story while also keeping even the lesser characters interesting. There are a few characters that I thought could have used a little more use in the story but that's just because I liked them enough that I wanted more of them. Dead Wrong might have a predictable ending but in the case for this book it really is the journey that's the best part.

Lee Roberts
Review by Lee Roberts
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