Catherine Devore JohnsonCritiques

Is this book believable? Not really. Did I enjoy reading it? Yes, I did. I don't know much about medicine but I think a lot of the science here wouldn't hold up and I'm pretty sure a hospital would not let a lot of this happen. But I wasn't looking for science when I read the book so I was alright with that. I do think that Calla seemed a little too naïve for someone who had to look out for herself her entire life, but I still liked her. She was trying to do the right thing, trying to help people, and people took advantage of that. So I felt for her. And maybe the medical science here is unbelievable but the people's reaction to her is not. You can imagine what people would do if they found out that there was a cure for their, or a loved one's, cancer. What would you be willing to do if you thought you could save your dying child? What is Calla's responsibly to other people when she could help so many? Does she have one at all? It does make you think about things. Calla makes all the decisions seem like easy ones, and I wish she was a little more conflicted because I don't think it would be as easy as it seemed here. And I wish Johnson had left out the romance angle completely. It was unnecessary and felt very forced. But the story moved at a quick pace and was compelling enough that it kept me up reading long after I should have been in bed.

The medical aspects of this book are rather unbelievable, but that's OK. This book is described as a thriller, but I didn't find it suspenseful or scary, and in fact it ends quite sadly. A unique plot and a good book to have a discussion about personal autonomy.

The Panacea Project / by Catherine Devore Johnson – Austin, TX -- Greenleaf Book Group Press, c2023. (299 pages)

Description from the book jacket: THE PANACEA PROJECT is a layered examination of self-sacrifice, implicit bias, and the juxtaposition of bodily autonomy with high-stakes capitalism – for those who love fiercely strong characters and deep themes infused with heartwarming moments of love and humor.

Panacea is defined as a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases – and in this incident the disease is cancer. Dr. Kraft is studying the world of oncological immunotherapy; however, finding it difficult to find people for the study since those kind of people don’t get sick enough to seek medical attention. But his research is on the upswing when Calla is operated on for a brain tumor that has mysteriously vanished since being diagnosed several days earlier.

Calla Hammond is very interesting and very rememberable. Not only does her appearance make her stand out (she has vitiligo, two-toned skin) but she has now been labeled by the world as “the cure for cancer.”

Calla has lived a very secluded and lonely life – now everyone knows who she is and is trying to get close to the “miracle” in hopes that their loved one will be healed as well. People are willing to do anything even kidnapping and/or medical experimentation to own what her body produces.

Calla’s new norm is the hospital lab and constant testing of blood and body tissues to see what her body is doing in hopes to find out the why and then reproduce it. Staying out of sight, caged for her own protection, Calla is surrounded by bodyguards providing a “sphere of safety, and to protect the asset. Calla has “been reduced to a commodity, a finite resource, a rare raw material to be excavated and processed and mass-produced so humanity could hold mortality at bay for a little while longer.”

The story also shows the politics of cancer – those who have the money have a better chance of getting access to the cure – and on the other side, medicine doesn’t want to cure cancer because it is a big money business.
The book consists of short chapters that gives it a fast-paced feel. The description of the book calls it a thriller. Most of the beginning is more medical drama and the thriller part doesn’t kick in until about halfway through. But once the thriller starts – it just keeps going and going until close to the final chapters.

This book would make a good choice for a book club discussion. There is mild language throughout.

One of my favorite lines – “It felt like the cruelest joke – to discover love and lose it in the same instant.” (p196)

I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Panacea Project / by Catherine Devore Johnson – Austin, TX -- Greenleaf Book Group Press, c2023. (299 pages)

Description from the book jacket: THE PANACEA PROJECT is a layered examination of self-sacrifice, implicit bias, and the juxtaposition of bodily autonomy with high-stakes capitalism – for those who love fiercely strong characters and deep themes infused with heartwarming moments of love and humor. TAGS: Fiction, Thriller, Foster Care, Vitiligo, Medical Research, Doctors, Cancer, Ego, Greed, Autoimmune Disorder, Friends, Family, Relationships

Panacea is defined as a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases – and in this incident the disease is cancer. Dr. Kraft is studying the world of oncological immunotherapy; however, finding it difficult to find people for the study since those kind of people don’t get sick enough to seek medical attention. But his research is on the upswing when Calla is operated on for a brain tumor that has mysteriously vanished since being diagnosed several days earlier.

Calla Hammond is very interesting and very rememberable. Not only does her appearance make her stand out (she has vitiligo, two-toned skin) but she has now been labeled by the world as “the cure for cancer.”

Calla has lived a very secluded and lonely life – now everyone knows who she is and is trying to get close to the “miracle” in hopes that their loved one will be healed as well. People are willing to do anything even kidnapping and/or medical experimentation to own what her body produces.
Calla’s new norm is the hospital lab and constant testing of blood and body tissues to see what her body is doing in hopes to find out the why and then reproduce it. Staying out of sight, caged for her own protection, Calla is surrounded by bodyguards providing a “sphere of safety, and to protect the asset. Calla has “been reduced to a commodity, a finite resource, a rare raw material to be excavated and processed and mass-produced so humanity could hold mortality at bay for a little while longer.”

The story also shows the politics of cancer – those who have the money have a better chance of getting access to the cure – and on the other side, medicine doesn’t want to cure cancer because it is a big money business.

The book consists of short chapters that gives it a fast-paced feel. The description of the book calls it a thriller. Most of the beginning is more medical drama and the thriller part doesn’t kick in until about halfway through. But once the thriller starts – it just keeps going and going until close to the final chapters. Lately I have not been finishing contemporary fiction -- they just don't keep my interest -- however, this title I could read again and again.

This book would make a good choice for a book club discussion. There is mild language throughout.
One of my favorite lines – “It felt like the cruelest joke – to discover love and lose it in the same instant.” (p196)

I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was rather refreshing to read. It grabs you from the minute you start. It is fast paced without feeling rushed somehow and keeps you guessing. The writing isn't "flowery" but conveys exactly what it sets out to do.

A young woman Calla is discovered to have an immune system that can cure her from any cancer. She offers herself as a human guinea pig to give her blood and tissues to find a cure for others. But there is trouble ahead as it also brings up ethical and moral questions regarding cancer/medical treatment for all. Cancer unfortunately is sometimes viewed as a business that many scientists, doctors and researchers rely on to make a living. This novel explores the concept of what can happen if there is suddenly a cure for cancer, what would people do to get it to cure themselves or loved ones, and/or make financial profit from it. This was an engrossing medical thriller that kept my attention and kept me guessing till the end. It also has heart and I liked the heroine Calla very much. Very highly recommended. Five stars:)

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was well-written and the story was compelling, with lots of unexpected twists and turns. The pace of things was sometimes a little odd, but overall the story was interesting, and managed to walk the line of being entertaining while still making a statement and asking big questions about medicine.

The Hippocratic Oath ain’t what it used to be. Or maybe it never was what we thought it was. I think most of us have experienced enough interaction with the medical profession (and insurance companies) to realize that health care has become such big business that a medical professional who lives up to the spirit of that oath is a rare treasure.
So what happens if suddenly there is a cure for a killer disease, a panacea that doesn’t just treat people who get sick but maybe a vaccine to make it so that they can never even get sick? What happens to hospitals’ and drug companies’ bottom line when nobody gets sick anymore?
The Panacea Project is a compelling medical thriller that pits noble sacrifice against obsessive greed. Calla Hammond’s body cures cancers that appear in her body. She’s willing to undergo invasive procedures that might isolate what her immune system is doing, with the aim of coming up with a cure or even a preventative that could be provided for everyone.
But of course it’s not so simple. While there those who want the best for the world but who also live by the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm, there or others who only see the potential for wealth. There are those who don’t care what cost there is to Calla Hammond to get what they want, whether it’s a panacea for cancer or not.
This is a book everyone should read—and think about. What’s your health issue, and why isn’t there a panacea for it in spite of all the breakthroughs that are announced? As they say, follow the money.

I received this book as an Early Reviewer. The author signed the book and included a handwritten note, which was a very nice touch.

Calla has always been different, but not in a way that anyone admired- she has vitiligo and was raised in the foster care system, with no real family of her own. But when she is diagnosed with a brain tumor that spontaneously disappears, she becomes the focus of intense medical research, which doesn't stay under wraps for long.

The book was well-paced and engaging. I wasn't sure about the love interest angle at first, but it wasn't as predictable as I anticipated. The storyline felt plausible, and the characters were well developed.½

Really 4.5 stars
I received an advance copy of this book, Thank You

I really enjoyed this book. While this is considered a Medical Thriller, there is a lot more than that going on.
Calla is a young woman who has had a hard life. She has vitiligo, an autoimmune disease which effects the pigmentation of her skin. Her mother was a drug addict and passed away when she was a child. She never knew her father. She is shuffled from foster home to foster home. No one ever getting close to her, as they often fear they will catch her skin condition. She becomes used to people not making eye contact and being afraid to touch her. Except for her social worker, Rae, no one has ever connected with her. One day, she suffers a seizure, and when she's taken to the hospital, they discover she has a brain tumor. Bravely she faces the surgery, only to find when she wakes, that something has changed. People aren't talking to her, not answering her questions, and she has a new doctor. When the surgery was performed, the tumor had disappeared. Her original doctor feared he has mixed up his patients, but that wasn't the case. In that hospital, there was a doctor who was exploring how to have the body's immune system cure Cancer, and when he heard about Calla, he took over. Dr. Kraft is a preoccupied, arrogant man, but his team is wonderful and compassionate. For the first time Calla has a family, as they all work to figure out what makes her special. Of course, things go South, and I won't go into that.
The characters are great, and I found myself really loving Calla, Reuben, Dr Kraft's nurse, Dr. Penmaraju, Dr. Kraft's associate, and Rae, and many others. I hated the arrogant Dr. Kraft, and a few others. 100% invested while reading the book.
Great read!

I enjoyed this book. It was a quick, easy read and generally kept things moving. Sometimes it was medical drama, sometimes romance, sometimes thriller and it was nice to have those different aspects to it. Medical terms were used, but were either simple or explained simply, so you didn't have to know already. I would pass this book along for someone else to read and enjoy.

Received this as part of the Early Reviewers giveaway and I'm really glad that I won this one. I haven't read a good medical mystery book in a while and this was a great one to start with again. It might seem a little bit out of reality but we never do know what is going on behind closed laboratory doors. It combines hope, medical miracles, greed and a little bit of romance all in one. I have seen in other reviews that it is a romance.....it is not. The mystery and thrills are in the forefront and yes there is a small bit of romance but it does not take away from the true mystery/thriller. Definitely would recommend.

While in her early 20s, Calla discovers the cure for cancer may be found in her blood. What that means and entails for Calla is the subject of this novel, a well-paced medical thriller that also asks moral questions about bodily autonomy, an individual's medical rights vs the good of society, and what exactly one individual owes to the world at large, if put in such a position of being able to help others. Should that mean the individual can be forced to help? I found the issues relevant to today's political climate. An engaging read.

I am always looking for medical thrillers and Johnson's debut book is....terrific!! You are captured by Calla on the first page and her story unfolds in dramatic and terrifying fashion, complete with wonderful character descriptions. Johnson, with her background in law as well as her work in a children's hospital along with helping her mother after she experienced two strokes, I'm guessing, contributed to her ability to analyze in her novel a number of possibly overlooked aspects of medical studies in today's world. She pulls together a completely unusual but very clever set of circumstances -- definitely a believable scenario in terms of greed and power. The story is just plain gripping....an excellent thriller!

The Panacea Project by Catherine Devore Johnson

Calla has a rare disease that affects her immune system. Doctors find that her blood could be the cure for cancer. She is talked into being an experiment, going through may procedures, testing and more.

Not all find this a good thing, as some are sinister and want to use her for malicious reasons. Calla wants to help people and have a good life, but it may not be her destiny. She she is on the journey of a lifetime, one in which no one would expect.

A fast paced medical drama/thriller. Calla is very likable, it was easy to empathize with her. The concept of her blood curing cancer was eerie yet (somehow) believable. A Compelling, thought-provoking, interesting story.

What would you do if you found out you might be able to cure cancer - not by lab research, but with what's literally in your body and blood? This book raised an interesting question - where does the moral line lie when one person could help better the lives of so many? Are the lives of the many more important than the life of the one? Calla's life is thrown into turmoil once the world learns that her blood can cure cancer - and my heart really went out to her. This book is engaging and really draws the reader in. Calla is an excellent character, and I enjoyed following her story. I can't say what I would do if I was thrust into her shoes. I wouldn't have minded a little more depth to the story, really diving further into the morality of everything, but overall it was a great read.