Daniel Palmer (1)Critiques

Thriller

Psychological

Suspense

Thriller

I received this book from NetGalley and thank them for allowing me to read this great book. I don't read enough books written by men, and this one reminded me I need to diversify my authors!
Daniel did an amazing job writing from a vulnerable teenage girl's POV.

I found the chapters with Nadine, the teenage runaway, more interesting than Angie's (a Private Investigator.) The story is Angie's, and while her discoveries about her family are interesting, I was really intrigued by the dark terror of how easily a teenage girl can be tricked into trusting the wrong person.

Slow start but...

I almost didn't read this but I continued. The plot picked up and the storyline raced along. I couldn't stop, stayed up way too late finishing. Will definitely read more by Daniel Palmer.

Great, suspenseful corporate drama. Loved it.

Kind of a shaky premise, seems implausible to me, but not a bad read.

Great mystery and a page turner. Definitely too technical for me to fully understand but enjoyed it regardless.

I actually give this book 4.5 stars. This is a thriller with lots of suspense. The book moves quickly with no dull areas. I had a hard time putting it down once I started and got into the story. Charlie Giles is a director of Solucent (a giant techno firm) where he sold his start up company for millions. He is self-centered and not a very nice person. He is somewhat estranged from his family (mother and brother) due to his brother's mental health issues (schizophrenic) and what he sees as his mother's absorption with his brother. Suddenly, everything starts to go wrong. He meets with a woman and makes a business decision based on information she gives him, and that turns out to be the first step in his downfall. When he starts hearing voices, finds messages in his own hand writing that he does not remember writing and people he is angry with turn up dead, he begins to think he is developing schizophrenia. When his mother has a stroke, he had to go back home to help his brother, but it ends up the other way around. A thrill a minute. A great book to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The book opens with someone killing a terminally ill patient, a mercy killing, except the patient did not ask for it. Dr. Julie Devereux is a critical care physician working in Boston. She's also an advocate for death with dignity. She believes that patients should be able to end their suffering on their own terms, that is until her fiancee suffers serious injuries and paralysis in a motorcycle accident. When he begs Julie to help him die, she enlists the help of a volunteer with the organization Very Much Alive to help Sam recover his desire to live. Sam starts to get better, when he suddenly dies. Julie orders an autopsy and what she finds leads her in a search for the reason for several unusual deaths. With the help of others in the hospital, she puts together the pieces at risk to her own job.

The philosophical debate that is the heart of this novel is very timely. Mercy or murder? Do the terminally ill or the severely disabled deserve the right to die at their own request and in their own time to avoid inhumane suffering? Or should suicide or assisted suicide in those cases remain illegal and generally thought immoral? Would allowing it lead to abuse or reduced care? Beyond this question, this is a Medical thriller that had me reading fast and furious. This was a realistic story (as far as the ill patients, discussion of right to die) with lots of medical action and terminology, intensive care, pathology, laboratory analysis and more. Of course there are also plotlines that are a bit far-fetched, but there is always license with fiction to fictionalize. I liked the character of Julie. She was a hard worker, very smart and intuitive, friendly to her co-workers and willing to put herself out there to find out what was going on. The only think I was unsure of was the fact that she is able to disconnect from work completely when she goes home. I wish I could have done that and I was in education, not as stressful or life altering as a medical career. This was a fast-paced story that I really enjoyed! I was unable to solve the full mystery of who was involved in these killings until the very end when it was all put together and revealed to the reader, yet it all made sense. I have read one other book by Michael Palmer, but will definitely be looking for others.

Lots of twists and turns and I never guessed where the ending would wind up in one of the two sort-of overlapping stories the author provides. All kinds of portrayals of trafficking that I was totally unfamiliar with---horrific in the probable accuracy---almost more than I really wanted to picture in this audio version of the book, read by Tavia Gilbert.

I have read most of Michael palmers books and really like them. This one seemed a little off, but still good. Then at the end I read that Michael Palmer had died and his son took MPs idea for the book and wrote the novel. That must be the difference. Sorry for the loss of this great author .

Smart, sophisticated and unsettling, fast-paced thriller. As you read you will feel "Helpless" for Jill and her father Tom as they have no control on their lives no matter what they do.

Forgive Me by Daniel Palmer is a 2016 Kensington publication.

Angie DeRose is a dedicated PI, who has devoted her life to helping find runaway and missing children. When Nadine, a teenager with a troubled home life runs away, her mother hires Angie to find her.

But things become more complicated than usual when Angie’s mother dies suddenly and she discovers an old photograph her mother had hidden away. The photo is of a young girl with a deformity, with “May God Forgive Me’ written on the back in her mother’s handwriting, along with a what appears to be a code of some kind.

The picture haunts Angie and prompts her to investigate, never imagining the secrets she would unearth or the danger she would awaken in the process.

Based on the synopsis, I get the impression that of the two separate threads, the story concerning Angie’s mother was supposed to be the predominant story line. However, I could have taken or left this part of the story, as it didn’t provoke the same sense of dread that Nadine’s story did, nor did it evoke an emotional response from me, other than one of incredulity. It was just a bit too over the top in terms of plausibility and the last minute addition of characters muddied the waters, with the entire thread more or less falling to pieces, and then clumsily and hastily pasted back together.

This vivid portrait of a runaway who falls prey to sex trafficking and slavery is so tense and at times difficult to read, as it is told with such authenticity and realism, it's almost as if I going through the experience with Nadine.

This story would have been terrific if it had simply focused on the runaway angle, which was the saving grace of the novel.

The gritty details of being held prisoner, the slow degradation, the devaluing of human life, and the sad and mind blowing statistics involving the underground sex trade and slavery was written exceptionally well and if for no other reason, makes this novel worth your time.

Overall, both storylines were ambitious, and both could have been the main focus of a novel, with just a bit more fleshing out, but put together in one story, one outshines the other, thus creating an imbalance, but the one plotline was so well done, I still recommend this book to anyone looking for a taut crime story.

3.5 stars½

I listened to this as an audio book and was so glad I did because of the big medical terms. The storyline itself wasn't amazing -- interesting but it didn't really hook me.

Adrianne

Angie DeRose is a private investigator in Virginia who specializes in runaways. Daniel Palmer has woven two suspenseful stories into one novel. One involves the case of a runaway that may have been taken by human traffickers and the other a mysterious photo of a young girl found in her mother’s possessions after she passes away. With both investigations comes a story of a strong woman. The characters are well developed, the story believable (although intense) and a has a conclusion that was riveting.

If we knew little about human trafficking and the plight of runaways there might be an excuse for this book to be so pedantic. But Mr. Palmer's book is only a drop in the deluge of information on TV and newspapers, and also in fiction about the horrors and perversions of human trafficking and modern day slavery.

So I can't cut this book any slack because of the topic. My reaction to the book, which is echoed by other critical reviewers, is that the text is slow and dull and overly descriptive. The two stories do not fit together well. The editor needed a sharper red pencil.

I received a review copy of "Forgive Me" by Daniel Palmer (Kensington) through NetGalley.com.½

When Julie Devereux’s fiancé, Sam, is left a quadriplegic following a horrific motorcycle accident, she finds it difficult to hold onto her belief in a patient’s right to die, especially when he begs her to end his life. But before the doctor can convince Sam that there are still good things ahead for him, he suffers a massive heart attack and dies.

Stunned, Julie looks for answers and discovers a disturbing pattern suggesting other patients have died in a similar manner. She becomes the target of threats and stubbornly digs in her heels, determined to uncover the killer. And when she gets too close, the killer decides she must become the next to die . . . .

Politics, power, and control each play a part in this mystery. With a question of medical ethics, this realistic plot is supported by in-depth medical exposition, vivid hospital scenes, and building tension. Believable characters and situations keep the story grounded; a mysterious culprit will keep readers guessing.

Recommended.

Angie DeRose is a Private Investigator who has a strong passion for helping those lost, be found. She hunts relentlessly for the truth along with her helpers Mike and Bao Each have their own strengths and together their talents unite for the greater good.

Nadine Jessup is 16 and dying to get away from home. Her mother's addiction is unbearable and her father is too distracted with his new family to be involved. One day she decides to make it on her own and runs away from home. This decision changes not only her family life, but also Angie DeRose's family life in catastrophic ways.

Ignorance is bliss, that is, until pieces of truth lead one out of paradise. The more pieces of truth that are found, the more puzzling life becomes for these characters.

There was a lot of activity in this book. I personally found this to be frustrating at times because there were several plot lines going on simultaneously. The book begins with a plot involving Angie's mother, then moves to a plot regarding Nadine's adventure of running away from home. The climax and resolution of that plot leads to a continuation of the initial plot regarding Angie's mother. It felt disorganized at times, in my opinion. Furthermore, I was frustrated at the in-depth details regarding each character's attire, regardless of how major the role of each character was. Additionally, there was extensive descriptions of guns as well as procedures followed by U.S. Marshals, hackers, and FBI agents. Another annoyance that I had with this book was that there were many minute characters but all of them had names. The description was lengthy in all of these cases and felt more like fillers than necessary information. It felt, to me, like the speed of the plot halted at each of these points.

On the other hand, I will state that the author clearly did an extensive amount of research for this book. It should also be noted that human trafficking is a sensitive, somewhat taboo, subject and was approached well. I did like the action scenes as well as the surprises when they came. In the end, I gave the book 3/5 stars because I found myself skipping over paragraphs because I knew the description would be extensive and useless.

For those who may be sensitive, there is physical violence, gun violence, sexual abuse, physical abuse, alcoholism, drug use, sex trafficking, prostitution, and murder in this book. I only observed foul language used twice and both times were towards the end of the book.

Please note: A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free advance e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a well-written book that is full of action and emotion. There are three stories in one: a runaway girl that evolves into a story about human trafficking; the story of the life of a very conscientious and determined private investigator who won’t give up until she finds what she is looking for; and a family secret involving witness protection gone awry. The author kept me guessing right up until the end with all the twists and turns. This is a very well written book with excellent character and plot development that I would recommend reading.

Where to begin? I'm still stumbling on exactly what to rate and how to review this one. So I'll start with a simple statement: The writing is engaging.

This book is really two distinct storylines. The major component, which is, oddly, not the aspect promoted in the book's description, intrigued me most. Angie is hired to find a runaway teen girl, Nadine, who turns out to be in serious trouble. For the first three-quarters of the book, this is the main focus. Angie and her team track Nadine and, in the process, uncover the disturbing world of forced prostitution.

Nadine's character comes to us largely through her journal entries, written as chapters, as her story unfolds. We're right there with her, in her thoughts, seeing what she sees, and feeling her emotions. I found this aspect compelling.

The overall pace during this first three-quarters of the book is steady, keeping us hooked. We get an excellent feel for how a PI works during this process. The characters are intriguing and their banter makes them all the more realistic.

Then we get toward the end of the book, when the story moves almost exclusively into the photograph Angie had found early on, and her determination to figure out what her parents have been hiding. This feels like a different story entirely. The pace is rushed. The twists are extreme to the point of being difficult to believe. Angie's character goes from a methodical, practical, experienced PI to a spoiled child stomping her feet. Despite being told that her investigation was putting people in danger, she continued on with very little caution. All of it felt like too much, too fast. This part would have worked well as a story of its own. But this is written far more as a subtext that suddenly takes over and blows up at the end.

I have no doubt that many readers will love this explosive ending. For me, though, it felt too disconnected from the main story in which I'd invested so much time.

*I received an advance ebook copy from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.*

I have to say that though I am seldom surprised by books this one definitely surprised me. I had not a clue what the photo that Angie found in her mother’s things would lead her to and was definitely stunned by what she ultimately found out.

This book is definitely a BOOK. When you buy it you will get your money’s worth because you are getting more than just one story but instead more like three in one. You have the story of Nadine – the runaway, Angie – the private eye looking for Nadine and finally the mystery surrounding the photo and what is unveiled through research surrounding that photograph.

My first thought when I started the book was that 15 year old Nadine and early thirties aged Angie had the same “voice” and sounded the same age. That began to change as I progressed further into the book. I had trouble believing that any young woman would choose to believe a “stranger” would make them a star and be willing to go anywhere alone with them in their car but it has been a long time since I was a teenager. Nadine’s story was as horrible as it was supposed to be and sometimes difficult to read but I am sure that living it would be more difficult than reading about it.

Angie seems to be a dedicated person that has reached her early thirties without a man by her side and a family to care for. Her focus has been work that involves finding missing and at risk children. She has an interesting team that works with her and parents that love her.

I don’t want to have spoilers in this review. I will say the book was fast-paced, well written and filled with suspense. There definitely was a mystery to be solved. The characters were fleshed out and had interesting personalities. The bad guys were definitely bad. And, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I can’t give a full five because I can’t believe Nadine would have fallen in line with the predator so easily or have fallen for Ricardo’s seduction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of this riveting book in exchange for my honest review! I will definitely be on the lookout for other books by this author!!!½

Initially, I was not sure I would like this book. The book began okay, but soon evolved into a lot of medical terms, conditions and jargon, which I found boring and tough to get through. However, I kept with the book, and it moved beyond this to a fairly good medical suspense mystery/thriller. Dr. Julie Devereux has been a fan of patients having a say about their death until her fiancé, Sam Talbot, has a horrific motorcycle accident and ends up a quadriplegic. After working with an organization that advocates for life to continue rather than end, Sam, who has been begging Julie to end his life, starts to move in Julie’s new direction. However, Sam suddenly dies of a rare heart problem. Plagued by questions about Sam’s death, Julie begins researching this rather rare heart condition, looking at similar cases, and finds a pattern of deaths associated with these same symptoms that frightens her and makes her wonder if there is something going on. She is relentless in her quest to find out what is going on, to get closure on Sam’s death as well as to determine whether there is someone or thing amiss in the hospital where she works. Julie quickly becomes involved in something far bigger than what she thought, threatening her own life as well as the lives of others involved. Is there a nefarious plot going on? Is there a reason for these similar deaths Julie discovers during her research?

I have not read anything else by Daniel Palmer, but this book has definitely opened up a new author to me, providing a very well written mystery that held my attention once I got beyond all the medical mumbo jumbo in the beginning. The characters are well defined and help bring this story home to the reader, as the plot moves through a myriad of twists and turns to a surprising conclusion. This book will appeal to the reader who enjoys medical thrillers/mysteries as well as to anyone who enjoys a great mystery. Now that I have read this book, I will seek out others by this author, since this book as shown me that Daniel Palmer can write well and hold a reader’s attention and interest while delving into the unique medical world. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

This is bittersweet to write this review. While the last book I was not so much a fan of, this time around I could not read this book fast enough. Which I have been a fan of Mr. Palmer's since his first book. It is sad that I won't get to read another book by Mr. Palmer since it seems that he had found his stride again when it came to me and his books. Yet, I am glad that his son helped finish this book for him. At the same time I was introduced to a new author in Mr. Daniel Palmer.

Everything from the setting to the characters, pacing of the story, the plot, and the ending was on point. Dr. Julie was a great, strong female lead. Also very smart and determined. Even when confronted by danger, she for the most part stayed calm under pressure. The only "Mercy" I had with this book was when I finished it. Again, however I am sad that I am done reading it.