Control by Hugh Montgomery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An unnerving medical thriller that explores the sinister nature of power and control.

Junior doctor Kash begins his new job at the Victory Hospital, under the supervision of renowned senior surgeon Michael Trenchard. Kash is a little in awe of his mentor and hopes to learn a lot, his career quickly dominating his life. Trenchard is greatly admired, but when he is left tragically incapacitated by a combination of drug use and auto-erotic asphyxiation gone awry, other impressions begin to emerge.

Unbeknownst to the medical team, Trenchard is suffering with locked-in syndrome and is slowly become more aware of everything that is going on around him, but remains unable to control his own body. Kash, unconvinced that it was his mentor’s own actions that led to his fate, searches for a way to uncover the truth. He knows that, aside from his assailant, Trenchard is the only person who knows what has been done to him and by whom, and Kash strives to find a way to communicate with him.

While Trenchard’s sadistic assailant stalks the hospital corridors, Kash strives to unmask them before they are able to silence their victim permanently.

Hugh Montgomery’s debut novel grips from the first page, a thriller packed with authentic medical detail that immediately immerses the reader into the frenzy of an emergency department at a busy hospital. Kash struggles to know who he can trust as more suspects emerge who may have had a reason to harm Michael Trenchard. In the novel’s most unsettling moments, we experience how powerless Trenchard feels in his locked-in state. As we hurtle towards the final revelations, Montgomery also explores the moral and ethical issues that lie at the story’s dark heart.

Gripping and intense, ‘Control’ is an engaging medical thriller that explores the darker side of human nature and chills to the final page.



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