Little Falls

by Will Werner

EDWARD TEAK WANTS OUT. He is the CEO of a failing hospital in a dying town. When he learns that a for-profit mega-chain is interested in acquiring the hospital if its finances can be improved, Teak hatches an outlandish plan to eliminate the five most costly patients imperiling the system. While it’s nothing he’s proud of, it just might work, putting some miserable souls out of their misery, making the hospital someone else’s headache, and saving himself in the process. He’s so close; he can almost feel the cords of the promised golden parachute in his sweaty palms. But it is all unraveling. Fast. Teak’s no mastermind killer. Frankly, he’s lucky he made it this far.

Little Falls follows Teak’s darkly funny path, one marked by missteps and double-crosses. Along the way, Little Falls reveals the misplaced incentives and hypocrisies that distort American healthcare, ultimately asking how much a life is worth in a world where the bottom line always wins.

353 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2023

About the author

Will Werner lives and works in Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a book I'd get overly excited about but it is readable.

The storyline follows Ed Teak, son of a beloved doctor, husband to a media obsessed wife, father to one smart child and one struggling with authority, ADHD and schoolwork. Ed is also the CEO of Little Falls Hospital. Its not a job he loves but (apart from the patients and their icky illnesses) he's good at it.

However on the horizon is Modern Healthcare who take over failing hospitals, apply jiggery pokery algorithms and turn it around. They also usually offer existing CEOs a fine golden handshake. Ed wants out, Sam wants a pool and all that's standing in their way is some very high maintenance patients who bounce back with alarming regularity, costing the hospital a fortune and who may well scupper the deal.

With this in mind Ed begins to plan a way forward but will he have the guts to go through with it?

The story is okay and does pick up in the second half. Some editing of the first half would be better as it does tend to meander a little. None of the characters is particularly likeable (or memorable) but Ed does love hos mum so whatever he gets up to, he is most definitely not all bad. I would also say that the end really surprised me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance review copy.

[Jan Mawdesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Falls from Will Werner is a darky entertaining, intriguing novel about seeking alternatives, dumb luck and moving on.
Ed Teak is the CEO for Little Falls Hospital. He considers he is burnt out, hopeful of finally getting fired from his job and self-medicating on Prozac, which he gets from Dr Wills, a Doctor at the hospital who has taken on the role of surrogate father to Ed, upon the death of his father.
John Tate is a legend within Little Falls Hospital; a man who is revered in an almost God like manner, who lead the team of Doctors at the Hospital during the halcyon years when Little Falls was booming, growing rapidly to encompass the ever expanding population.
Ed is very different. All he wants is a peaceful life far from the Hospital, anything resembling germs, blood and other bodily fluids, people who always want something and being expected to be the savior of a failing enterprise.
Instead of getting fired, there seems to be a the very real possibly of a private concern, Aspen Health, taking over the rapidly sinking ship of Little Falls Hospital. The Chairman of the Board wants Ed to try and improve the bottom line so the figures look at least better than despairing.
Looking at the Finances of the hospital in a desperate hope to find a solution, he notices something, several somethings, he considers could make a massive difference, if only they were no longer there! Perhaps, there is a way forward and hopefully get a decent financial handshake on the way out the door,
As Ed’s carefully constructed plot unfolds, it seems that Ed, for all of his failings, walks on the side of the angels as he sets out, in person, to right wrongs, correct the bottom line and remain unscathed. That is until things begin to go wrong, very wrong and a rethink is required.
Not a fast paced story Little Falls becomes in its very descriptive manner almost addictive, as Ed moves from crisis to crisis, gaining confidence, but in the meantime terrified of what he has set in motion. Where will it all end and will this be enough to make the very real changes that he hopes will be his way out of a place he truly does not like!
Little Falls looks at mental health, the burden that family can sometimes place on their children and the road we could maybe all travel when hope seems to be in short supply in very real, wry and most enjoyable manner.

[Marcin W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got audible copy for free w code off reddit hence me sticking with it till end as implied wants a review.
I have nothing against the writing style or narrator, found them average+, but did not enjoy any of it.
#1: Did not find any of it even remotely amusing, let alone funny.
minor spoilers:

#2: MC is very unsympathetic/anti-hero. Doped up elite looking to make even more money while patting himself on the back / playing victim.

#3: Just don't know what the point of reading/writing this was / what type of psycho would enjoy hearing this story. Or what is there to learn from this unless you bring/apply your own extras to come up with a lesson.

summary as i see it:
The 1st ~40% of the book introduces the MC. He is a drugged up CEO of a hospital, that pats himself on the back constantly for cutting costs at obviously explained cut in quality (how is this a positive?). We find out about his ordinary cushy life & his white-boy problems like how apparently he does not discipline his kid or interact with his wife in the slightest, just whines to us about having to do so. The mystery to me was when will the story actually get going.
He wants to jump at an opportunity to get his hospital to be bought out by a major chain. That way he can get a 4million payout. So he decides a few of his most costly regular patients need to die to make his books look better. He lucks into killing the 1st 2 himself. Then pays 50k to 2 lowlifes to kill 3 more.
On the 2nd team kill one of the dumb lowlifes screws it up so he has to scramble to not loose everything/go to prison. He succeeds rather easily with a slight coverup. Hospital deal goes through and everything seems peachy (bad guy won). Then, a (*useless slim side-arc) and almost like the author wanted to give us a happy ending, a former employee blackmails MC in the last ~5%. MC quickly just bashes his head in & uses morgue to dispose of the body. Bad guy still has a happy ending.
*=At ~75% in the MC's elderly mom gets sick & has to go to hospital. Suspected this might be author's way for MC to learn a lesson, but no payoff there. Just a worthless distraction, maybe to make the reader consider juxtaposition of using resources on his mom while taking it away from 5 others, if you want to be charitable.

[Georgiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book did a great job of setting the scene and introducing us to the (admittedly awful) cast of characters, but I found it quite hard to get excited or enthralled by the story.
The description sounded intriguing, and ultimately it was as described but disappointing as I was hoping for more! I couldn't quite connect with the main character, Ed, whose exploits walked the line between shocking and humorous, falling into the 'not so funny' area a little too often to call him 'morally grey'. I kept hoping for some redemption or glimmer of reason, but I felt like I lost my way along with Ed.

On the positive side, this wasn't awful and I can appreciate the satire I believe Werner was aiming for. The shortish chapters at least kept it moving, and I can see this appealing to any CEO or health worker fending off their own intrusive thoughts.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Lynn Loves Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edward Teak is a man overwhelmed by his job as CEO of a failing hospital, his wife who lives beyond their means, and the legacy of his esteemed doctor father. He's looking for a way out, and when a for-profit hospital system begins looking at purchasing his hospital, he starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, they insist that Edward's hospital cut some of their losses prior to signing on the dotted line. This seems impossible, until Edward realizes that just five patients are the most costly in their system. If only they disappeared... Edward is a bumbling wanna-be murderer who is terrified that he will be found out before he can cash in his bonus. This is a dark comedy that has the worst of the American healthcare system at its core, and leaves the reader wondering just who are they rooting for?

[Lisa Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm being generous with the stars because this book kept reminding me of later Westlake, particularly The Ax, where someone eliminates his own competition for a job by putting an ad out with his own qualifications and killing the applicants. This story is a satire on hospital care and corporate greed, and it really hits home in these times. A hospital CEO figures out that his hospital's bottom line is particularly affected by a handful of patients and sets out to rectify the situation. I couldn't figure out if I sympathized with him or not, especially with such a terrible family, even as he took special care of his failing, aged mother. Even though I felt conflicted, I also enjoyed myself for the ride. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

[Gabrielle Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. The premise of this sounded super interesting and I was excited about it as my husband is a nurse. This book turned out to be just a CEO doing horrible things just to get some extra cash for the business (hospital). Some of this book, I was super bored and other parts I found very intriguing and kept me continuing to finish it out. I don't know, this novel just didn't do it for me sadly and the ending was honestly pretty disappointing, in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

[Hasina Begum · Rating 4 out of 5]

You’re the CEO of a failing hospital, a larger medical group has shown interest to take over but they want to see that the hospital is worth taking over.

What can you do to make the little hospital of Little Falls seem worthwhile. That’s it, kill off the patients who cost the hospital the most…

Will this work?

I did enjoy the this book and loved the storyline, I liked that there small chapter but the book may have been slightly longer than needed to be but overall a good read.

The twist at the end had me a little surprised.

[Kendra Feldkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the CEO of a failing hospital and his idea at how to 'fix' his problems.
I really enjoyed this book! It had a dark and twisted plot, but had funny moments throughout. As a person who works in the medical field, it was refreshing to read about the complexity and problem that is the U.S. healthcare system. I think this book can be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys satire as it pokes fun of the world we live in today, as well as working in healthcare.

[DE Jorgensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death, drugs, booze, and lots of stupidity in a story you have to finish

Oh, my. The story is both horrifying and fascinating. Nearly all the characters are awful people, Little Falls is an awful place, the hospital is a nightmare. Even the kids are terrible. Why did I keep reading? I simply had to know how the story would turn out. Even typos didn't deter me from finding out if justice would be served to the bad people. No spoiler here. I'm not telling.

[Jay K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follow the moral descent of a hospital CEO as he attempts to sell the failing hospital to a large for-profit healthcare system in hopes of getting a generous severance. This is a dark, humorous satire that highlights the worst part of healthcare … greedy profitability. The novel is a fascinating read.

[Lisa Gisèle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

I'll admit I did not finish the book as it was very slow for my liking. I kept reading to reach the murder section, but it's chapter 5, and nada. The story seems like it could be interesting if the observations weren't so drawn up

[Courtney Horwitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book. It is a dark and witty take on the problems of our current health care system. It was a page turner. It could have ended in so many different ways and Will Werner keep me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what he would choose for the ending. It was enjoyable and fun and a bit depressing but oh so good.

[Star · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC
A look into the world of healthcare. The story was slow but became interesting halfway through. A great mix of characters but likeable and frustrating,.

[Shivali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hilarious book with memorable and larger-than-life characters. I couldn't put it down, it was really a breath of fresh air. and something a little different. I would definitely recommend this book.

[Beth Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
The CEO of a failing hospital decides to murder some frequent service users, in order to keep the hospital financially stable.
Easy-to-follow storyline and short chapters.
Was surprised by a plot twist.
Looking forwards to see what Will Werner has to bring out in the future.