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Prison Doctor: Avenger of Blood
Everyone at Thornton State Prison has a secret.
In the stark confines of Thornton State Prison, hope for rehabilitation thrives under the watchful eye of Warden Black. With uncanny discernment, he meticulously curates a system of rehabilitation that decides who can be salvaged from the wreckage of their choices and who will remain inside his prison. Warden Black is both revered and feared, earning the attention of the Department of Defense, which sends their elite for his training. But beneath the prison's polished surface lies a web of secrets, all orchestrated by a figure known only as The Book.
Enter Cipher, who receives a cryptic directive and trades his comfortable life in downtown Chicago for a covert mission to investigate the enigmatic new physician, Dr. James Johnson. His assignment had strict orders to remain invisible, so he set up camp in a surveillance van, while curiosity gnawed at him. "Why was this doctor so important?"
Dr. Johnson, a cardiothoracic surgeon, appears dedicated to his patients. However, he harbors a dark, twisted past that fuels a visceral desire for vengeance. James grapples with his inner demons as Warden Black guides him through the prison's corridors, transforming from a healer into a harbinger of wrath. However, James quickly discovers that this is not an ordinary prison, and there is no straightforward path to justice. He knows there's no turning back from his chosen path; at Thornton State Prison, you either work for the Warden or you work for The Book.
With Cipher piecing together the truth behind Dr. Johnson's transformation and the nefarious influence of The Book, the stakes escalate. As secrets unravel, alliances form and betrayals loom, leading to a deadly confrontation to determine who truly holds the power in and out of Thornton State Prison.
"By all heavenly and earthly rights, I am the avenger of blood, and I claim that right on this night."
In the stark confines of Thornton State Prison, hope for rehabilitation thrives under the watchful eye of Warden Black. With uncanny discernment, he meticulously curates a system of rehabilitation that decides who can be salvaged from the wreckage of their choices and who will remain inside his prison. Warden Black is both revered and feared, earning the attention of the Department of Defense, which sends their elite for his training. But beneath the prison's polished surface lies a web of secrets, all orchestrated by a figure known only as The Book.
Enter Cipher, who receives a cryptic directive and trades his comfortable life in downtown Chicago for a covert mission to investigate the enigmatic new physician, Dr. James Johnson. His assignment had strict orders to remain invisible, so he set up camp in a surveillance van, while curiosity gnawed at him. "Why was this doctor so important?"
Dr. Johnson, a cardiothoracic surgeon, appears dedicated to his patients. However, he harbors a dark, twisted past that fuels a visceral desire for vengeance. James grapples with his inner demons as Warden Black guides him through the prison's corridors, transforming from a healer into a harbinger of wrath. However, James quickly discovers that this is not an ordinary prison, and there is no straightforward path to justice. He knows there's no turning back from his chosen path; at Thornton State Prison, you either work for the Warden or you work for The Book.
With Cipher piecing together the truth behind Dr. Johnson's transformation and the nefarious influence of The Book, the stakes escalate. As secrets unravel, alliances form and betrayals loom, leading to a deadly confrontation to determine who truly holds the power in and out of Thornton State Prison.
"By all heavenly and earthly rights, I am the avenger of blood, and I claim that right on this night."
401 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 17, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 18, 2025
This book is amazing! I certainly hope it becomes a multi-series on a TV app (Netflix/ Prime)...
I have told friends in Brazil and they hope it will be in Portuguese!
Any language/any country will find it mesmerizing with dynamic characters among twists,turns, and hallways!
{ Suggesting: "Mhz app" for the best of European countries' murder/ mysteries ... mostly English subtitled }.
I have told friends in Brazil and they hope it will be in Portuguese!
Any language/any country will find it mesmerizing with dynamic characters among twists,turns, and hallways!
{ Suggesting: "Mhz app" for the best of European countries' murder/ mysteries ... mostly English subtitled }.
March 11, 2025
The Prison Doctor is a tale of revenge. A successful doctor’s daughter is brutally murdered, and after a few years of falling apart and putting himself back together, he sets out to exact vengeance upon her killer.
The setting is allegedly in Champaign Illinois, but I cant recognize the town as it’s written. Certainly there are no prisons in the area, much less one with a state of the art hospital nestled inside. But the prison, its goals and unique approaches to rehabilitation, was surprisingly believable.
There is a lot of detail about gold games that are only tangentially related to the plot. While it’s always nice to mix in a love interest, the golf games feel a bit like the author was trying to plump up the page count. As character exploration, it just took up too much space for the little depth it added. But, I suppose if you love golf, it would be enjoyable.
I did really appreciate that the protagonist’s romantic interest didn’t swiftly leap to sex scenes. Instead, he takes the relationship slowly, allowing both parties to actually get to know each other. That makes much more sense for this long-game player than an actor fall into passion would have. Anyone who so meticulously plans his vengeance would take the rest of his life one step at a time.
The story progresses well, and the doctor’s plan to avenge is daughter is crafty. I did have to suspend disbelief a bit when we learned that this bright shiny brilliant doctor is from a crime family who swiftly welcomed him home after years of thinking him dead, and joined in his plan. When we added in the feud with another crime family it felt like I’d fallen out of the book I had been reading into another one - where the brutality was in the present and not in the heart breaking past. And the vengeance abruptly spread from targeting the murder to wiping out a whole crime family. That was also an interesting story - and the vengeance was well played. It just didn’t seem to fit with the cold, patient, calculating planning of the doctor we met in the first part of the book.
I will be curious to see if this character appears again. There were, after all, a few unfinished projects underway at the end.
The setting is allegedly in Champaign Illinois, but I cant recognize the town as it’s written. Certainly there are no prisons in the area, much less one with a state of the art hospital nestled inside. But the prison, its goals and unique approaches to rehabilitation, was surprisingly believable.
There is a lot of detail about gold games that are only tangentially related to the plot. While it’s always nice to mix in a love interest, the golf games feel a bit like the author was trying to plump up the page count. As character exploration, it just took up too much space for the little depth it added. But, I suppose if you love golf, it would be enjoyable.
I did really appreciate that the protagonist’s romantic interest didn’t swiftly leap to sex scenes. Instead, he takes the relationship slowly, allowing both parties to actually get to know each other. That makes much more sense for this long-game player than an actor fall into passion would have. Anyone who so meticulously plans his vengeance would take the rest of his life one step at a time.
The story progresses well, and the doctor’s plan to avenge is daughter is crafty. I did have to suspend disbelief a bit when we learned that this bright shiny brilliant doctor is from a crime family who swiftly welcomed him home after years of thinking him dead, and joined in his plan. When we added in the feud with another crime family it felt like I’d fallen out of the book I had been reading into another one - where the brutality was in the present and not in the heart breaking past. And the vengeance abruptly spread from targeting the murder to wiping out a whole crime family. That was also an interesting story - and the vengeance was well played. It just didn’t seem to fit with the cold, patient, calculating planning of the doctor we met in the first part of the book.
I will be curious to see if this character appears again. There were, after all, a few unfinished projects underway at the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2025
Enjoyed this novel very much. The writers did a great job of depicting the intricacies of medical practices, aviation, and golf! I liked the main characters and the mysterious "The Book." Looking forward to reading the next story as the plot thickens and characters develop. Good read.
May 17, 2025
Oh my goodness! It is a thrill-ride of a book! The author took the time to develop the main characters and the plot well- so that the twists and turns at the exhilarating end made sense and seemed to have to happen exactly as they did!! I am already looking forward to the sequel(s), which were set up nicely! So very enjoyable!!
February 15, 2025
Firstly the reason I took off one star. There is a lot of highly in depth detailed information on the subject of golf, medical knowledge, and piloting. Now I will say that means the author is incredibly intelligent but I am most certainly of average intelligence which means a lot of information was going way over my head.
Now for the good bit. The story structure was absolutely amazing with so many unexpected plot twists that had me saying out loud “no way” or “for real!?!”. There are very fun and clever big reveals that left me entirely shocked. If you like to be surprised you will definitely enjoy this book
Now for the good bit. The story structure was absolutely amazing with so many unexpected plot twists that had me saying out loud “no way” or “for real!?!”. There are very fun and clever big reveals that left me entirely shocked. If you like to be surprised you will definitely enjoy this book
February 4, 2026
Strong characters, decent revenge story
March 10, 2025
A Slow-Starting, Sometimes Confusing, and Vicious Book
This books starts out, and for its first half, remains quite confusing for The Reader. Whatever The Author’s intentions are, he does not do a very good job of writing for The Reader — he writes for himself, knowing what he’s trying to say, but completely failing to keep The Reader informed.
There is a mysterious ‘Book’ character, again with a very chaotic and confusing description; this person is some super-smart criminal, but whose most illogical gift seems to be 24hours/day, 7-days/week communication capability —- from a maximum security prison — in some strange code, something nobody can understand — yet, The Author makes it clear that his numerous characters all immediately figure it out, and move on with their lives.
My personal recommendation is for you to skip this book and take up another story that makes more sense. But, if you must read ’Prison Doctor’ — work your way through the first half as well as you can — then all of the different strings will pull together in the 2nd half. (This is not to say that the entire store is logical and makes sense.)
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This books starts out, and for its first half, remains quite confusing for The Reader. Whatever The Author’s intentions are, he does not do a very good job of writing for The Reader — he writes for himself, knowing what he’s trying to say, but completely failing to keep The Reader informed.
There is a mysterious ‘Book’ character, again with a very chaotic and confusing description; this person is some super-smart criminal, but whose most illogical gift seems to be 24hours/day, 7-days/week communication capability —- from a maximum security prison — in some strange code, something nobody can understand — yet, The Author makes it clear that his numerous characters all immediately figure it out, and move on with their lives.
My personal recommendation is for you to skip this book and take up another story that makes more sense. But, if you must read ’Prison Doctor’ — work your way through the first half as well as you can — then all of the different strings will pull together in the 2nd half. (This is not to say that the entire store is logical and makes sense.)
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March 20, 2025
A great web of connections that will stimulate your curiosity and imagination! I'm looking forward to the next book in what I hope will be a series!
May 11, 2026
lots of characters and twists in this one. things that make you wonder about people and their true motives
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews