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Angry Nurse
When wealthy Cleveland businessman David Feighan is admitted to St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Unit in a catatonic state, he “miraculously” recovers in the presence of Nurse Joshua Ramsey. David insists his wife, lawyer, and the hospital administrator are plotting to have him permanently committed and implores Joshua to help him. Are these the ravings of an insane man or is something more sinister at work?
Then David’s wife and lawyer are found dead and Detective Nicholas Silvano gets the case. The husband is usually the first suspect but David has a solid alibi – he’s locked up at St. Luke’s. The investigation stalls...until a crayon drawing leads Nick back to St. Luke’s and a surprising new suspect.
"Fans of dark crime fiction will appreciate the unusual psychological twists in this mystery set in a mental ward. Bort and Madsen ground the world of the book solidly in the maddening bureaucracy of a big city hospital, leading the reader to believe if you weren't crazy when you checked in, you will be before long. I look forward to reading more from this innovative crime writing team."
--W. Bruce Cameron, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man
"Ex-cop and former psych ward nurse Karl Bort teams up for a second time with professional writer Thekla Madsen in a gripping tale of psychosis and murder set in Bort's hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Fans of the team's first novel, Bad JuJu in Cleveland, won't be disappointed by Angry Nurse."
--Dave Wood, Past Vice President, National Book Critic Circle
"Angry Nurse is a suspenseful read all the way to the satisfying end."
--Barbara Schlichting, author of The First Ladies Mystery Series
Then David’s wife and lawyer are found dead and Detective Nicholas Silvano gets the case. The husband is usually the first suspect but David has a solid alibi – he’s locked up at St. Luke’s. The investigation stalls...until a crayon drawing leads Nick back to St. Luke’s and a surprising new suspect.
"Fans of dark crime fiction will appreciate the unusual psychological twists in this mystery set in a mental ward. Bort and Madsen ground the world of the book solidly in the maddening bureaucracy of a big city hospital, leading the reader to believe if you weren't crazy when you checked in, you will be before long. I look forward to reading more from this innovative crime writing team."
--W. Bruce Cameron, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man
"Ex-cop and former psych ward nurse Karl Bort teams up for a second time with professional writer Thekla Madsen in a gripping tale of psychosis and murder set in Bort's hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Fans of the team's first novel, Bad JuJu in Cleveland, won't be disappointed by Angry Nurse."
--Dave Wood, Past Vice President, National Book Critic Circle
"Angry Nurse is a suspenseful read all the way to the satisfying end."
--Barbara Schlichting, author of The First Ladies Mystery Series
317 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 22, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 24, 2018
What I liked: The Colombo approach, which rarely works, but it does here. Also, the ending was unorthodox but satisfactory.
What I didn’t like: the political rants. At best, they were preachy and annoying (and yes, that goes for the parts I agreed with.) At worst, they were preachy, annoying, and wrong, in addition to having nothing to do with the plot, and derailing the whole story for a few pages.
Writers: don’t do that.
There is nothing wrong with a political point of view. There is also nothing wrong with social commentary. Authors do that all the time, sometimes extraordinarily well. But if you are going to put social commentary into a work of fiction, please do these two things. First—work it into the story. Make it a part of the plot. If it is has nothing to do with the plot, it doesn’t belong in this story. Second, show, don’t tell. Don’t just have a character rant for a page. That’s boring—and preachy and annoying. There is a caveat, though: if your political view is poorly informed, then your characters will be strawmen, and that will also be annoying.
What I didn’t like: the political rants. At best, they were preachy and annoying (and yes, that goes for the parts I agreed with.) At worst, they were preachy, annoying, and wrong, in addition to having nothing to do with the plot, and derailing the whole story for a few pages.
Writers: don’t do that.
There is nothing wrong with a political point of view. There is also nothing wrong with social commentary. Authors do that all the time, sometimes extraordinarily well. But if you are going to put social commentary into a work of fiction, please do these two things. First—work it into the story. Make it a part of the plot. If it is has nothing to do with the plot, it doesn’t belong in this story. Second, show, don’t tell. Don’t just have a character rant for a page. That’s boring—and preachy and annoying. There is a caveat, though: if your political view is poorly informed, then your characters will be strawmen, and that will also be annoying.
January 18, 2018
This was one of the most original thrillers I have ever read--and I have read a LOT of them! I did not read the first in the series and didn't seem lost in the story at all. All the characters seemed very real to me and they added to the excitement of the story. I loved Detective Nick and his friends and coworkers. The way the mystery unwrapped to them was realistic and made me read even faster to get to the exciting ending. And that ending was absolutely amazing! If the mystery was one I hadn't seen before, the ending was definitely one I never saw coming, just WOW!
August 2, 2017
I love the main characters. The story is part of the Detective Nicholas Silvano Crime Thriller series and told more through the eyes of the angry nurse than through the detective's. I love how the murders play out - not what I would have expected.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews