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Deadly Cure: A Novel
In Brooklyn in 1899, Dr. Noah Whitestone is called urgently to his wealthy neighbor's house to treat a five-year-old boy with a shocking set of symptoms. When the child dies suddenly later that night, Noah is accused by the boy's regular physician-the powerful and politically connected Dr. Arnold Frias-of prescribing a lethal dose of laudanum. To prove his innocence, Noah must investigate the murder-for it must be murder-and confront the man he is convinced is the real killer. His investigation leads him to a reporter for a muckraking magazine and a beautiful radical editor who are convinced that a secret experimental drug from Germany has caused the death of at least five local children. By degrees, Noah is drawn into a dangerous world of drugs, criminals, and politics, which threatens not only his career but also his life.
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2017
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About the author
Lawrence Goldstone
45 books199 followersLawrence Goldstone is the author of fourteen books of both fiction and non-fiction. Six of those books were co-authored with his wife, Nancy, but they now write separately to save what is left of their dishes.
Goldstone's articles, reviews, and opinion pieces have appeared in, among other publications, the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Hartford Courant, and Berkshire Eagle. He has also written for a number of magazines that have gone bust, although he denies any cause and effect.
His first novel, Rights, won a New American Writing Award but he now cringes at its awkward prose. (Anatomy of Deception and The Astronomer are much better.)
Despite a seemingly incurable tendency to say what's on his mind (thus mortifying Nancy), Goldstone has been widely interviewed on both radio and television, with appearances on, among others, "Fresh Air" (NPR), "To the Best of Our Knowledge" (NPR), "The Faith Middleton Show" (NPR), "Tavis Smiley" (PBS), and Leonard Lopate (WNYC). His work has also been profiled in The New York Times, The Toronto Star, numerous regional newspapers, Salon, and Slate.
Goldstone holds a PhD in American Constitutional Studies from the New School. His friends thus call him DrG, although he can barely touch the rim. (Sigh. Can't make a layup anymore either.) He and his beloved bride founded and ran an innovative series of parent-child book groups, which they documented in Deconstructing Penguins. He has also been a teacher, lecturer, senior member of a Wall Street trading firm, taxi driver, actor, quiz show contestant, and policy analyst at the Hudson Institute.
He is a unerring stock picker. Everything he buys instantly goes down.
Goldstone's articles, reviews, and opinion pieces have appeared in, among other publications, the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Hartford Courant, and Berkshire Eagle. He has also written for a number of magazines that have gone bust, although he denies any cause and effect.
His first novel, Rights, won a New American Writing Award but he now cringes at its awkward prose. (Anatomy of Deception and The Astronomer are much better.)
Despite a seemingly incurable tendency to say what's on his mind (thus mortifying Nancy), Goldstone has been widely interviewed on both radio and television, with appearances on, among others, "Fresh Air" (NPR), "To the Best of Our Knowledge" (NPR), "The Faith Middleton Show" (NPR), "Tavis Smiley" (PBS), and Leonard Lopate (WNYC). His work has also been profiled in The New York Times, The Toronto Star, numerous regional newspapers, Salon, and Slate.
Goldstone holds a PhD in American Constitutional Studies from the New School. His friends thus call him DrG, although he can barely touch the rim. (Sigh. Can't make a layup anymore either.) He and his beloved bride founded and ran an innovative series of parent-child book groups, which they documented in Deconstructing Penguins. He has also been a teacher, lecturer, senior member of a Wall Street trading firm, taxi driver, actor, quiz show contestant, and policy analyst at the Hudson Institute.
He is a unerring stock picker. Everything he buys instantly goes down.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
November 21, 2017
Although this starts with the mysterious death of a young boy, this book is so much more than a mystery. It is 1899 in Brooklyn, and a young doctor who practices with his father becomes embroiled in the world of profit and greed. A fascinating look at unregulated medicines, the lack of foresight or outright falsification of testing, and the many dangerous combinations that some physicians prescribed.
What a scary world, morphine, opium, all in medicines given to children as well as adults. Fantastic rendering of time and place, a dark, forbading atmosphere, with many willing to do anything for money. Not much has changed there, nor the greed of the drug companies, but now at least there is some control. As a young doctor seeks to clear his name, he is drawn into a group of nonviolent anarchists who are trying to keep the scales even, protect those who cannot protect themselves by exposing nefarious practices. Threads are unraveled, conspiracies revealed, and one learns s great deal about early drug practices. The beginning of the Bayer Company in Germany, the use of aspirin and the development of heroin.
Found this book both interesting and fascinating especially since heroin today has become a cheaper and more available source for opiates. Some very interesting characters from all walks of life, an entertaining mystery and top notch historical.
ARC from Edelweiss.
What a scary world, morphine, opium, all in medicines given to children as well as adults. Fantastic rendering of time and place, a dark, forbading atmosphere, with many willing to do anything for money. Not much has changed there, nor the greed of the drug companies, but now at least there is some control. As a young doctor seeks to clear his name, he is drawn into a group of nonviolent anarchists who are trying to keep the scales even, protect those who cannot protect themselves by exposing nefarious practices. Threads are unraveled, conspiracies revealed, and one learns s great deal about early drug practices. The beginning of the Bayer Company in Germany, the use of aspirin and the development of heroin.
Found this book both interesting and fascinating especially since heroin today has become a cheaper and more available source for opiates. Some very interesting characters from all walks of life, an entertaining mystery and top notch historical.
ARC from Edelweiss.
November 5, 2017
This novel is wonderful historical fiction revolving around the introduction of certain patented medicines in the United States. This novel is the reason why I love great historical fiction, it enlightened me about a subject I knew little about while involving me in a mystery to be solved following great characters as they uncover and then solve the mystery.
Noah Whitehouse is a young physician practicing medicine in the late 1800’s when he is called to the home of a very affluent family. The family’s usual doctor is not available and when their young son becomes acutely ill, Noah is called in. He treats the child with a few drops of laudanum for him to get some rest and returns in a few hours. However when he returns 3 hours later the child has died. He is immediately accused of murdering the child due to his negligent medical course of action.
The novel follows Noah as he tries to uncover the mystery of what really killed the child and several other children have died the same way within the last few months. During the course of the novel we learn about a company in Germany who has developed aspirin, heroin and several other medicines which were supposedly clinically tested. In order to introduce these drugs to the US the German company got funding from several wealthy physicians and others who started the distribution of these drugs before they were proven safe. Many of these drugs were tested on poor and indigent patients as they were less likely to pursue a lawsuit or investigation into the death of a loved one.
The story also involves a revolutionary newspaper, New Visions, which has been trying to report on these issues and more in order to inform the general population that they are, at times, being duped into using unsafe drugs. We are introduced to many well described characters. Meribeth is Noah’s fiance who in the end helps him uncover much needed evidence with the naming of those wealthy individuals who backed the introduction of these drugs. The police are of no help in these matters as most of them are corrupt and being paid off by others to keep quiet about anything they find to be suspicious in some of the patient’s deaths.
I don’t feel as though I’m doing this book justice. It is incredibly well researched and the story flows very well. The characters are believable and the drugs and many of the characters mentioned in the book are factual. As stated in the Author’s Note “Heinrich Dreser was, in fact, the head chemist at Bayer and his role in the development of the drug and its testing is as described. He profited handsomely from the sale of heroin and Aspirin . . .. “The author also reproduces actual ads for the drugs which appeared in what was then called “The American Journal of Insanity”, now “The American Journal of Psychiatry”.
This book would be enjoyed by anyone who likes learning about the early practices of medicine in the 1880’s, the class system in the United States at this time and also just solving a great mystery with great characters.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss, thank you.
Noah Whitehouse is a young physician practicing medicine in the late 1800’s when he is called to the home of a very affluent family. The family’s usual doctor is not available and when their young son becomes acutely ill, Noah is called in. He treats the child with a few drops of laudanum for him to get some rest and returns in a few hours. However when he returns 3 hours later the child has died. He is immediately accused of murdering the child due to his negligent medical course of action.
The novel follows Noah as he tries to uncover the mystery of what really killed the child and several other children have died the same way within the last few months. During the course of the novel we learn about a company in Germany who has developed aspirin, heroin and several other medicines which were supposedly clinically tested. In order to introduce these drugs to the US the German company got funding from several wealthy physicians and others who started the distribution of these drugs before they were proven safe. Many of these drugs were tested on poor and indigent patients as they were less likely to pursue a lawsuit or investigation into the death of a loved one.
The story also involves a revolutionary newspaper, New Visions, which has been trying to report on these issues and more in order to inform the general population that they are, at times, being duped into using unsafe drugs. We are introduced to many well described characters. Meribeth is Noah’s fiance who in the end helps him uncover much needed evidence with the naming of those wealthy individuals who backed the introduction of these drugs. The police are of no help in these matters as most of them are corrupt and being paid off by others to keep quiet about anything they find to be suspicious in some of the patient’s deaths.
I don’t feel as though I’m doing this book justice. It is incredibly well researched and the story flows very well. The characters are believable and the drugs and many of the characters mentioned in the book are factual. As stated in the Author’s Note “Heinrich Dreser was, in fact, the head chemist at Bayer and his role in the development of the drug and its testing is as described. He profited handsomely from the sale of heroin and Aspirin . . .. “The author also reproduces actual ads for the drugs which appeared in what was then called “The American Journal of Insanity”, now “The American Journal of Psychiatry”.
This book would be enjoyed by anyone who likes learning about the early practices of medicine in the 1880’s, the class system in the United States at this time and also just solving a great mystery with great characters.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss, thank you.
November 30, 2017
This book is hard to review. The subject matter of common syrups and liquid cures sold everywhere without much ingredient information before the laws! That's interesting.
But for some reason as thorough as the story was within the society of help and family/business arrangements of those days near the end of the 1800's- I still could never embed with the characters.
It's partially the writing. It didn't flow for me although the tale progressed in jumps. But it also held interchanges and episodes that felt either inappropriate to the people themselves or just flat to my interpretation of "what happened". Regardless it ruined any enjoyment of the book for me. I didn't want to "come back" to it but plodded ahead to find out why that little boy died and if Noah was the one responsible.
But overall it had some excellent lessons in the kinds of combination products that were used in nursery, kitchen, bedroom and everyday by some. With most of these people not having a clue to what they were ingesting.
One thing that bothered me a bit. It has an ending added in which it is noted that Teddy Roosevelt progressed to solve this issue with governmental content and control substance laws. And it is an extremely simplistic addition, IMHO. It's a problem and category that still holds margins of terrible irresponsibility. If only because of the PR, Marketing, Advertising for both RX and other over the counter "improvement" and "health concerns" rift today. Most do more harm than they do good. And the reason that they exist is not for need as much as incredible profits. "First Do No HARM"?
The story was plotted fairly well, but for me it was a 2.5 stars read rounded up for the history aspect and the following tale of a common anecdote for why. But none of these characters resounded with me at all. As much as they had guilt, regret or sadness? Their behavior and conversations didn't reflect them or their core identity. But merely as little more than a surface only characterization!
But for some reason as thorough as the story was within the society of help and family/business arrangements of those days near the end of the 1800's- I still could never embed with the characters.
It's partially the writing. It didn't flow for me although the tale progressed in jumps. But it also held interchanges and episodes that felt either inappropriate to the people themselves or just flat to my interpretation of "what happened". Regardless it ruined any enjoyment of the book for me. I didn't want to "come back" to it but plodded ahead to find out why that little boy died and if Noah was the one responsible.
But overall it had some excellent lessons in the kinds of combination products that were used in nursery, kitchen, bedroom and everyday by some. With most of these people not having a clue to what they were ingesting.
One thing that bothered me a bit. It has an ending added in which it is noted that Teddy Roosevelt progressed to solve this issue with governmental content and control substance laws. And it is an extremely simplistic addition, IMHO. It's a problem and category that still holds margins of terrible irresponsibility. If only because of the PR, Marketing, Advertising for both RX and other over the counter "improvement" and "health concerns" rift today. Most do more harm than they do good. And the reason that they exist is not for need as much as incredible profits. "First Do No HARM"?
The story was plotted fairly well, but for me it was a 2.5 stars read rounded up for the history aspect and the following tale of a common anecdote for why. But none of these characters resounded with me at all. As much as they had guilt, regret or sadness? Their behavior and conversations didn't reflect them or their core identity. But merely as little more than a surface only characterization!
June 22, 2017
I once asked my grandfather why he became a pharmacist. (He graduated the Rhode Island school of pharmacy in 1913.) He replied that he had always been interested in medicine and healing. But attending medical school was not possible for him,, so he turned to pharmacy. He also said that major vent in his early teen years was the creation of the Food and Drug Administration by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Before then, medicine was totally unregulated. There were no uniform legal guidelines for testing drugs and medications and introducing them to the public. Moreover, large chemical companies in Europe were engaging American doctors to prescribe their experimental drugs to test on their patients, the victims often being the poor. Over the counter "patent drugs," also unregulated, were filled with chemicals and narcotics that could do more harm than good. It was a perilous time.
Lawrence Goldstone's Fatal Cure is an historical novel st in New York City in 1901, when medicine and pharmacy wee chaotic. An author of both fiction and non-fiction, Goldstone creates a vivid snapshot of this era . While perhaps melodramatic at times, the characters ring true:: the doctors who treated the high society, the poor immigrants crammed into tenements, the Radicals of Union Square, the jingoistic nationalists intoxicated by the new American colonialism after the Spanish-American War.
There is an Afterword in which the author presents the historical facts behind the novel. Many readers might benefit from reading it first before embarking on the novel itself.
A most enjoyable read. Four and One-Half Stars. I hesitate to give the full five stars was the one graphic scene of sex seemed gratuitous, perhaps excessive, and of questionable necessity.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to an advance reader copy n exchange for a fair review.
Before then, medicine was totally unregulated. There were no uniform legal guidelines for testing drugs and medications and introducing them to the public. Moreover, large chemical companies in Europe were engaging American doctors to prescribe their experimental drugs to test on their patients, the victims often being the poor. Over the counter "patent drugs," also unregulated, were filled with chemicals and narcotics that could do more harm than good. It was a perilous time.
Lawrence Goldstone's Fatal Cure is an historical novel st in New York City in 1901, when medicine and pharmacy wee chaotic. An author of both fiction and non-fiction, Goldstone creates a vivid snapshot of this era . While perhaps melodramatic at times, the characters ring true:: the doctors who treated the high society, the poor immigrants crammed into tenements, the Radicals of Union Square, the jingoistic nationalists intoxicated by the new American colonialism after the Spanish-American War.
There is an Afterword in which the author presents the historical facts behind the novel. Many readers might benefit from reading it first before embarking on the novel itself.
A most enjoyable read. Four and One-Half Stars. I hesitate to give the full five stars was the one graphic scene of sex seemed gratuitous, perhaps excessive, and of questionable necessity.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to an advance reader copy n exchange for a fair review.
September 18, 2019
The style of writing is step by step descriptions. This style of writing is not engaging to me. Therefore, I’m not the right reviewer for this book. There are others who appreciate this style of writing and they will reveal veracious reviews.
@FB: Best Historical Fiction
@FB: Best Historical Fiction
January 4, 2023
Written as a medical thriller/historical fiction, it reads more like a documentary of the Big Pharma fiasco of the past few years. I fact checked as I went along throughout the book and was shocked at what we don't know and, honestly, have NO clue about. Why do we pretend that those put in charge of our medical care are gods? I'll never understand this. I highly recommend this book to everyone I talk to. Everyday, everywhere. Yes, it's fiction but take it as you will....
September 13, 2017
Cracking good historical mystery set in 1899 New York City. The detective in this case is a smart young physician who treats another physician's patient and then gets blamed when the boy dies. A fast-moving plot with fascinating tidbits about the state of medicine at the turn of the century. Highly recommended!
Thanks to the publisher for sending me this advance reading copy.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me this advance reading copy.
April 7, 2019
I rather enjoy Lawrence Goldstone's history-of-science mystery/thrillers, of which this is the third and (to date) last; the other two are
The Anatomy of Deception
(2008) and
The Astronomer
(2010). Clearly it's incumbent upon Goldstone to write a few more of them, pronto.
New York, 1899, and young Dr. Noah Whitestone is called to attend upon the dying child of a society household, the boy's regular physician, the prestigious Dr. Arnold Frias, being otherwise engaged. Just when Noah believes he's saved his patient, the boy dies. Clearly Frias is eager to blame Whitestone for the death rather than the treatment Frias himself had earlier prescribed, and the older man persuades the family -- and society as a whole -- to go along with his view. Noah becomes a social leper, abandoned by all but a few friends, as he takes on the medical establishment in his efforts to demonstrate his innocence of the accusation. In the process of this decalumniation he reveals corruption within the pharmaceutical industry . . .
Well, that seems an extremely modern-type theme, doesn't it! The corruption was very much a real thing, though, and Goldstone's account of it makes for good reading. For various "freedom" reasons, the regulations concerning medicine in the US were laughably lax during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th (they still are in connection with vitamins and "supplements"): essentially, you could put on the market any quack nostrum you chose, make the wildest promises as to its efficacy, and watch as the authorities sputtered in their powerlessness to do anything to stop you, even as the bodies started piling up. The opportunity was wide open for foreign pharmaceutical companies, such as the German dye-makers Bayer, to use the US population as a huge, unwitting collection of test subjects while at the same time stacking up the profits. US doctors were only too willing to cash in themselves, pocketing hefty inducements to produce wildly overblown encomia as to the drugs' near-miraculous medicinal properties.
(I've written about this era of US medicine in books like Corrupted Science and Denying Science , but there are other, fuller accounts in books focusing specifically on the topic. When I feel a bit better I'll try to remember to dig out a few relevant titles.)
One of the drugs involved was aspirin, where there was obviously nothing much wrong with the drug itself, though the claims made for it were extravagant. Another was heroin, widely used in children's cough medicines. It worked, too, for a while . . . until the children developed unaccountable cravings for more cough medicine, and then developed dreadful, sometimes lethal symptoms if those cravings were denied.
Goldstone isn't the most fluent of fiction writers -- I really must tackle some of his nonfiction at some stage -- but, for me at least, the fascination of the science history more than compensates for moments of creakiness in the narration, certainly enough that, as will be clear, I've become something of a fan.
New York, 1899, and young Dr. Noah Whitestone is called to attend upon the dying child of a society household, the boy's regular physician, the prestigious Dr. Arnold Frias, being otherwise engaged. Just when Noah believes he's saved his patient, the boy dies. Clearly Frias is eager to blame Whitestone for the death rather than the treatment Frias himself had earlier prescribed, and the older man persuades the family -- and society as a whole -- to go along with his view. Noah becomes a social leper, abandoned by all but a few friends, as he takes on the medical establishment in his efforts to demonstrate his innocence of the accusation. In the process of this decalumniation he reveals corruption within the pharmaceutical industry . . .
Well, that seems an extremely modern-type theme, doesn't it! The corruption was very much a real thing, though, and Goldstone's account of it makes for good reading. For various "freedom" reasons, the regulations concerning medicine in the US were laughably lax during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th (they still are in connection with vitamins and "supplements"): essentially, you could put on the market any quack nostrum you chose, make the wildest promises as to its efficacy, and watch as the authorities sputtered in their powerlessness to do anything to stop you, even as the bodies started piling up. The opportunity was wide open for foreign pharmaceutical companies, such as the German dye-makers Bayer, to use the US population as a huge, unwitting collection of test subjects while at the same time stacking up the profits. US doctors were only too willing to cash in themselves, pocketing hefty inducements to produce wildly overblown encomia as to the drugs' near-miraculous medicinal properties.
(I've written about this era of US medicine in books like Corrupted Science and Denying Science , but there are other, fuller accounts in books focusing specifically on the topic. When I feel a bit better I'll try to remember to dig out a few relevant titles.)
One of the drugs involved was aspirin, where there was obviously nothing much wrong with the drug itself, though the claims made for it were extravagant. Another was heroin, widely used in children's cough medicines. It worked, too, for a while . . . until the children developed unaccountable cravings for more cough medicine, and then developed dreadful, sometimes lethal symptoms if those cravings were denied.
Goldstone isn't the most fluent of fiction writers -- I really must tackle some of his nonfiction at some stage -- but, for me at least, the fascination of the science history more than compensates for moments of creakiness in the narration, certainly enough that, as will be clear, I've become something of a fan.
January 5, 2023
The inexplicable death of a child he is called to care for sets Dr. Noah Whitestone on a strange path where he will encounter anarchists, politicians, drug companies, corrupt police, and a woman he finds irresistible. The story takes place in New York in the time of Theodore Roosevelt, but the implications go far beyond that time, as corruption and greed in the drug industry continue to this day.Many of the characters are drawn from actual history.
December 8, 2017
Can’t say I enjoyed this book. I would have far preferred to read about the topic of the abuses of the early pharmaceutical industry as a nonfiction book, rather than this really forced fictionalized account. The author tried to pull too many historical elements together in a way that just didn’t make any sense for the plot. There were often conversations or descriptive paragraphs awkwardly shoe-horned into the story in order to give the historical context—it just detracted from the plot rather than reading at all like good fiction. With apologies to any men reading this review: it was also clearly written by a man in terms of the relationship between the main male character and the two main female characters—they were remarkably forgiving of very bad behavior on his part, isn’t that just nice for him? His whole torrid relationship with one of the women is completely unnecessary for the plot—he could’ve found a whole lot of other more interesting and believable ways to achieve the same plot goals rather than using the very predictable method he did. In any case, the only reason I gave this book two stars was because I didn’t hate it, and I did finish the book, but I can’t say a whole lot more positive about it.
May 2, 2023
3.5 stars- pretty good!
I enjoyed all the medical talk and how this was based on the truthful introduction of heroin. Though it was sometimes hard to keep track of the large cast and the plot on audio, the writing, plot twists and main ideas were really good. The end scene was also an exciting and satisfying one. I didn't feel much for the characters, but most of them are likeable. Would recommend if you enjoy historical fiction, and especially so if you also love medicine.
Longer, more specific review below. All main points are in bold if you'd rather skim :)
Please mind my spelling of characters' names; I read this on audio so the spelling will be questionable😅
what I liked:
-the writing had some really well-written lines, and overall I enjoyed it a lot as a whole. The dialogue and descriptions suit my vibe of the time period, which I really liked too.
-a good, interesting conflict! It begins with a boy's death but spirals into much more.
-the medical aspect was interesting, and the progress of historical medicine was engaging.
-plot twists were surprising, and probably my fave part of the book!
-there were moments of good humor!
-the climax scene was really exciting, and I thought the ending was satisfying. There were also some surprising parts to it too—
what I didn't like:
-there was one completely unnecessary sex scene,
-there was a large cast of characters, and on audio, it was a little hard to keep track of. Doctors' names were difficult to retain, which made it difficult to recall exactly who was who.
-expanding on the characters, I didn't connect with them. I enjoyed following them, but I didn't feel much for anyone.
-the plot had moments where it was a little hard to follow on audio too, but that's probably a me problem and my short attention span😭
I enjoyed all the medical talk and how this was based on the truthful introduction of heroin. Though it was sometimes hard to keep track of the large cast and the plot on audio, the writing, plot twists and main ideas were really good. The end scene was also an exciting and satisfying one. I didn't feel much for the characters, but most of them are likeable. Would recommend if you enjoy historical fiction, and especially so if you also love medicine.
Longer, more specific review below. All main points are in bold if you'd rather skim :)
Please mind my spelling of characters' names; I read this on audio so the spelling will be questionable😅
what I liked:
-the writing had some really well-written lines, and overall I enjoyed it a lot as a whole. The dialogue and descriptions suit my vibe of the time period, which I really liked too.
-a good, interesting conflict! It begins with a boy's death but spirals into much more.
-the medical aspect was interesting, and the progress of historical medicine was engaging.
-plot twists were surprising, and probably my fave part of the book!
-there were moments of good humor!
-the climax scene was really exciting, and I thought the ending was satisfying. There were also some surprising parts to it too—
what I didn't like:
-there was one completely unnecessary sex scene,
-there was a large cast of characters, and on audio, it was a little hard to keep track of. Doctors' names were difficult to retain, which made it difficult to recall exactly who was who.
-expanding on the characters, I didn't connect with them. I enjoyed following them, but I didn't feel much for anyone.
-the plot had moments where it was a little hard to follow on audio too, but that's probably a me problem and my short attention span😭
October 29, 2017
*** I received an advanced e-copy from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review
This book takes place in Brooklyn in 1899.... at a time when the Bayer Company had developed aspirin and it was considered the newest miracle drug. Heroin was also being prescribed by doctors, and manufactured by Bayer and one other prominent drug company. Dr Noah Whitestone is accused of killing a patient, and in the wake of trying to clear his name, he uncovers doctors being paid to test drugs on humans and drugs that are meant to be safe are anything but.
This book was really interesting. I did not know much about the early medical practices in the U.S. and found that fascinating. I would definitely recommend this book for not only lovers of historical fiction, but fans of mystery & suspense as well.
This book takes place in Brooklyn in 1899.... at a time when the Bayer Company had developed aspirin and it was considered the newest miracle drug. Heroin was also being prescribed by doctors, and manufactured by Bayer and one other prominent drug company. Dr Noah Whitestone is accused of killing a patient, and in the wake of trying to clear his name, he uncovers doctors being paid to test drugs on humans and drugs that are meant to be safe are anything but.
This book was really interesting. I did not know much about the early medical practices in the U.S. and found that fascinating. I would definitely recommend this book for not only lovers of historical fiction, but fans of mystery & suspense as well.
December 23, 2022
This book sucked. The women were written SO BADLY— just so unreasonably perfect and beautiful. I thought I was reading quotes from r/menwritingwomen. Also he CHEATED ON HIS FIANCÉE who KNEW ABOUT IT and somehow that’s totally ok??
Also the plot was “wrapped up” in 5 pages, which was stupid and unsatisfying. There were no good antagonists, only very two dimensional ones.
Meh. I finished this to finish it, nothing more.
Also the plot was “wrapped up” in 5 pages, which was stupid and unsatisfying. There were no good antagonists, only very two dimensional ones.
Meh. I finished this to finish it, nothing more.
September 18, 2017
Thanks Pegasus Books and netgalley for this ARC.
The Red queen, deal=dly cough syrup, and unscrupulous doctors and laws just skim the surface of this thrilling historical mystery. Lawrence Goldstone knows how to keep his audience begging for more.
The Red queen, deal=dly cough syrup, and unscrupulous doctors and laws just skim the surface of this thrilling historical mystery. Lawrence Goldstone knows how to keep his audience begging for more.
March 29, 2019
THIS REVIEW WAS PUBLISHED IN THE EAST HAMPTON STAR IN 2017
Deadly Cure, is a new novel by Lawrence Goldstone, author of two previous novels as well as a number of non-fiction historical works. The book takes place in New York City at the dawning of the new 20th century. It is September of 1900, and the brand new age of electricity. “Reading was so much more pleasant by incandescent light. These rooms were his first that did not use gas or oil.”
The novel commences with Dr. Noah Whitestone, a young physician in private practice in Brooklyn, summoned to the wealthy home of Mildred and Aldridge Anschutz. Aldridge is a Colonel in the US Army, serving in the Philippines, and Mildred is “neighborhood nobility, niece to Brooklyn’s last mayor, Frederick Wurster.” Noah has been called to treat Willard, “her youngest, a rambunctious, perpetually cheerful five-year-old.”
“Mrs. Anschutz had made little secret that she considered Noah too young, too inexperienced, too…unacceptable…to treat her or her five children. She, like most of the wealthy and the prominent, preferred Arnold Frias, he of the white mane and booming baritone, on the board of directors of four hospitals…” Frias is rich and powerful and drives a brand new International Benz automobile, “the first of its kind in Brooklyn.”
When Noah examines the boy, he sees gooseflesh and a runny nose. The child is perspiring heavily, yet he complains of feeling cold, and is in agony from stomach discomfort. His eyes are watery and his pupils are dilated. “Noah was stunned. The symptoms seemed classic. But in this house? With a boy of five?” When the boy runs to the ‘water closet’ Noah tries to follow, but Mrs. Anschutz will not permit it. Noah tells her that he must examine the “product” (to check for blood or mucus) but she says, “You may not! How dare you? Dr. Frias would never think to violate a patient’s privacy so heinously.”
Noah gently inquires if there might be any ‘morphia’ in the house. “Certainly not! We are not Chinamen or dope fiends in my home.” Eventually the young physician gives the boy two drops of laudanum (a tincture of opium) in order to help him sleep, and then has to rush off to another house call on a dying man, with the promise to return shortly.
When he returns a couple of hours later, the boy is barely breathing and subsequently dies in Noah’s arms. Noah is distraught and full of self-doubt about whether he might have somehow missed something regarding the boy’s condition. Should he not have given the boy the (tiny) dose of laudanum? He takes one of the blue pills that Dr. Frias has prescribed in order to experimentally determine exactly what the boy has been taking. It is clear he suspects morphine. At the time, “each drug company fabricated its own wares…” and it would be impossible to know without testing what this drug contained.
Noah eventually finds out that there is a new (and perfectly legal) drug being tested on children. It is being marketed by the German company Bayer, and is being test-prescribed for children’s coughs. The drug is called Heroin, and “is to be marketed throughout the nation in elixirs, tablets, pastilles, and powders. It will be prescribed for asthma, dysentery, nervous disorders, respiratory disease, and, most ironically, as a treatment for morphine addiction. Its most widespread application, however, will be as a cough suppressant, particularly for children.”
Let me repeat this so we are clear: Bayer, the company we all know for its brand of aspirin, brought heroin to the United States in pill form, and marketed it, just as it did its other drugs. This is true!
“This year Bayer will produce a ton of Heroin. They will send the product around the world, but fully half of the production will come to the United States. America has restrictive patents, but almost no safety standards for pharmaceuticals. That combination means that nowhere in the world will Heroin be more profitable.”
The discovery of this fact, and the unearthing of a conspiracy which involves Dr. Frias (paid by Bayer to perform tests on the heroin), crooked cops, and a cast of other nefarious characters who will not hesitate to use violence, kidnapping, and worse to prevent knowledge of the perilous nature of this new drug, heroin, and the fact that it has already apparently killed several children of the poor (Bayer’s U.S. experimental subjects), takes up the remainder of Deadly Cure. It is part historical novel, part medical detective story, part thriller, and part political page-turner and polemic on the lack of oversight for patent medicines.
“There was rarely a newspaper page lacking an advertisement, often with testimonials, extolling some supposed miracle cure. Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral, Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, Darby’s Carminative, Godfrey’s Cordial, Dover’s Powder—the list was endless. The hundreds who died each year and thousands more who developed addictions were never mentioned.”
For all of its historical accuracy and interest (and the historic material is wonderful and captivating), this novel might just as well have been written about the current opioid crisis. With the current political administration rushing to defang nearly every federal agency including the Food and Drug Administration, and to deregulate business in general, most of what takes place in the novel in 1900 is also occurring today. Except that instead of heroin, we are in the midst of a raging opioid addiction epidemic.
Opioids legally sold by pharmaceutical companies in the form of hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl, are being marketed for outrageous profits, and are not being properly regulated. According to a recent study by the National Center for Health Statistics, an arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2016, there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in the United States as a direct result of opioid use.
Scott Gottlieb, current head of the FDA, spent much of his career working for giant pharmaceutical companies like Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, New Enterprise, GSK, MedAvante and Glytec (source Wikipedia). These are the very companies he is supposed to be regulating. Fox, meet henhouse. The parallels with the fictional Dr. Frias and good old fashioned Heroin are unmistakable. The Sacklers, the family which owns Purdue Pharma, have become one of the wealthiest families in the country. Their net worth is around $14 billion, largely based on profits from the sales of OxyContin.
I am giving short shrift to the plot of Deadly Cure, because I think Mr. Goldstone is making a very direct reference to the issues of today. If this were July, I would say that this novel is a terrific beach read, but since it is winter, let’s just say that if you are looking to curl up by the fire with a fast-paced, interesting historical novel, with lots of plots twists, and some relevance to today, this one is a good bet.
Deadly Cure, is a new novel by Lawrence Goldstone, author of two previous novels as well as a number of non-fiction historical works. The book takes place in New York City at the dawning of the new 20th century. It is September of 1900, and the brand new age of electricity. “Reading was so much more pleasant by incandescent light. These rooms were his first that did not use gas or oil.”
The novel commences with Dr. Noah Whitestone, a young physician in private practice in Brooklyn, summoned to the wealthy home of Mildred and Aldridge Anschutz. Aldridge is a Colonel in the US Army, serving in the Philippines, and Mildred is “neighborhood nobility, niece to Brooklyn’s last mayor, Frederick Wurster.” Noah has been called to treat Willard, “her youngest, a rambunctious, perpetually cheerful five-year-old.”
“Mrs. Anschutz had made little secret that she considered Noah too young, too inexperienced, too…unacceptable…to treat her or her five children. She, like most of the wealthy and the prominent, preferred Arnold Frias, he of the white mane and booming baritone, on the board of directors of four hospitals…” Frias is rich and powerful and drives a brand new International Benz automobile, “the first of its kind in Brooklyn.”
When Noah examines the boy, he sees gooseflesh and a runny nose. The child is perspiring heavily, yet he complains of feeling cold, and is in agony from stomach discomfort. His eyes are watery and his pupils are dilated. “Noah was stunned. The symptoms seemed classic. But in this house? With a boy of five?” When the boy runs to the ‘water closet’ Noah tries to follow, but Mrs. Anschutz will not permit it. Noah tells her that he must examine the “product” (to check for blood or mucus) but she says, “You may not! How dare you? Dr. Frias would never think to violate a patient’s privacy so heinously.”
Noah gently inquires if there might be any ‘morphia’ in the house. “Certainly not! We are not Chinamen or dope fiends in my home.” Eventually the young physician gives the boy two drops of laudanum (a tincture of opium) in order to help him sleep, and then has to rush off to another house call on a dying man, with the promise to return shortly.
When he returns a couple of hours later, the boy is barely breathing and subsequently dies in Noah’s arms. Noah is distraught and full of self-doubt about whether he might have somehow missed something regarding the boy’s condition. Should he not have given the boy the (tiny) dose of laudanum? He takes one of the blue pills that Dr. Frias has prescribed in order to experimentally determine exactly what the boy has been taking. It is clear he suspects morphine. At the time, “each drug company fabricated its own wares…” and it would be impossible to know without testing what this drug contained.
Noah eventually finds out that there is a new (and perfectly legal) drug being tested on children. It is being marketed by the German company Bayer, and is being test-prescribed for children’s coughs. The drug is called Heroin, and “is to be marketed throughout the nation in elixirs, tablets, pastilles, and powders. It will be prescribed for asthma, dysentery, nervous disorders, respiratory disease, and, most ironically, as a treatment for morphine addiction. Its most widespread application, however, will be as a cough suppressant, particularly for children.”
Let me repeat this so we are clear: Bayer, the company we all know for its brand of aspirin, brought heroin to the United States in pill form, and marketed it, just as it did its other drugs. This is true!
“This year Bayer will produce a ton of Heroin. They will send the product around the world, but fully half of the production will come to the United States. America has restrictive patents, but almost no safety standards for pharmaceuticals. That combination means that nowhere in the world will Heroin be more profitable.”
The discovery of this fact, and the unearthing of a conspiracy which involves Dr. Frias (paid by Bayer to perform tests on the heroin), crooked cops, and a cast of other nefarious characters who will not hesitate to use violence, kidnapping, and worse to prevent knowledge of the perilous nature of this new drug, heroin, and the fact that it has already apparently killed several children of the poor (Bayer’s U.S. experimental subjects), takes up the remainder of Deadly Cure. It is part historical novel, part medical detective story, part thriller, and part political page-turner and polemic on the lack of oversight for patent medicines.
“There was rarely a newspaper page lacking an advertisement, often with testimonials, extolling some supposed miracle cure. Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral, Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, Darby’s Carminative, Godfrey’s Cordial, Dover’s Powder—the list was endless. The hundreds who died each year and thousands more who developed addictions were never mentioned.”
For all of its historical accuracy and interest (and the historic material is wonderful and captivating), this novel might just as well have been written about the current opioid crisis. With the current political administration rushing to defang nearly every federal agency including the Food and Drug Administration, and to deregulate business in general, most of what takes place in the novel in 1900 is also occurring today. Except that instead of heroin, we are in the midst of a raging opioid addiction epidemic.
Opioids legally sold by pharmaceutical companies in the form of hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl, are being marketed for outrageous profits, and are not being properly regulated. According to a recent study by the National Center for Health Statistics, an arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2016, there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in the United States as a direct result of opioid use.
Scott Gottlieb, current head of the FDA, spent much of his career working for giant pharmaceutical companies like Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, New Enterprise, GSK, MedAvante and Glytec (source Wikipedia). These are the very companies he is supposed to be regulating. Fox, meet henhouse. The parallels with the fictional Dr. Frias and good old fashioned Heroin are unmistakable. The Sacklers, the family which owns Purdue Pharma, have become one of the wealthiest families in the country. Their net worth is around $14 billion, largely based on profits from the sales of OxyContin.
I am giving short shrift to the plot of Deadly Cure, because I think Mr. Goldstone is making a very direct reference to the issues of today. If this were July, I would say that this novel is a terrific beach read, but since it is winter, let’s just say that if you are looking to curl up by the fire with a fast-paced, interesting historical novel, with lots of plots twists, and some relevance to today, this one is a good bet.
July 12, 2018
This went from a 3 star book to a 1 star book in the span of 50 ish pages. I don't care that McCloskey had some power. Miriam was far too smart to end up in that situation and she had far too many allies from her father for her to be snatched. Despite that this did follow relatively true events, it ended up hurting this novel because it didn't feel like the main plot had really been solved. Some might argue that the main plot was solving the death of the boy, but there was a much bigger picture here and I was disappointed with the ending.
The ending to this novel just started jumping around without follow through from plot point to plot point and then just rushed at the end. I'm sorry, but this one just was not well-thought out.
(Also, the sudden sex scene and the fiancée jealousy was just...weird...it was one of those where I immediately checked the author's name one more time to confirm what I already knew: This person does not know how to write women.)
The ending to this novel just started jumping around without follow through from plot point to plot point and then just rushed at the end. I'm sorry, but this one just was not well-thought out.
(Also, the sudden sex scene and the fiancée jealousy was just...weird...it was one of those where I immediately checked the author's name one more time to confirm what I already knew: This person does not know how to write women.)
August 31, 2024
Lawrence Goldstone’s Deadly Cure begins with one of the worst things that can happen to a doctor. Up-and-coming doctor Noah Whitestone is summoned to the home of a wealthy New York couple because the family’s youngest son is very ill. Whitestone thinks this is his chance to become the doctor to the city’s upper crust until the boy dies that night. As far as Whitestone (and the experts he consults) knows, the boy should have been alright. His guilt spurs him to investigate the boy’s death, an investigation that almost immediately turns into a crusade against unethical medical experimentation...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration.
January 31, 2018
AUDIO. Maybe a 2.5 star rating. I'm feeling generous.
The problem with this book is that the author seemed to want it to be too many things ... a thriller, a murder mystery, a forensic novel, a romance novel, a medical novel...all intertwined with some historical fiction. Oh wait! I forgot to include a Sherlockian superhero.
Ummmm...pick ONE.
The writing was very disjointed as he was trying to marry too many genres into one novel. It came off as extremely dull and downright laughable in some parts. (Not in a good way.) Woud not recommend.
The problem with this book is that the author seemed to want it to be too many things ... a thriller, a murder mystery, a forensic novel, a romance novel, a medical novel...all intertwined with some historical fiction. Oh wait! I forgot to include a Sherlockian superhero.
Ummmm...pick ONE.
The writing was very disjointed as he was trying to marry too many genres into one novel. It came off as extremely dull and downright laughable in some parts. (Not in a good way.) Woud not recommend.
October 25, 2018
Warning for sensitive readers--- graphic sex scene - which did not fit into story line, in my opinion. And a few curse words. Violence. Allusions to gang rape.
Interesting to read about doctors becoming concerned abt the ingredients of medications, both prescription and over-the-counter.
Interesting to read about doctors becoming concerned abt the ingredients of medications, both prescription and over-the-counter.
August 29, 2018
Good read. Nicely placed in history and well researched.
November 17, 2017
"Deadly Cure" by Lawrence Goldstone is a medical mystery in which the protagonist, Dr. Noah Whitestone must take on the role of investigator to prove his own innocence.
Dr. Whitestone is called out one day to treat a neighbor's young son who is suffering greatly with a serious cough. The Doctor , alarmed and suspicious about the child's symptoms, prescribes two crops of laudanum to calm him. The boy falls into a quiet sleep. That evening , Dr. Whitestone is called to the house. The child is dead. The boy's distraught mother accuses him of a medical mistake exacerbated by his incompetence.
The doctor suspected on his first call to the sick child's bedside that the mother had been medicating him with a patent medicine,which in those days of 1900 were totally unregulated. The manufacturers could, and did, put anything they chose in their concoctions including opium, things like Mercury
and heavy doses of alcohol. This leads him to delve into the "Patent Medicine Trust" , a multimillion dollar business, and a group businessmen who do not take his interference calmly.
I found " Deadly Cure" an interesting and entertaining historical fiction. Mr. Goldstone does a good job in providing the reader with a backdrop of NewYork City at the beginning of the 20th. Century. Cable cars and Hansom cabs; tenements and plush brownstones; conspicuously consuming nouveau riche and ragged factory workers barely able to provide for their families. The doctor crosses paths with corrupt cops, anarchists, muck-rakers , and bomb-making socialist crusaders. All theses he works into his story, capturing the reader immediately all the way to the ending, which is unexpected, but not, when explained , wholling unfounded.
The book had only one misstep, in my opinion: a somewhat overly heated sex scene. It did not really fit in with the tone of the book or the period in which the author had immersed his characters, or his reader. Yes, the woman was a FreeLove, Socialist feminist; the doctor was smitten, to use a quaint phrase. Nevertheless, the scene was, to me, a contrivance, almost as if I was added in to make the novel more marketable for film or tv adaption. The scene could and should have been less explicit.
That cost it a star in my rating.
One of the best things about the book ,IMO, was that the author detailed how and what the motives were behind the medication which had unforeseen consequences. Fascinating. He even includes some period ads lauding the healing properties of the medications. Both are widely used even today. Please, for your own enjoyment, do not peek into the endpapers.
With that note in mind, I recommend the book as one that is worth your time.
Dr. Whitestone is called out one day to treat a neighbor's young son who is suffering greatly with a serious cough. The Doctor , alarmed and suspicious about the child's symptoms, prescribes two crops of laudanum to calm him. The boy falls into a quiet sleep. That evening , Dr. Whitestone is called to the house. The child is dead. The boy's distraught mother accuses him of a medical mistake exacerbated by his incompetence.
The doctor suspected on his first call to the sick child's bedside that the mother had been medicating him with a patent medicine,which in those days of 1900 were totally unregulated. The manufacturers could, and did, put anything they chose in their concoctions including opium, things like Mercury
and heavy doses of alcohol. This leads him to delve into the "Patent Medicine Trust" , a multimillion dollar business, and a group businessmen who do not take his interference calmly.
I found " Deadly Cure" an interesting and entertaining historical fiction. Mr. Goldstone does a good job in providing the reader with a backdrop of NewYork City at the beginning of the 20th. Century. Cable cars and Hansom cabs; tenements and plush brownstones; conspicuously consuming nouveau riche and ragged factory workers barely able to provide for their families. The doctor crosses paths with corrupt cops, anarchists, muck-rakers , and bomb-making socialist crusaders. All theses he works into his story, capturing the reader immediately all the way to the ending, which is unexpected, but not, when explained , wholling unfounded.
The book had only one misstep, in my opinion: a somewhat overly heated sex scene. It did not really fit in with the tone of the book or the period in which the author had immersed his characters, or his reader. Yes, the woman was a FreeLove, Socialist feminist; the doctor was smitten, to use a quaint phrase. Nevertheless, the scene was, to me, a contrivance, almost as if I was added in to make the novel more marketable for film or tv adaption. The scene could and should have been less explicit.
That cost it a star in my rating.
One of the best things about the book ,IMO, was that the author detailed how and what the motives were behind the medication which had unforeseen consequences. Fascinating. He even includes some period ads lauding the healing properties of the medications. Both are widely used even today. Please, for your own enjoyment, do not peek into the endpapers.
With that note in mind, I recommend the book as one that is worth your time.
November 14, 2017
This book was received from Netgalley for review.
This book was very reminiscent of A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier, despite the fact they don't take place during the same time period and they don't surround the same issue. They do, however, both relate to medicine at the time periods they take place in, and I'm slowly finding out that this particular subject is something I'm super interested in. Historical Fiction centered around the medicine or illnesses of the time? So interesting to read about!
Like the synopsis above states, the book starts off in 1899 with a young doctor named Noah Whitestone who is called into the home of a child normally seen by another, older and more experienced, doctor. The child dies, and you're left with Noah for the rest of the novel to find out who, what, and why, and it really is one hell of a journey you go on to get to the ends of things. Right up to the very last pages you're left with at least one question to the murder, and it's not until it all wraps up that you do finally find out everything you might have been wondering surrounding the child's death when he first died at the start.
If you're interested in medicine, especially medicine in Historical Fiction, or the era that the story takes place in, then I have to very highly recommend this book to you, because it really is a fascinating story. I have no medical background myself, so I had some trouble following a few of the terms as I went along, but it really wasn't that much of a deal to understand everything else going on. It was extremely interesting reading about some parts where medicine as we know it today wasn't discovered yet, such as when Noah mentions that blood types haven't been discovered yet, but they're starting to wonder if they might exist, and don't know why the body rejects blood sometimes.
The only thing I really did not like about this book was a very unnecessary and brief romance Noah had with one of the ladies in the story. Not only was he already engaged when he met her, he was widowed previously and still risked his relationship with his fiancee for another woman that was just too gorgeous to pass up.
Really? Knocked it down a half-star for me. I felt it entirely unwarranted.
The rest of the book, though? So interesting and a lot of fun to sleuth through (even though I hadn't figured hardly anything out myself--it was just fun to go along and watch Noah), and definitely a book I would love to add to my physical Historical Fiction collection.
This book was very reminiscent of A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier, despite the fact they don't take place during the same time period and they don't surround the same issue. They do, however, both relate to medicine at the time periods they take place in, and I'm slowly finding out that this particular subject is something I'm super interested in. Historical Fiction centered around the medicine or illnesses of the time? So interesting to read about!
Like the synopsis above states, the book starts off in 1899 with a young doctor named Noah Whitestone who is called into the home of a child normally seen by another, older and more experienced, doctor. The child dies, and you're left with Noah for the rest of the novel to find out who, what, and why, and it really is one hell of a journey you go on to get to the ends of things. Right up to the very last pages you're left with at least one question to the murder, and it's not until it all wraps up that you do finally find out everything you might have been wondering surrounding the child's death when he first died at the start.
If you're interested in medicine, especially medicine in Historical Fiction, or the era that the story takes place in, then I have to very highly recommend this book to you, because it really is a fascinating story. I have no medical background myself, so I had some trouble following a few of the terms as I went along, but it really wasn't that much of a deal to understand everything else going on. It was extremely interesting reading about some parts where medicine as we know it today wasn't discovered yet, such as when Noah mentions that blood types haven't been discovered yet, but they're starting to wonder if they might exist, and don't know why the body rejects blood sometimes.
The only thing I really did not like about this book was a very unnecessary and brief romance Noah had with one of the ladies in the story. Not only was he already engaged when he met her, he was widowed previously and still risked his relationship with his fiancee for another woman that was just too gorgeous to pass up.
Really? Knocked it down a half-star for me. I felt it entirely unwarranted.
The rest of the book, though? So interesting and a lot of fun to sleuth through (even though I hadn't figured hardly anything out myself--it was just fun to go along and watch Noah), and definitely a book I would love to add to my physical Historical Fiction collection.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2018
Hailed as the latest thing in medicine—deadly as poison!
My thanks go out to my contacts at Pegasus Books, Iris Blasi, Katie McGuire, and Maia Larson, for my copy of this book! Rock on!
This is the historical account of medical malfeasance, told through the experiences of fictional characters. The fact is that during the late 1800’s, the timeline for this novel, medicine was largely unregulated. Medicines were marketed with little testing as to side effects or long-term use. If the makers claimed favorable results short term, the medicine was considered safe.
There was and still is much money to be made in pharmaceuticals. Doctors were and still are given samples of the latest alleged cure, the idea being that the Doctors will test the medicine on patients that display symptoms that the drug is made to fight. Before regulation, this meant that doctors could be paid to report favorably on medicine that had value mainly in financial profits. If patients died or had bad reactions, it was swept under the rug.
Our hero, Doctor Noah Whitestone, is called out on an emergency to see a five-year-old boy. The lad has problems with his stomach and difficulty in breathing. Doctor Whitestone discovers he has been treated with a new type of pill and obtains a sample. He gives the boy a dose of laudanum and leaves to see other patients. Returning in less than three hours, he witnesses the boy’s death and is blamed for killing him…
This is the story of the Bayer Company. When they invented aspirin, they had a marvelous drug to combat pain and fever. Aspirin became the go-to medicine for headaches, sore muscles, fever, colds, and on and on. Aspirin is still going strong today with fantastic results.
But then there was the featured drug, held to be harmless but then and now still a cause of death…
The reader will recognize some of the featured characters such as Teddy Roosevelt and Sigmund Freud. The Historical corruption in the New York Police Department and the Tammany Hall scandals were exactly as described. The rise of the Bayer Company is historically correct and I was pleased to see real medicine adverts featured in the afterword. A special blending of fact and fiction that is quite refreshing and at the same time chilling!
I give this book five stars!
Quoth the Raven…
My thanks go out to my contacts at Pegasus Books, Iris Blasi, Katie McGuire, and Maia Larson, for my copy of this book! Rock on!
This is the historical account of medical malfeasance, told through the experiences of fictional characters. The fact is that during the late 1800’s, the timeline for this novel, medicine was largely unregulated. Medicines were marketed with little testing as to side effects or long-term use. If the makers claimed favorable results short term, the medicine was considered safe.
There was and still is much money to be made in pharmaceuticals. Doctors were and still are given samples of the latest alleged cure, the idea being that the Doctors will test the medicine on patients that display symptoms that the drug is made to fight. Before regulation, this meant that doctors could be paid to report favorably on medicine that had value mainly in financial profits. If patients died or had bad reactions, it was swept under the rug.
Our hero, Doctor Noah Whitestone, is called out on an emergency to see a five-year-old boy. The lad has problems with his stomach and difficulty in breathing. Doctor Whitestone discovers he has been treated with a new type of pill and obtains a sample. He gives the boy a dose of laudanum and leaves to see other patients. Returning in less than three hours, he witnesses the boy’s death and is blamed for killing him…
This is the story of the Bayer Company. When they invented aspirin, they had a marvelous drug to combat pain and fever. Aspirin became the go-to medicine for headaches, sore muscles, fever, colds, and on and on. Aspirin is still going strong today with fantastic results.
But then there was the featured drug, held to be harmless but then and now still a cause of death…
The reader will recognize some of the featured characters such as Teddy Roosevelt and Sigmund Freud. The Historical corruption in the New York Police Department and the Tammany Hall scandals were exactly as described. The rise of the Bayer Company is historically correct and I was pleased to see real medicine adverts featured in the afterword. A special blending of fact and fiction that is quite refreshing and at the same time chilling!
I give this book five stars!
Quoth the Raven…
October 4, 2018
For about the first half of this book, I would have rated it 5 stars but it went downhill after that in my opinion. It was almost as if the author started out with one goal and one style and then decided to include sex and adventure action as well.
I did enjoy the overall theme of the novel---misuse and overuse of patent medicines and corruption connecting pharmaceutical companies, physicians, law enforcement and government officials involving the testing of new drugs.
In the beginning of the novel which takes place in the late 1890's, physician Noah Whitestone is called to the home of a prominent citizen to provide care to a 5 year old boy. That same boy dies later than night and Noah is sure it was due to a morphine drug. He is falsely accused of causing the boy's death through a laudanum dose he had prescribed. In his efforts to clear himself of these false accusations, he comes in contact with a reporter working for the publication New Visions. The reporter tries to tell Noah that there is a widespread conspiracy involving the testing of new drugs which involves pharmaceutical companies, law enforcement, politicians, and physicians. Noah's involvement leads him into dangerous situations as he becomes further involved in trying to find evidence. I really enjoyed that part of the novel.
However, the novel would have been better without the introduction of a scene in which Noah has sex with the publisher's daughter and is unfaithful to his fiance, Maribeth, who is a very admirable character.
I did not think the sections about the United States involvement in the Philippines at that time and alleged brutality of the US forces toward the natives of that country or the criticism of the harbor parade for Admiral Dewey who had just returned from the Philippines added to the novel, either. I don't disagree with the author's obvious view of our country's involvement there but it just did not add to the novel in a favorable way. I assume these parts were added for historical context but they just didn't connect with the overall theme to me.
If the author had just stuck with the drug scandal theme, I would have given it 5 stars.
I did enjoy the overall theme of the novel---misuse and overuse of patent medicines and corruption connecting pharmaceutical companies, physicians, law enforcement and government officials involving the testing of new drugs.
In the beginning of the novel which takes place in the late 1890's, physician Noah Whitestone is called to the home of a prominent citizen to provide care to a 5 year old boy. That same boy dies later than night and Noah is sure it was due to a morphine drug. He is falsely accused of causing the boy's death through a laudanum dose he had prescribed. In his efforts to clear himself of these false accusations, he comes in contact with a reporter working for the publication New Visions. The reporter tries to tell Noah that there is a widespread conspiracy involving the testing of new drugs which involves pharmaceutical companies, law enforcement, politicians, and physicians. Noah's involvement leads him into dangerous situations as he becomes further involved in trying to find evidence. I really enjoyed that part of the novel.
However, the novel would have been better without the introduction of a scene in which Noah has sex with the publisher's daughter and is unfaithful to his fiance, Maribeth, who is a very admirable character.
I did not think the sections about the United States involvement in the Philippines at that time and alleged brutality of the US forces toward the natives of that country or the criticism of the harbor parade for Admiral Dewey who had just returned from the Philippines added to the novel, either. I don't disagree with the author's obvious view of our country's involvement there but it just did not add to the novel in a favorable way. I assume these parts were added for historical context but they just didn't connect with the overall theme to me.
If the author had just stuck with the drug scandal theme, I would have given it 5 stars.
January 14, 2018
Welcome to the world of late nineteenth century New York where the high society was ruled by the families of the original Dutch settlers, and police corruption abounded. Dr. Noah Whitestone, a successful young physician, is seeking to establish himself in his profession when he is called the Anschutz home to treat young Willard whose bizarre symptoms seem to indicate a reaction to a toxic substance. After prescribing small drops of laudanum to the young boy, Noah is confident of his treatment and the faith Mrs. Anschutz showed in him to call Noah when her regular physician, Dr. Arnold Frias, was unable to make the urgent house call.
But when young Willard dies, Noah is blamed by not only Mrs. Anschutz but by Dr. Frias as well. As Noah seeks to clear his name, he gains support of fellow physicians who agree that the laudanum he prescribed couldn’t have possibly caused the boy’s death. Yet as Noah begins to investigate Dr. Frias and his connections to a company seeking to market heroin by conducting trials on unaware children, Noah’s life becomes in danger, and even local police threaten him.
Seeking help in an unlikely quarter, Noah makes the acquaintance of Miriam Herzberg who works with her father, publisher of New Visions, a newspaper perceived as radical for many of his socialist views.
As Miriam and Noah seek to expose Frias and the horrific practices that have led to the deaths of young children, Noah’s attraction to the beautiful young woman continues as he wars with his conscience over his engagement to Maribeth De Kuyper.
Brilliantly illuminating and ever suspenseful, Goldstone’s latest highlights not only the unimaginable atrocities of medicine before regulations on its testing, but it expertly incorporates true historical figures amid the turmoil and political climate of the times.
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November 22, 2019
This is a pretty well-done historical fiction set in the background of early pharmaceutical companies and early medical practice. Dr. Noah Whitestone, a young physician not long out of medical school, is called to administer to a very sick young boy, son in a wealthy and prominent family. In spite of acting according to his training and in a conservative manner, the boy dies. The wealthy and prominent physician who normally attends the family proceeds to accuse Whitestone of neglect, threatens to have his medical license suspended, and suggests even having him thrown in jail. Partly to save his reputation but also because he is tormented by finding out why the boy died, Whitestone begins his own investigation which draws him into the world of patent medicines, early companies like Bayer (based originally in Germany) pushing new drugs like Aspirin and Cocaine onto any doctor willing to take and use the medications, sometimes for monetary gain. Whitestone finds many dead patients in the wake of this new "phase" of medicine and tries to bring it to the attention of prominent officials, but is rebuffed for lack of proof. Much of the story (without the fictional characters) is true. Patent medicines were touted for treating all kinds of ills while many contained possibly lethal drugs. Other medicines released by drug companies were either poorly tested or not tested at all (although some physicians were told lies about successful drug trials). Quite interesting from a historical point of view, but not great characters, and the story can be a bit convoluted at times.
September 19, 2017
I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy from W.W. Norton in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
I loved this book. It had a very Sherlock Holmes-ish feel to it. I enjoy a good mystery and this book contained all the proper elements of a classic whodunnit. This book took place in 1899 New York which is normally neither my time period nor location of choice, but everything fit together perfectly. I found myself deeply attached to the characters (in one way or another, I did not LIKE all the characters, but had a passionate wish about their success or demise). I really enjoyed the subject matter of the corruption in the pharmaceutical companies, an ongoing problem of even greater magnitude today. After reading the book I did my own research about the creation and production of heroin and I was amazed at the historical accuracy of this novel. The Author's Note in the back of the book also did a great deal in revealing the research that went into the writing of the book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys either historical fiction or a good mystery, especially if you enjoy a good political backdrop. After enjoying this book, I plan on going back and finding the author's other work of fiction and reading it as well.
I loved this book. It had a very Sherlock Holmes-ish feel to it. I enjoy a good mystery and this book contained all the proper elements of a classic whodunnit. This book took place in 1899 New York which is normally neither my time period nor location of choice, but everything fit together perfectly. I found myself deeply attached to the characters (in one way or another, I did not LIKE all the characters, but had a passionate wish about their success or demise). I really enjoyed the subject matter of the corruption in the pharmaceutical companies, an ongoing problem of even greater magnitude today. After reading the book I did my own research about the creation and production of heroin and I was amazed at the historical accuracy of this novel. The Author's Note in the back of the book also did a great deal in revealing the research that went into the writing of the book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys either historical fiction or a good mystery, especially if you enjoy a good political backdrop. After enjoying this book, I plan on going back and finding the author's other work of fiction and reading it as well.
December 17, 2017
I did not know much about this time period, so the descriptions from the main character's perspective were enlightening. The fashion, the politics, the scenery, and the experimentation in medicine all set the stage for not only a work of historical fiction but also an engaging mystery! I found I did not need to understand the medical terminology in order to comprehend its importance in the plot.
Noah Whitestone was an interesting character, with his morality firmly in place when it comes to murdered children, at least as he was affected by it. On the other hand, he fails to mention his impending marriage to a woman he finds incredibly attractive and alluring as they set out to solve the mystery.
Although it seemed obvious who the killer was, I had a niggle of doubt throughout the book, which I think is a great feat on the author's part - to think I knew who the killer was and yet want to keep reading to figure it out for sure. I definitely would like to read more of Lawrence
Goldstone' books!
Noah Whitestone was an interesting character, with his morality firmly in place when it comes to murdered children, at least as he was affected by it. On the other hand, he fails to mention his impending marriage to a woman he finds incredibly attractive and alluring as they set out to solve the mystery.
Although it seemed obvious who the killer was, I had a niggle of doubt throughout the book, which I think is a great feat on the author's part - to think I knew who the killer was and yet want to keep reading to figure it out for sure. I definitely would like to read more of Lawrence
Goldstone' books!
March 29, 2019
While not exactly a "page turner" I found this to be an interesting and informative read and am surprised that the Goodreads rating isn't higher. I knew Bayer first presented aspirin but had no idea the company also developed and marketed heroin. Corporate greed, disregard for
the welfare of others and death via addiction have been around for a very long time. ( I should add police malfeasance). The sale and use of patented pseudo-remedies is also still a issue in today though we now have laws that offer some protection. The book highlighted how little has changed in many ways.
The inclusion of actual historical figures added authenticity as well as interest.
I found the socialists to be interesting. Some of the characters were a bit too good to be true, it seemed to me, hence a 4 rather than 5.
I listened to this as an audiobook and found the verbal presentation easy to listen to - it complemented the script well.
I'll be recommending this book to others.
the welfare of others and death via addiction have been around for a very long time. ( I should add police malfeasance). The sale and use of patented pseudo-remedies is also still a issue in today though we now have laws that offer some protection. The book highlighted how little has changed in many ways.
The inclusion of actual historical figures added authenticity as well as interest.
I found the socialists to be interesting. Some of the characters were a bit too good to be true, it seemed to me, hence a 4 rather than 5.
I listened to this as an audiobook and found the verbal presentation easy to listen to - it complemented the script well.
I'll be recommending this book to others.
April 13, 2019
In “Deadly Cure,” central protagonist, Dr. Noah Whitestone is both lecherous and duplicitous in his dealings with women. Set at the turn of the last century, it’s easy to ask oneself if this character’s view of women stems from the past. Yet Goldstone, who’s own moniker mirrors his protagonist closely enough for the reader to wonder if he envisions himself in the leading role, writes Whitestone as the hero, making almost every encounter he has with women nausea inducing. If they aren’t the object of his lust or a throw away character representing his own fears and failings, they are simply described as obese. One wonders how much of the author’s own relationships with women are represented in this novel, as he fails both at writing three dimensional female characters, and condemning Whitestone’s behavior. This boorishness unfortunately undermines what could have been an interesting novel, given Goldstone’s flare for writing a mystery for the scientific minded.
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