A murderer is working overtime at Ellis Hospital, where anything can happen, and usually does. Ward 8's Adele Monsarrat, RN, is the first to suspect that a serial killer is on the loose. But who in this high-stress workplace bears the mark of true madness? As Adele starts probing, the ritualistic murders escalate, spreading terror spreads among the hospital staff. Meanwhile, a maniac watches and waits.
Alarmed to know this woman is a nurse. As if her disparaging comments about individuals who are overweight aren’t enough, the racism really brought it home. Shameful. The writing style was poor at best.
PS spoilers- racism.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read for the 2020 Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name. This had all the makings of the kind of book I really like, a killer targeting staff members of a busy hospital, written by an author whose nonfiction works I really enjoy, with a fast-paced plot that leaves me guessing. However, I found many of the characters in the book to be unlikeable, and the ones I did like were the ones who ended up dead. The fact that a lot of the book is built on the spiritual rantings of a nurse who is convinced there are evil vibes going around and the place is cursed also contributed to my less than perfect opinion of 'Pulse'. Heron does build a good story, and by making so many of the people unlikeable, it also makes them great suspects, though I correctly guessed who the killer was long before Heron revealed the clues as to why. Given that the book is set on a busy hospital ward, I found it interesting that one particular patient ends up in a significant number of the patient-related scenes, and surely there must be a reason, although I couldn't figure out whether there was a symbolic reason for it. We get a graphic description of why the patient is there quite early in the book, which perhaps explains why he's there long enough to keep appearing in scenes, but I think there must be some other reason. Overall, a decent medical thriller, and quickly read in one afternoon, but not one of my favorites. I recognize the lead character, Adele Monserrat, from other fictional works by Heron, so this must be part of a series that I didn't realize was one until reading 'Pulse'.