What do you think?
Rate this book
Hold: A Medical Murder Mystery
Sarah Golden and Jackie Larsen promised their partners they were out of the detective business. They declared “game over” after both of them almost lost their lives trying to solve their last medical mystery, and they’re happy with that Sarah has finally allowed love and romance into her life, Jackie’s marriage is solid, and Jackie’s son, Wyatt, is still doing great with his year-old kidney transplant.
So when they go on their dream trip to Cuba, they are not looking for trouble. But all their plans go out the window when a desperate plea from a Cuban transplant surgeon puts the duo in serious danger with the Cuban government on the same day the four most prominent immunologists in the world—doctors who were on the verge of solving the huge rejection issues that have plagued the transplant community for over fifty years—are killed in a car accident in Chicago.
Soon, Sarah and Jackie find themselves dragged into the bowels of investigating venture capitalists and corporate greed—a terrain they know nothing about. As they uncover suspect clinical trials at major US transplant centers, including Sarah’s, their usual friends Biker Bob and Officer Handsome aren’t able to help them much, but they do receive assistance from an unlikely Sergio, who they helped to land in prison in Florida (and who is trying to win back his girlfriend), offers his help from the inside. Sarah and Jackie are armed with smarts, humor, and enough persistence to help them face the white-collared demons of corporate America—but with dangerous players gunning for them and death threats being made against their families, will they be able to solve this mystery before someone else gets hurt?
So when they go on their dream trip to Cuba, they are not looking for trouble. But all their plans go out the window when a desperate plea from a Cuban transplant surgeon puts the duo in serious danger with the Cuban government on the same day the four most prominent immunologists in the world—doctors who were on the verge of solving the huge rejection issues that have plagued the transplant community for over fifty years—are killed in a car accident in Chicago.
Soon, Sarah and Jackie find themselves dragged into the bowels of investigating venture capitalists and corporate greed—a terrain they know nothing about. As they uncover suspect clinical trials at major US transplant centers, including Sarah’s, their usual friends Biker Bob and Officer Handsome aren’t able to help them much, but they do receive assistance from an unlikely Sergio, who they helped to land in prison in Florida (and who is trying to win back his girlfriend), offers his help from the inside. Sarah and Jackie are armed with smarts, humor, and enough persistence to help them face the white-collared demons of corporate America—but with dangerous players gunning for them and death threats being made against their families, will they be able to solve this mystery before someone else gets hurt?
331 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 4, 2022
9 people are currently reading
2074 people want to read
About the author
Amy S. Peele
5 books100 followersAmy S. Peele has been an RN since 1974 and enjoyed a 35-year career in organ transplantation, retiring from the University of California San Francisco, one of the largest and most successful transplant programs in the U.S. In addition to killing people and using their organs in her murder mysteries, Amy enjoys meditating, teaching yoga,swimming and pursuing her spirituality by studying the teachings of Deepak Chopra. She also enjoys comedy and studied at Second City in Chicago for a year.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 30, 2022
Amy S. Peele’s recent novel, Hold: A Medical Murder Mystery, highlights how pivotal clinical trials are in assessing the safety and efficacy of new drugs and medical procedures.
Undeniably, it becomes an issue when these firms are linked to venture bankers, where business needs can override scientific intent.
The kickoff chapter of the narrative introduces us to Sarah Golden and her best friend, Jackie Larsen, both residing in San Francisco.
Sarah is employed at the San Francisco Global Transplant Institute and manages the coordinators who work for the researchers. Her boss is Dr. Bower, whom she feels considerable respect and reverence until she learns some distressing news about him.
We further hear that she is in a romantic long-distance relationship with Rodney, who has been given the nickname Handsome. He is a cop working in Miami and will play a crucial role in figuring out a crime.
Sarah's dear buddy Jackie had just obtained her P.I. License and could barely wait to start her new career. Previously, she had been involved in some amateur sleuthing that nearly cost her and Sarah their lives in trying to figure out a medical mystery.
The women are now holidaying in Cuba, thanks to a gift given to them by Handsome and Jackie’s partner, Laura. Sarah and Jackie both assured their partners that they had given up the detective business.
While in Cuba, they meet with a Dr. Lopez, Chief of Transplant at the Havana medical center. Sarah reached out to him before taking off for Cuba, inquiring if he could suggest a guide and permission to tour his transplant center. Little did Sarah and Jackie realize the perilous road they would be led down when they met Dr. Lopez at the medical center and their subsequent lunch date with him.
In their introductory encounter with Dr. Lopez, they are briefed that the transplant community had lost four of its distinguished immunologists in a fatal car crash. Sadly, the catastrophic disaster occurred before the upcoming immunology conference in Chicago to examine their findings surrounding inducing tolerance for kidney transplant patients. These conclusions concentrated on the prospect of the body not rejecting a kidney or any other organ without the use of drugs long term. In that case, patients will be free of these drugs’ troublesome side effects.
Sarah is moved by this tragic news, mainly because she recognized all these immunologists, and one of them, Dr. McKee, even worked in her institute’s programs.
Dr. Lopez informs Sarah that he requires her assistance concerning the research conducted by the four deceased doctors. Evidently, they had shared with him, and off the record, the protocol they were using for the tolerance study. Sadly, when Dr. Lopez applied it with one hundred patients, none did well. A number even died. He was about to send the data summary to Dr. McKee when he heard about his fatal accident.
Sarah pointed out to Dr. Lopez that she knew very little about the study and it would be prudent to approach Dr. Bower. Dr. Lopez responds that Dr. Bower was uninformed of his participation with the four deceased doctors. He further appeals to Sarah if she could help him and his family escape Cuba. As Dr. Lopez mentions to Sarah, his life is in jeopardy because of his participation in the trial in the tolerance study. He further hoped his research would open doors to academic appointments in the states. Dr. Lopez schedules to meet Sarah and Jackie the next day for lunch.
The narrative veers when we meet Victor Bosworth, CEO of the pharmaceutical company Lago. He and his company colleagues are troubled that the disastrous misfortune of the four immunologists may put the spotlight on their company as potential culprits. Their company would have the most to lose if inducing tolerance is successful. The entire industry is valued at roughly five billion dollars.
When Sarah and Jackie encounter Dr. Lopez for lunch, little do they realize that all misery is about to break loose. The two discover an envelope left by Dr. Lopez when he leaves the restaurant. They likewise notice that they are being watched.
As the tale unfolds, we will learn the seriousness of the envelope’s contents, which is critical data from Dr. Lopez’s research study. As we read more of the story, we discover that Lago pharmaceutical company receives substantial financing from a venture capitalist, Leland Ackerley, who represents several investors.
Ackerley and Bosworth were college buddies and have remained close friends. Ackerley is not thrilled to hear about Dr. Lopez’s study. He and his investors would lose a bundle if their venture to invest in Lago did not materialize.
Both Ackerley and Bosworth are devious characters, and nothing will stop them from ensuring that Lago’s profits are not harmed. This will include drugging Sarah and attacking Jackie’s grandmother to send a message that whatever Sarah knows about Dr. Lopez’s study must not see the light of day.
As a former nurse employed as Director of Clinical Operations at the University of California, San Francisco, Peele has masterfully integrated her expertise and training in crafting this mesmerizing thriller.
The narrative triumphs as both a mystery and a reminder that the pharmaceutical industry, one of the largest and wealthiest industries, can be culpable of unethical clinical trials. Sometimes, data is falsified. Protocol is thrown out the window, and researchers manipulate their findings. As a result, the results are distorted. When identified, it may be too late to remedy the damage caused to patients who have been harmed and robbed of quality healthcare.
Follow Here https://waa.ai/f734 To Read Norm's Interview With Amy S. Peele
Undeniably, it becomes an issue when these firms are linked to venture bankers, where business needs can override scientific intent.
The kickoff chapter of the narrative introduces us to Sarah Golden and her best friend, Jackie Larsen, both residing in San Francisco.
Sarah is employed at the San Francisco Global Transplant Institute and manages the coordinators who work for the researchers. Her boss is Dr. Bower, whom she feels considerable respect and reverence until she learns some distressing news about him.
We further hear that she is in a romantic long-distance relationship with Rodney, who has been given the nickname Handsome. He is a cop working in Miami and will play a crucial role in figuring out a crime.
Sarah's dear buddy Jackie had just obtained her P.I. License and could barely wait to start her new career. Previously, she had been involved in some amateur sleuthing that nearly cost her and Sarah their lives in trying to figure out a medical mystery.
The women are now holidaying in Cuba, thanks to a gift given to them by Handsome and Jackie’s partner, Laura. Sarah and Jackie both assured their partners that they had given up the detective business.
While in Cuba, they meet with a Dr. Lopez, Chief of Transplant at the Havana medical center. Sarah reached out to him before taking off for Cuba, inquiring if he could suggest a guide and permission to tour his transplant center. Little did Sarah and Jackie realize the perilous road they would be led down when they met Dr. Lopez at the medical center and their subsequent lunch date with him.
In their introductory encounter with Dr. Lopez, they are briefed that the transplant community had lost four of its distinguished immunologists in a fatal car crash. Sadly, the catastrophic disaster occurred before the upcoming immunology conference in Chicago to examine their findings surrounding inducing tolerance for kidney transplant patients. These conclusions concentrated on the prospect of the body not rejecting a kidney or any other organ without the use of drugs long term. In that case, patients will be free of these drugs’ troublesome side effects.
Sarah is moved by this tragic news, mainly because she recognized all these immunologists, and one of them, Dr. McKee, even worked in her institute’s programs.
Dr. Lopez informs Sarah that he requires her assistance concerning the research conducted by the four deceased doctors. Evidently, they had shared with him, and off the record, the protocol they were using for the tolerance study. Sadly, when Dr. Lopez applied it with one hundred patients, none did well. A number even died. He was about to send the data summary to Dr. McKee when he heard about his fatal accident.
Sarah pointed out to Dr. Lopez that she knew very little about the study and it would be prudent to approach Dr. Bower. Dr. Lopez responds that Dr. Bower was uninformed of his participation with the four deceased doctors. He further appeals to Sarah if she could help him and his family escape Cuba. As Dr. Lopez mentions to Sarah, his life is in jeopardy because of his participation in the trial in the tolerance study. He further hoped his research would open doors to academic appointments in the states. Dr. Lopez schedules to meet Sarah and Jackie the next day for lunch.
The narrative veers when we meet Victor Bosworth, CEO of the pharmaceutical company Lago. He and his company colleagues are troubled that the disastrous misfortune of the four immunologists may put the spotlight on their company as potential culprits. Their company would have the most to lose if inducing tolerance is successful. The entire industry is valued at roughly five billion dollars.
When Sarah and Jackie encounter Dr. Lopez for lunch, little do they realize that all misery is about to break loose. The two discover an envelope left by Dr. Lopez when he leaves the restaurant. They likewise notice that they are being watched.
As the tale unfolds, we will learn the seriousness of the envelope’s contents, which is critical data from Dr. Lopez’s research study. As we read more of the story, we discover that Lago pharmaceutical company receives substantial financing from a venture capitalist, Leland Ackerley, who represents several investors.
Ackerley and Bosworth were college buddies and have remained close friends. Ackerley is not thrilled to hear about Dr. Lopez’s study. He and his investors would lose a bundle if their venture to invest in Lago did not materialize.
Both Ackerley and Bosworth are devious characters, and nothing will stop them from ensuring that Lago’s profits are not harmed. This will include drugging Sarah and attacking Jackie’s grandmother to send a message that whatever Sarah knows about Dr. Lopez’s study must not see the light of day.
As a former nurse employed as Director of Clinical Operations at the University of California, San Francisco, Peele has masterfully integrated her expertise and training in crafting this mesmerizing thriller.
The narrative triumphs as both a mystery and a reminder that the pharmaceutical industry, one of the largest and wealthiest industries, can be culpable of unethical clinical trials. Sometimes, data is falsified. Protocol is thrown out the window, and researchers manipulate their findings. As a result, the results are distorted. When identified, it may be too late to remedy the damage caused to patients who have been harmed and robbed of quality healthcare.
Follow Here https://waa.ai/f734 To Read Norm's Interview With Amy S. Peele
January 16, 2023
I did not realize that this was part of series, and although I believe it was still a good book on its own, I feel like knowing that it was book 3 I would not have entered the Goodreads giveaway for it. It kept referring to past cases and I felt like I was always missing something. Also, I felt like there were many holes at the end. I would have preferred to get a little more closure with some of the characters. I know justice is elusive in real life and so I understand how not everyone got what was deserved, but some were not even discussed at the end and it makes you wonder what happened to them if anything. Overall I would say it was a good read, but definitely read the books in order so you have that context.
#GoodreadsGiveaway
#GoodreadsGiveaway
March 22, 2024
Hold by Amy S. Peele is the third book in the series. In this novel, we meet the duo Sarah Golden and Jackie Larsen. Jackie's son Wyatt is going well with a new kidney. Sarah is in a long-distance relationship with Handsome. Sarah and Jackie finally went on their long-overdue vacation to Cuba.
On vacation, Sarah got to know about the car crash in which four top immunologists of the international transplant community lost their lives. Dr. Lopez asked for Sarah's help. He wanted to share his tolerance protocol with Sarah and get her input. Cuba was forbidden to participate in any study or exchange with the US because of the economic embargo but Sarah agreed to help Dr. Lopez.
Sarah and Jackie were having the best time on their dream trip but Sarah couldn't stop thinking about why and how those doctors died. Read this story to find out what would happen when Sarah and Jackie would be pulled into to do the investigation.
The author is amazing at keeping suspense in the story. The twists and turns kept me hooked till the last page. With every turning page, I was more curious to find out what will happen next. The language used in the book is easy to follow. Murder mystery thrillers would become a fan of Amy's writing. Great work!
On vacation, Sarah got to know about the car crash in which four top immunologists of the international transplant community lost their lives. Dr. Lopez asked for Sarah's help. He wanted to share his tolerance protocol with Sarah and get her input. Cuba was forbidden to participate in any study or exchange with the US because of the economic embargo but Sarah agreed to help Dr. Lopez.
Sarah and Jackie were having the best time on their dream trip but Sarah couldn't stop thinking about why and how those doctors died. Read this story to find out what would happen when Sarah and Jackie would be pulled into to do the investigation.
The author is amazing at keeping suspense in the story. The twists and turns kept me hooked till the last page. With every turning page, I was more curious to find out what will happen next. The language used in the book is easy to follow. Murder mystery thrillers would become a fan of Amy's writing. Great work!
December 2, 2022
I really enjoyed Hold. Medical mysteries fascinate me. I feel like I am getting an education while riding the roller coaster of solving a mystery. I love all the main characters and can almost imagine them speaking to each other. A good read that will make you think and smile.
October 19, 2022
This book turned out to be not so much what I expected. I couldn't stay focused on the story really. It didn't really pull me into to the plot. This read was definitely not for me.
February 12, 2023
The book is full of action,a little humor and some lovedovy stuff. Not bad.
May 30, 2023
Goodreads win. I recommend this book. I found this suspenseful, captivating, engaging, compelling and a page turner.
February 1, 2025
Entertaining Read
Loved the series, very entertaining read. Kept you interested and captivated with the twists and turns of the story line.
Loved the series, very entertaining read. Kept you interested and captivated with the twists and turns of the story line.
February 17, 2025
I listened to this one. The story is a fun idea and the narration was good.
September 1, 2023
I love this entire series. In a world of heavy shit that can weigh on your soul these books make you forget all of it. They are well written and easy to read. They are entertaining and you actually learn something without even realizing it! You will love the characters who take us on a ride through the three books.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews