>Hidden and Imminent Dangers

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Hidden and Imminent Dangers
Author: D W Hardin
This is a book that was received and reviewed through special request from the author. I had not heard of it before, but the premise seemed really interesting and I was looking forward to reading it. Being addicted to medical thrillers by Robin Cook, it has been a long time since I touched this genre again.

The story starts off slow and you see general workings of a hospital. Not before long, there is whiff of danger in the air. A young man is brought into ER with what appears to be a bout of flu albeit a nasty one. While struggling to provide the young man with medical care, we also see another side of the story – where the hospital administration is reluctant to declare it as a cause for concern, more worried about the image of the hospital and the pandemonium that would ensue if there were wrong diagnosis. Turns out the diagnosis is not wrong and in a short time, we have a pandemic on our hands. Amidst raising death toll, the administration is now faced with task of handling this from spreading beyond control. This is where I think the novel really brings out its color – the conflict between providing good medical care, warning the public vs battling the (morons) politicians who occupy seat of power and use that completely for their power roles rather than betterment of society. The damage done is multifold when the battle is literally between life and death. The chaos is very well painted along with the emotional upheaval that a medical disaster of this magnitude can bring about.

It was frighteningly close, considering we had the swine flu scare just a few months ago to deal with. It was like looking back in the time glass and seeing the events unfold. It is obvious that this has been written by somebody who has been in the field and seen diseases / treated them while dealing with the bad bureaucracy that everyone has to battle. The only off putting thing for me was the detailed medical technicality used. Though it is necessary for people who are not in the field, at times I felt it could have been edited and put in more succintly. That is what probably made the first few chapters a real slow read. Once the pace picked up, I think it was a fine read. At times, it did ring of a sci-fi kind of flair to it, but no complaints! Literary license

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