Charles Graeber

This book, extensively well researched, tells the story of Charlie Cullen, a nurse who worked in many hospitals and ultimately was responsible for hundreds of patient deaths. The book is a fascinating read, one that will stick with you for a while. It really made me wonder just how vulnerable one is when they go to a hospital. How many other Charlies are out there? The story is absolutely terrifying. After reading the book, I am afraid to go into a hospital. I know that is irrational, but that is how realistic and frightening the book is.

The book details how Cullen injected drugs into the IV bags and ports to kill the patients. When terminated from one hospital, he simply moved on to another hospital and continued moving from one hospital to another. Many of the hospitals suspected he was responsible for the sudden spike in patient deaths, but for fear of their reputation they refused to divulge this information when his next potential employer called them for references. The hospitals also failed to notify authorities for fear of their reputation taking a hit. Hospitals need patients and potential patients might go elsewhere if a hospital has a history of many unusual and frequent deaths. As a result, the hospitals were complicit in the patient deaths. Hospitals were in such dire need of nurses, many failed to properly check out his past references, or turned a blind eye when some of his dates of employment failed to match up.

The book details how police detectives were able to take a case based solely on circumstantial evidence and secure a confession out of Cullen. If you love to read true crime or just want to read an excellent story detailing the crime and the arrest of Charlie Cullen, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.… (more)