Frank G. Slaughter (1908–2001)

This is an odd book, perhaps due to being written in 1970 and using the cultural norms of the times. Context is the space ship engineering community in Florida in those years. Lots of believable details of engineering processes give it a technical hard sci-fi feel, yet the main theme is the emotional stress of engineers being driven to the point of ignoring their families, creating a social environment of wife swapping swinger parties, high divorce rates, teenagers sniffing glue, etc. Refers show more to gay men as "homos". One prominent character is a womanizing fundamentalist preacher. Actually fun to read, while cringing much of the time. show less

That None Should Die is a fascinating story of the medical profession in the fifties. It presents the story from all sides, the doctor's struggles through training and establishing a practice, the patient's vulnerability in their hands, and the power mongers from Washington that want to take control of the public's medical care. Ran (Randolph) Warren is portrayed as a surgeon of renowned skill and sterling ethics, yet he and his wife, Ann, can barely pay rent. When the government takes show more control of the hospitals and clinics, things quickly get worse. Unscrupulous doctors and pharmacists looking to take advantage of the system shirk their sworn duty, looking to get rich while letting patients die when they could have easily been saved. Even Ran, who always abides by the code of silence in the medical profession, realizes some regulation is needed to weed out uncaring doctors who can easily dupe trusting patients. He devises a plan to save the job from the bureaucrats, but the trick is getting someone to take his ideas seriously. Although most of the examples in the book are exaggerated and dramatized, I remember when caesareans were "in style" in the 70s and 80s so doctors could make more money, so maybe not everything in the book is that far-fetched. It does make one realize how much power your physician holds over your health and perhaps even your demise. Since the author was a licensed M.D., the book is full of medical terms and procedures, but the plot is face-paced and riveting in the subject matter. show less

I've always enjoyed medical fiction by Frank G. Slaughter. I feel like I have learned something, albeit a bit dated, but the theory applies. And Slaughter grew up in North Carolina, graduating from Duke, so I'm reading a North Carolinian writer. So at the tail end of a pandemic, how could I resist reading a novel that follows a fictional pandemic. This being a Slaughter novel, I knew it wouldn't end with the last person turning out the light.

With this book, it was fascinating to trace the show more path of the newly rereleased disease as it spread across the world. At each chokepoint, I thought, "With quick action now, they can catch it." Each time, the disease escaped. It wasn't hard to see the parallels today. The biggest difference is that the new plague had a 50% mortality rate. Like the hero, epidemiologist Dr. Grant Reed, I was frustrated by the superstition and ignorance of some of the characters. I, too, was frustrated by governments that put economics over the health of their citizens.

The main thing to remember is this book is set in 1961, so there are no cell phones, no handheld computers, and no miracle drugs. There is hard work and dedication. That makes the book worth reading. I'd suggest it for folks who enjoy medical suspense and don't mind that the medical part is far from current. show less

Professor de Bioquímica na faculdade de medicina da pequena cidade de Weston, Mort Dellman surpreende sua mulher em adultério. Mata a esposa e fere gravemente o amante. O escândalo transforma a melancólica e monótona comunidade universitária num verdadeiro caldeirão de inquietações, onde fervilham as mazelas de um mundo até então encoberto. Todos se sentem atingidos pelo tiro. Principalmente as mulheres dos médicos.