James Cole

TRAUMA is Dr. Cole's harrowing account of his life spent in the ER and on the battlegrounds, fighting to save lives. In addition to his gripping stories of treating victims of gunshot wounds, stabbings, attempted suicides, flesh-eating bacteria, car crashes, industrial accidents, murder, and war, the book also covers the years during Cole's residency training when he was faced with 120-hour work weeks, excessive sleep deprivation, and the pressures of having to manage people dying of show more traumatic injury, often with little support.

Unlike the authors of other medical memoirs, Cole trained to be a surgeon in the military and served as a physician member of a Marine Corps reconnaissance unit, United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), and on a Navy Reserve SEAL team. From treating war casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq to his experiences as a civilian trauma surgeon treating alcoholics, drug addicts, criminals, and the mentally deranged, TRAUMA is an intense look at one man's commitment to his country and to those most desperately in need of aid. show less

The Real is a supernatural mystery with quite a few clichés. The tragedy in the woods. The mysterious deaths that have occurred in the same woods since then. The mysterious older man who seems to know what’s going on but of course talks in riddles. The curious young man who can’t resist digging into things he’s warned to stay away from.

I detested Jeremy, the aforementioned curious young man who was the main character in the story. I think he was supposed to be a likeable, sympathetic show more character, but he pretty much met all of my criteria for “scum of the earth”. He was dishonest. He cheated on his girlfriend. He put his own needs above the needs and even the safety of the people he supposedly cared about. He would piously think to himself that he didn’t want to get people in trouble or put them in danger, but then he consistently did just that for no higher purpose than to satisfy his own whims. He repeatedly failed to meet his responsibilities. He tried a drug he knew nothing about that was given to him by a girl he knew nothing about. He drove while under the influence of this drug. I couldn’t muster the slightest bit of sympathy for him. The other characters didn’t offer anything special. There were a couple who seemed interesting, but we didn’t get to see much of them. The entire book was written from Jeremy’s perspective, so the reader is stuck in his obnoxious mind all the way through.

The first half of the book was a very slow build-up to the main action. Had I liked the character, I probably would have enjoyed the extra time taken to let the reader get to know Jeremy and see his interactions with the people involved in the story. I don't normally complain about a lack of action in books but, since I didn’t like the main character, I started to wonder if we were ever going to move on and see some action.

The only thing that saved this book from a lower rating was that the story did start to get interesting somewhere in the second half. The story took some interesting turns and the mystery aspect held my interest as I tried to figure out the answers to the questions that were raised. I figured out some aspects well in advance, but there were others I didn’t figure out until shortly before Jeremy did. The ending was pretty open-ended. It wrapped up most of the open questions, but it left some very major threads hanging. show less

This medical memoir by Dr. James Cole drops you into the hectic and unpredictable life of a trauma surgeon. What the interns and first year residents endure to get through training takes dedication and stamina. Honestly, I don't know how anyone endures the long hours and work conditions but, thank goodness people like Dr. Cole persevere.
This is a fast paced and realistic accounting. While I can't abide looking at graphic images of surgery or trauma when watching medical dramas, I could read show more this - with the exception of cardic section. That was my real squeamish point in the book, even though other injuries such as a stabbing with a screwdriver, a severe burn patient and gunshots wounds were written in great detail.

Each chapter takes on a different medical emergency. The crossbow incident was both interesting and sad. His time spent with Navy SEALS and his deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan were also interesting to me.

Sharing with Shelleyrae at Book'd Out for the 2022 Nonfiction Reader Challenge.
Category: Medical Memoir show less

From Amazon:

The oldest battle in history is the battle of good versus evil. Does evil really exist? Is there more to our existence that what we believe to be real? Can a person harness evil and sway otherwise good people to the side of darkness? These are the questions explored, investigated and brilliantly brought to light in The Real. It's not really a paranormal story; it's not a romance; it's not religious. It is a well-written mystery that leaves the reader begging for more.

My show more Thoughts:

There are only two things that kept it from being a 5 star book: 1) Just too many adjectives. It almost felt like the author was trying to fill pages. He could have cut back and still had a great story. 2) I just got a little lost in the lengthy medical terms. However, in the author's defense, I'm not sure how he could have had the same story without them. This book will take you to a world of suspenseful human behaviors and hallucinations that propel you into a world beyond the realm of reality. This is a truely fantastic read. show less