Dr. Knox: A novel

Dr. Knox begins with an intense emergency, a young boy is brought to Knox’ clinic, in danger of dying of anaphylaxis. He and his crew are on it, though, and the boy pulls through. Knox talks to the mother, notes she is covered in bruises before she excuses herself, saying she’ll be back as she heads to the bathroom. Of course, she slips out the back, disappearing, leaving her son behind. Knox is certain, though, she will be back and resists his nurse Lydia’s insistence she call DCFS. A review of the clinic security videos offer an explanation for her disappearance, some thuggish enforcers were seen at the front of the clinic.

Next Knox is off with his good friend, former soldier-mercenary and all-around good guy with a gun Sutter, show more to do some off the books doctoring. These under the table, unreported missions of mercy are a source of the intrigue, drama and comedy that are part of this books charm.

Knox is the newest generation of many generations of doctors, but years with a relief organization in war zones has toughened him up and dedicated him to serving those most in need. Rejecting the comforts of a New England practice catering to the wealthy, he opens a clinic in a poor, underserved neighborhood in Los Angeles. He’s got plenty of troubles, too, such as an expiring lease and a landlord looking to sell. Yet, he risks everything to protect Alex. the boy left behind.

There’s more than one group of thugs chasing Alex and his mother, adding to the danger. They range from the Brays, the 1% of the 1% with deep pockets and deeper political power to Siggy, Russian mobster and human trafficker. In the moral universe of this stories thugs, Siggy is on the nicer end.

I liked Dr. Knox. Peter Spiegelman, the author also edited Wall Street Noir, an edition of the Akashic Noir series and it was outstanding. I also read his Black Maps, the first in series featuring John March, a cop turned private eye with a focus on Wall Street, high finance criminality. It was also intricately plotted. In this novel, Spiegelman pretty much writes Knox into a corner. How he gets himself out is probably the only way he could, but it is a bit unlikely. It felt just a like deus ex machine, though we were introduced to our deus early enough for it to be fair, it just felt unworthy of the rest of the book which was thoughtful, exciting and well done.

One of the ways Dr. Knox sets itself apart from other thrillers is that his friends and coworkers who are effected by his decisions to take on the bad guys speak up about how unfair that it. They question his judgment and his values. After all, he is helping hundreds of people with his clinic, but he is willing to jeopardize all of that for this woman and her son. What about those people? And what about putting their lives at risk? He didn’t ask their permission before dragging them into danger. Openly questioning that privilege elevates Dr. Knox, asking its readers to think a little more deeply about how our heroes have multiple responsibilities and how sometimes knowing what is the right thing is harder than we think.

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Having enjoyed Spiegelman's John March trilogy years ago, I was excited to find another of his novels to read. Dr. Adam Knox is a do-gooder: he runs a free medical clinic in a Los Angeles slum by day, being able to afford this by providing "no questions asked" medical care by night, accompanied by his ex-Special Forces pal, Ben Sutter. The two met while Knox was serving in Africa in a Doctors without Borders-type organization. One afternoon, Knox saves a young boy from an allergic reaction to peanuts, only to have his mother abandon him at the clinic when some thugs appear. Knox cannot bear to ruin the quiet kid's life by turning him over to Child Services, thereby endangering himself, his clinic, and his co-workers as a Russian show more trafficker and an even more dangerous, politically connected family seem to want the child and/or mother. Sutton is a classic bad guy (e.g., Hawk, Joe Pike, Bubba Rogowski, Win Lockwood) and Spiegelman does as good a job of covering seedy L.A. as Michael Connelly or James Ellroy.) A thrilling page-turner. show less

Sun-baked contemporary LA Noir with a vivid cast of characters and a plot that barrels ahead toward its inevitably bloody (though less bloody than it could have been) final confrontation. It works great as a standalone, but I would love to see more of Knox and Sutter should Spiegelman decide to make it a series.

This is a novel about an idealistic young doctor who sets up a clinic servicing poor patients in LA's Skid Row. One day a woman brings a young boy into the clinic suffering from anaphylactic shock. While he is being treated, she sneaks out and abandons the child to Doctor Knox's care.

Before too long it becomes very clear that there is keen interest in the whereabouts of both the woman and the boy, from different but equally implacable people. Despite pleas to extricate himself, Knox gets more and more involved and exposes himself, his clinic and his colleagues to serious risk.

This is an enjoyable read in the hard-boiled LA crime tradition. It's not up there with Ellroy or Connolly, but it's a good outing nonetheless.

I did enjoy this book. I liked Dr. Knox although I thought his involvement with the baddies on behalf of a woman he didn't actually know was rather unbelievable. Then again, I read to escape from reality. His side kick, Sutter, was also a likeable character. in the next book I would like to learn a little more about the people who work with Dr. Knox in the office. I read to the end and I'm glad I did. Entertaining story.

Nope. Didn't get more that two chapters in. It's written like a bad tv show.

Dr. Adam Knox ist Arzt in Los Angeles, allerdings ein ziemlich ungewöhnlicher, denn er behandelt die Ärmsten der Armen und finanziert wird das Ganze durch nicht ganz legale Aktionen seines Freundes Sutter. Alle, die etwas zu verbergen haben, kommen zu ihm – sei es bekannte Schauspielerinnen, Drogenabhängige oder Bankräuber. Knox behandelt sie alle. Eines Tages kommt eine Frau mit ihrem Sohn. Nachdem Knox den Jungen behandelt hat, ist Elena verschwunden und er hat Alex am Bein und damit höchst unangenehme Leute, die hinter dem Jungen her sind. Zuhälter Siggy will sein Geld zurück, dass er „investiert“ hat und die Brays sind der Auffassung, dass mit Geld alles zu haben ist.

Peter Spiegelman hat uns hier ein sehr kurzweiliges show more Buch mit tollen Protagonisten beschert.

Adam Knox und sein Söldnerfreund Sutter sind einfach ein tolles Gespann. Knox will immer das Richtige tun, auch wenn es gerade das Falsche ist. Daher versucht er natürlich Elena und ihren Sohn wieder zusammenzubringen, aber die fiesen Typen wollen das auf keinen Fall zulassen. Captain Bray ist ein besonders gemeines Exemplar. Aber Siggy steht ihm da auch nichts nach. Ich kann Adam ja verstehen, dass er helfen will, aber er nimmt da wenig Rücksicht auf seine Mitarbeiter, die natürlich auch in Gefahr geraten. Elena kämpft wie eine Löwin für ihr Kind und schießt am Ende beinahe übers Ziel hinaus. Alle Charaktere sind der individuell und interessant.

Die Geschichte ist sehr spannend und immer wieder gibt es Wendungen, die dafür sorgen, dass es auch bis zum Ende so bleibt.

Ich kann das sehr spannende und dennoch humorvolle Buch nur empfehlen. show less