'Deadly Vision' is Todd Severin's debut novel although he is no stranger to the written published word. Author of several short stories and two editions of a wellness book he has not been idle. Professor ophthalmology at University Of California, Berkeley and an eye surgeon, Todd is also the founder and owner of Ripple Music, a small but flourishing and renowned record label. And now he can add novelist to his already impressive CV.
'Deadly Vision' is a medical thriller set in and around San Francisco and the Bay Area. The protagonist of this creation is Taylor Abrahams, Chief Resident of the Emergency Department at SFU Medical Center. Very ambitious and severely over-worked he is also a researcher and is on the verge of a huge medical breakthrough which, if successful, will revolutionize medicine as we know it. Called VHP, Virtual Heart Project, this highly computerized system would increase the success rate in heart surgery immensely. However, his research, where he is assisted by computer wizard Malcom Bernard, is not looked upon with kind eyes from some quarters which triggers events turning everything into a matter of life and death. Add the tail-end of a crooked presidential campaign (which election isn't crooked?) and you have a thrilling story at your disposal.
Apart from a very good story Todd impresses greatly with a perfect flow in the story-telling. Personally being a layman when it comes to medicine and the intricate world of computers, two parts which are integral to 'Deadly Visions', it is very easy to get lost in being too specific in details. Todd, however, elegantly side-steps all this with the earlier mentioned ”perfect flow”. What I mean with that is he doesn't get lost in details breaking down everything into miniscule pieces, instead when for instance a medical procedure is occurring it is told matter-of-factly, as it is, immediately making me feel as if I know this. In turn this makes the story flow uninterrupted and to me it takes some talent to do that.
It also needs to be mentioned how well Todd ties 'Deadly Vision' together. The novel takes several turns and could have been all over the board but that's not the case. Instead he brings it all into place with surgical precision – pun intended – keeping you on you toes all the way to the end.
Brilliant work, Todd!
-Swedebeast
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