I've had this ARC edition of KNIFE MUSIC on my shelves for over ten years and finally got around to reading it. And I did rather enjoy this unusual thriller. The protagonist, Dr. Ted Cogan, operates on a young 16-year-old high school girl named Kristen one night after she had run off the road and totaled her car by hitting a telephone pole (note: for some reason in the book they kept calling it a telephone poll...hopefully, this was corrected in the final published version). Anyway, Cogan is able to save Kristen after successfully removing her spleen. But then several months later, after getting drunk at a frat party, Kristen is taken to the doctor's house by a friend for possible treatment. Cogan allows her to spend the night in his guest room but later is accused of raping her after she commits suicide and leaves a journal which describes the doctor having sex with her while she was staying in the guest room. Based on this, the police could charge the doctor with murder. The detective assigned to case, Hank Madden, had been abused and raped by a doctor when he was a boy which may make him prejudicial against Cogan. But did Cogan have sex with Kristen? Or was it all in the girl's imagination? Unfortunately for him, Kristen's friend, Carrie, who took her to Cogan's house on the night in question, claims to have witnessed Cogan having sex with Kristen. So Cogan must try to get to the truth to save his life and career...
I did enjoy this one although I think it could have been shortened somewhat. The author tended to go into a lot of extraneous detail about some of the side characters and the workings of the hospital where Cogan practiced. This is also the first book in a series featuring Detective Madden, however, Madden really didn't seem to play a major role in the story...maybe this changes in the next volumes. The story did have some twists I wasn't expecting and the ending was a complete surprise! Overall, a mild recommendation for this one.
I did enjoy this one although I think it could have been shortened somewhat. The author tended to go into a lot of extraneous detail about some of the side characters and the workings of the hospital where Cogan practiced. This is also the first book in a series featuring Detective Madden, however, Madden really didn't seem to play a major role in the story...maybe this changes in the next volumes. The story did have some twists I wasn't expecting and the ending was a complete surprise! Overall, a mild recommendation for this one.
