My Review - Critical Condition

3.5 out of 5 stars

CRITICAL CONDITION by Richard Mabry, M.D. is chaotic suspense that will keep you guessing.

Dr. Shannon Frasier’s life is about to be turned upside down.  When a random shooting leaves a man dead on her lawn, it brings back difficult memories from her past.  Coupled with her wild-child sister needing a place to crash once again, her father being diagnosed with cancer, and her failure to commit to the man she thinks she loves; Shannon’s emotions are on overdrive. But it’s when she finds out she’s being stalked by a known killer that just about sends her over the edge.  Shannon must compartmentalize her feelings in order to function.  Questioning the actions of the police in charge of the shooting, and wondering if they can even be trusted is making in even harder for her to know what her next step should be.  All she knows is a killer is after her for information she doesn’t have.

CRITICAL CONDITION was quite suspenseful as Dr. Mabry’s books usually are.  I felt he tried to inject a little more romance in this book, but unfortunately the dialogue between Shannon and Mark (her fiancé to be) was so lackluster, I had a hard time believing he was as in love with her as he claimed to be.  But, since Dr. Mabry did not claim this was a romance book, I’ll judge it for what it was-Suspense/Action, and that’s what he delivered.  The only other criticism I have is that he made Detective Steve Alston seem like a real creep.  Not knowing what Alston’s angle was, it made me not like him as a character.  I think if Mabry had given us some key info on Alston earlier on, it would have made me feel empathic for him, instead, I just didn’t like his tactics.

Overall, CRITICAL CONDITION was another winner in my book.