Book Review: Guarded Prognosis by Richard Mabry, MD

GENRE: Inspirational Mystery/Suspense
PUBLISHER: White Glove
RELEASE DATE: July 17, 2018
PAGES: 203

When Dr. Caden Taggart saw the two men sitting in his waiting room, he didn’t think they were patients. He was right, and when they introduced themselves as agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency, things started to get bad.

Then Caden felt as though someone had gut-punched him when his father, Dr. Henry Taggart, told him he probably had carcinoma of the pancreas. When he talked about his son assisting with his suicide, Caden wondered how he could talk him out of that.

When he shared his news with his wife, Beth, she tried to assure Caden that God was in control. But as things progressed, he was unsure that was true. At first, he feared for his freedom. Then for his ability to cope. Eventually, he feared for his life.

Before I share my review of this great medical suspense novel, I must tell you a funny story first. I’m deeply engrossed in a particularly tense moment in the book – when gunshots start flying at our hero – at exactly the same time that a barrage of neighborhood fireworks are set off right outside our house. Needless to say I nearly threw my Kindle across the room in my haste to duck and cover. My poor husband responded to my gasp of fear by calmly telling me, “it’s just fireworks” and rolling over to go back to sleep. haha! So… the moral of this story is … make sure your reading environment for Guarded Prognosis is fireworks-free 😉

Now… on to the review!

Richard Mabry is skilled at weaving different story threads together into a compelling read with just the right amount of suspense, medical jargon, and character development. I particularly enjoy the faith element in his books because it hits an ideal balance between relatable, authentic, and natural to the story. His characters struggle with honest faith-in-life issues, relationship ups and downs, and very believable situations. Even the criminal activity or suspenseful dilemmas they get caught up in are written in such a way that you can absolutely see this happening in ‘real life’ given the right parameters.

In Guarded Prognosis, Mabry crafts an intriguing suspense plot of a surgeon who suddenly finds himself being investigated by two men who say they’re from the DEA. Caden knows he’s innocent but he also knows that it will be hard to prove should they find anything incriminating that originated from his office. Even as Caden and his wife Beth begin to fear for their own lives, the author also tugs at the heart with a pair of emotional subplots involving Caden’s parents. At times I found this to be even more riveting than the suspense thread (firework “bullets” notwithstanding lol) – the questions that this part of the story raised are timely and thought-provoking.

Which one takes precedence? Honor they father and mother? Or thou shalt do no murder?

The suspense thread is not as clear cut as it first may appear, either. It takes several surprising twists and keeps you guessing, especially the last half of the book. One potential murder plus several attempts on Caden & Beth’s lives, including car crashes and those gunshots I mentioned earlier, as well as arson and fraud and odd behavior from people you thought you had figured out. Who can you trust? Who can Caden trust? Certainly he (and we) can trust Dr. Mabry as the author but beyond that it’s anybody’s guess!

Bottom Line: Guarded Prognosis has it all! Danger, intrigue, illness, questions, answers, and a gentle faith thread that settles in the reader’s heart as well as the story’s. Caden and Beth and Caden’s father are authentic and engaging characters, and you’ll quickly become invested in their outcome. A must-read for anyone who loves medical thrillers or just a good mystery!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which i received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)

My Rating: 4 stars / Love it!

Dr. Richard Mabry is a retired physician, now writing “medical mystery with heart.” His novels have garnered critical acclaim and won or been finalists for multiple awards. Guarded Prognosis is his twelfth novel. He has also published four novellas and a non-fiction book. He and his wife live in north Texas, where he writes, works on being the world’s greatest grandfather, and strives to improve his golf game.

You can connect with Dr. Mabry on his website, Facebook, blog and Twitter.

Other Books by Dr. Mabry

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