Author Interview
The Kate Downey Medical Mystery Series
Book 2
ABOUT THE BOOK
A device that can save a life is also one that can end it.
Kadence, a new type of implanted defibrillator, misfires in a patient visiting University Hospital for a routine medical procedure—causing the heart rhythm problem it’s meant to correct. Dr. Kate Downey, an experienced anesthesiologist, resuscitates the patient, but she grows concerned for a loved one who recently received the same device—her beloved Great-Aunt Irm.
When a second device misfires, Kate turns to Nikki Yarborough, her friend and Aunt Irm’s cardiologist. Though Nikki helps protect Kate’s aunt, she is prevented from alerting other patients by the corporate greed of her department chairman. As the inventor of the device and part owner of MDI, the company he formed to commercialize it, he claims that the device misfires are due to a soon-to-be-corrected software bug. Kate learns his claim is false.
The misfires continue as Christian O’Donnell, a friend and lawyer, comes to town to facilitate the sale of MDI. Kate and Nikki are drawn into a race to find the source of the malfunctions, but threats to Nikki and a mysterious murder complicate their progress. Are the seemingly random shocks misfires, or are they attacks?
A jaw-dropping twist causes her to rethink everything she once thought she knew, but Kate will stop at nothing to protect her aunt and the other patients whose life-saving devices could turn on them at any moment.
Perfect for fans of Robin Cook and Tess Gerritsen
- Publisher : Oceanview Publishing
- Publication date : January 3, 2023
- Print length : 376 pages
What People Are Saying
“From surgery to suspense, Tammy Euliano knows the worlds she writes of. Misfire is a first-rate medical thriller—the kind that leaves you thinking that was too close!”
—Michael Connelly, New York Times best-selling author
“A medical thriller meets domestic suspense meets serial killer terror all rolled into one page-turning extravaganza. You will read Misfire for the plot, but absolutely stay for the characters. I miss them already.” —Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times best-selling author
“Medical suspense as sharp as it gets. Euliano is off to a good, no, a brilliant start.” —Kathy Reichs, New York Times best-selling author
“This is terrific—delicious suspense, done-that authenticity, and a great main character in Dr. Kate Downey . . . We want to see more of her.” —Lee Child, New York Times best-selling author
“Fatal Intent rings with thrilling authenticity. Tammy Euliano writes with convincing authority, immersing us in a world only a doctor truly knows.” —Tess Gerritsen, New York Times best-selling author
“Tense and fulfilling, there’s plenty of sizzle and emotional clout in this stirring debut. And, even better, it’s all written by someone who knows what she’s talking about. A wonderful beginning and I’m looking forward to more.” —Steve Berry, New York Times best-selling author
Kindle Readers
For a limited time Tammy’s first book, Fatal Intent, is available for free with Kindle Unlimited.
My Thoughts
Though I don’t often read a synopsis, I did before starting MISFIRE. For that reason, the first of the book came as no surprise. People with a new type of implanted defibrillator were having serious complications. The implant was misfiring in patients. Anesthesiologist Dr. Downey witnessed this firsthand.
So the mystery is not what is happening to certain patients. We already know.
Dr. Downey is concerned for everyone with this implant. But her drive to find answers is raised to a higher level because her great aunt recently received this same implant.
My Concerns
–Though this is listed as a standalone book, there were lots of references to the first book. I think reading the first one might have been beneficial.
–The first third of the book is spent supporting what we know: the new defibrillator is misfiring.
–It would have been nice if the first of the book would have had that same page-turning intensity as the last.
–I wish the character development would have been stronger.
What Worked
–The hospital setting and activities were interesting and felt authentic.
–The writing and build-up toward the last flowed beautifully.
–Scary but interesting subject matter.
Final Thoughts
If you like medical mysteries written by an author who is very familiar with the subject, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Tammy Euliano’s new books. Her first novel is Fatal Intent, and I’d suggest that you start with that, though Misfire is listed as a standalone book.
My thanks to NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for the ability to read this early copy of the book and to post my review without any stipulations.
**Author Interview**
I see you are a physician. Have you always wanted to be an author too?
Not really. I had been teaching medical students about anesthesia for many years and struggled to find reading materials at an appropriate level for them. So I asked my mentor and he said, “Let’s write one.” So we did, just the two of us. It was an amazing experience. Afterward, neither of us wished to end the collaboration so he suggested we start a novel. Sadly, he fell ill and passed away, but he’d lit the spark and the stories began to flow.
When did the idea of this series occur to you? What prompted it?
The idea of managing the end-of-life has fascinated me since way before any kid should think about such things, with a debate in my 5th grade class about the fate of Karen Ann Quinlan, a young woman in a persistent vegetative state whose parents wanted her ventilator disconnected, while the State of New Jersey disagreed. I don’t recall what side my 10-year-old-self argued, but the question never left me. Medical technology and the ability to keep the body alive has far out-paced our ethical ability to deal with the implications.
In medical school and residency, the question resurfaced repeatedly, while watching families’ extended mourning in the ICU, and anesthetizing patients for innumerable procedures despite little to no hope of a meaningful recovery. Meanwhile, the absurd cost of medical care in the US frequently made the news, especially expenditures in the last few months of life and final hospitalization. All of that became the genesis for Fatal Intent.
Then, Kate and her crew took up residence in my head and needed a next chapter. Over the course of my career, I’ve worked with my husband’s company to develop medical devices. I applied that knowledge and experience, together with modern issues of tech security, to come up with Misfire.
Describe your book in three words.
Heart stopping thriller (ha!)
What is something most people would be surprised to know about you?
I met my husband playing flag football during college. We went to the national championships in New Orleans one year with the two of us alternating at quarterback. As you might guess, all three of our kids, son and daughters, can throw a football.
What’s the funniest thing a reader has asked you?
Someone asked about the realism of the operating room scenes: “I didn’t realize someone form the anesthesia team stayed with me the whole time.” To us, knowing what we do to keep people safe during surgery, it’s hard to imagine not being physically present at the head of the bed the entire time, and harder still to imagine a patient would be okay with that.
What is something no one would probably know about you?
I plan ridiculously active vacations for my family. Like up at 5am for horse-back riding, then a quick taxi to a catamaran trip to see dolphins sort of packed. Then rappelling down waterfalls or canyoning or swimming with sealions or rock climbing or a ten-plus-mile hike type of active. They tolerate me.
Did you have trouble publishing your story? What steps did you take?
Most definitely! Fatal Intent was a 5+ year first attempt to write fiction. After many stops and starts and courses and conventions and pitchfests and rejections, I attended Bouchercon in St. Petersburg in 2018. There, I moderated a panel on medical topics in fiction through which I met Pat Gussin, a fellow physician and author, but also a publisher of thrillers. A year later, I asked if I could send her my novel, then called Do No Harm. A few months later they offered me a contract for two books and here we are. I’m so fortunate to have found an amazing publishing house with terrific, supportive people. I still have some other novels for which I’d like to find representation and a publisher that are not quite in Oceanview’s wheelhouse, so the query hell continues.
Tammy, thank you so much for sharing this information with your readers. It always makes a book more interesting if we know a little bit about the author.
I absolutely love medical mysteries, and when I discover that the author is a professional in the medical field, I’m over the top excited. I can’t wait to start reading book one, FATAL INTENT, and then move on to MISFIRE. I will be adding both reviews when I finish the books.
Thanks again. I’m sure there are lots of readers waiting for your second book to become available on January 3, 2023.
More about the Author
From Her Blog
Puzzles have always fascinated me. From word puzzles and mystery novels to Escape Rooms and medical conundrums, I love a challenge. I grew up a Gator fan, courtesy of my dad, and never considered anywhere else for college, or medical school for that matter. My goal was to become a researcher, solving the puzzle of cancer or Alzheimer’s Disease. With enough knowledge, thought naïve-me, I could piece together the problem and find a solution. But early in medical school I learned how very little we actually understand about disease. Plenty of facts to memorize (at least in the pre-Google days), but not so much thinking and puzzling out. Except in physiology.
I also learned, to my dismay, that my fellow medical students were crazy smart and completely focused on becoming physicians. Disillusioned, I considered dropping out in favor of graduate school. And then some remarkable people took an interest and changed my life.
A surgeon steered me to an anesthesiologist who invited me to help develop the first full-scale human patient simulator, combining my interest in engineering and physiology. Interacting with that team of brilliant physicians and engineers led me to pursue anesthesiology, and then obstetric anesthesia, because a good job in the main operating room means the patient doesn’t remember you, while in ob, a good job means the patient names their child after you.
Another mentor identified my knack for breaking down complex concepts and teaching them, often using the simulator. From there my career in academic medicine took off. I didn’t give up on research, but I haven’t cured cancer or dementia, though some days the latter seems ever-more pressing…wait, what was I talking about?
In 2004 I started writing my first book, an introductory anesthesia textbook with my mentor. We included anecdotes and fun historical facts and I discovered a love of writing in a less academic language. When the book was published, he suggested we continue our collaboration and we began a mystery novel. Too soon, he fell ill and we might never learn who murdered our poor simulator engineer.
As I took on the expected administrative roles of mid-career faculty, a new story started brewing in my head, and I began to study how to get it onto paper. Finally promoted to full-professor, with nothing left to prove on the academic side, a wise colleague advised, “Anyone can do the administrative stuff, only you can write the stories in your head.”
So I wrapped up my research, resigned my administrative positions, and dropped to 60% clinical time to embark on my encore career as a storyteller.
Through it all my wonderful husband and I have raised three terrific kids (and three poorly behaved dogs), enjoyed some amazing vacations, cheered on our beloved Gators (and have three orange and blue rooms in our house), and savor time spent with an abundance of family and friends. Hopefully that abundance will not be diminished as they appear in my novels.
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