Book Review: Monday Mornings

DETAILS: Monday Mornings: A Novel by Sanjay Gupta, M.D.  Copyright 2012. Medical fiction.

SUMMARY: This book follows the fictional lives of a handful of neurosurgeons at Chelsea General Hospital as they explore love, life, death and loss.

PROS: The book is engaging, interesting and informative.  Dr. Gupta is a neurosurgeon himself and his knowledge and experience comes through.  He did a good job making the medical details easy to understand for lay persons without inserting fake explanations between people who should know what the other is talking about, something that  many writers find difficult to do.  The characters were realistic and well-rounded, with some you will love, some you will hate and many you will sympathize with.

CONS: Dr. Gupta seemed to have a little flair for the melodramatic in his writing which was occasionally distracting.    Also, it seemed all the main characters were former athletes of some sort.

BOTTOM LINE: This book was enjoyable, and I found it hard to put down in spots.  Obviously with my interest in medicine I was especially drawn to it, but I think anyone would find it fascinating.  Four stars out of five.

**Note: This book is being made into a television series by the same title, which I think could end up being good.**