Dr Anna Jones is a renowned cardiothoracic surgeon. Days before she is due to operate on a prominent politician her young son is kidnapped. Anna is given a stark choice, either ensure the politician dies on the operating table or she will never see her son again.
Author Jack Jordan opens Do No Harm with a punch and doesn't let up throughout. The majority of the story is told from the perspective of Anna, the surgeon. Anna isn't a likeable character but much of her demeanor is what is needed from a surgeon; cold, calculating, unflappable. When Anna realises that her son has been kidnapped you feel ever emotion she runs through; disbelief, doubt, anger, terror, and finally, acceptance. Torn between a doctor's oath to "do no harm" and a mother's need to protect their child no matter what you really feel for what she must be going through, particularly when it is made clear the extreme measures the villains are willing to take.
Alongside Anna's perspective we have Margot, a nurse who regularly works with Anna in theatre. Margot is struggling to make ends meet and has resorted to stealing from colleagues. All her life Margot has striven to escape her chaotic background but now seems to be dragged back by the poor choices she has made.
The first third and the last third of the novel are tense and filled with terror as we wonder how Anna, and to some extent Margot, are going to overcome the impossible situation they are in. I really struggled with the middle section of the story that knitted the beginning and end together. As a lover of thrillers I'm used to having to suspend disbelief, however I felt the discovery of why the politician needed to be killed was too easily discovered. The coincidences between some of the characters also spoilt my overal enjoyment of what started as a great medical thriller.
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