DO NO HARM by Christina McDonald

 

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Behind Every Lie and The Night Olivia Fell comes an unforgettable and heart-wrenching novel about the lengths one woman will go to save her son.

Emma loves her life. She’s the mother of a precocious kindergartener, married to her soulmate—a loyal and loving police detective—and has a rewarding career as a doctor at the local hospital.

But everything comes crashing down when her son, Josh, is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Determined to save him, Emma makes the risky decision to sell opioids to fund the life-saving treatment he needs. But when somebody ends up dead, a lethal game of cat and mouse ensues, her own husband leading the chase. With her son’s life hanging in the balance, Emma is dragged into the dark world of drugs, lies, and murder. Will the truth catch up to her before she can save Josh?

A timely and moving exploration of a town gripped by the opioid epidemic, and featuring Christina McDonald’s signature “complex, emotionally intense” (Publishers Weekly) prose, Do No Harm examines whether the ends ever justify the means...even for a desperate mother.

My thoughts:

This book is another WOW from Christina McDonald. How she can take a book and make it hit you deep in your chest. Right in the heart. Make you feel like you are right there. Like you are that main character. It's what makes a book great and this book is great.

I don't know why but this line is my very favorite one out of this book. It just seemed to sum up the love that I felt between Nate and Emma. "AN I KNEW. NO MATTER WHAT I HAD DONE, NATE HAD LOVED ME. ETERNALLY. "

That line just touched my heart and to be honest it made me weep huge big ugly tears.

What would you do to save your child? Emma and Nate are happy. They have a great life and a beautiful son, Josh. But when things go wrong and they are faced with the possibility of losing Josh what will they do. What will a mother do? You might be surprised what this mother is willing to sacrifice for her little boy's life. As a mother I am not shocked. I believe with all my heart that I would do the same. It's unconditional love between a mother and her child. 

This book is just so good. It did make me laugh a couple of times but for the most part I cried. I had some pretty big tears streaming down my face. How do you deal with what this family is facing. Being a doctor made it even harder for Emma. She took an oath to save lives and yet felt so terribly helpless that she couldn't help her son. Be warned, this is a very emotional story. It has lots of ups and downs. Lots of raw emotion. Lots of thrills to keep you on the edge too. 

Nate is a cop. He's sworn to protect people no matter what. He loves his wife and son with ever fiber of his being. What is he willing to do to save their son? He's a good man. He wants to do the right thing. I loved Nate. He was so easy to love. 

This book is about the opioid crises that this nation still faces. About the good and the bad of drugs. Not that there is really anything good about them but if you are honestly in chronic pain and need help it's hard because of the many addicts and dealers who abused the system. While this book deals with this a lot it also makes you understand why and how some people do get addicted to drugs. Not always because they are bad people. Not always because of doctors. It's a very hard thing to think about and this country really needs to get some kind of help for addicts. Help while they are still young enough to be helped.

This is a very good book. It will make you think about some pretty deep things. You will have feelings that maybe you haven't seen in a while. Compassion is sometimes a great thing to have. Actually, it's great thing to always have. Be compassionate to others before you judge them without knowing their story.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #ChristinaMcDonald, #Simon&Schuster, #GalleryBooks for this ARC. These are my own true feelings about this story.

5/5 HUGE stars and a very high recommendation. A must read.