Fatal Rounds is a medical/criminal thriller by author Carrie Rubin, and it lives up to its genre by being truly thrilling!

The story follows one Liza Larkin, a young medical student starting out her residency at a new hospital. It wasn’t her original preferred choice, but when she discovered that a man who mysteriously appears in not one, not two, but three family pictures is a doctor there, she makes the switch. She may not be a detective, but she’s determined to find out who exactly this man is and whether he has wicked designs for her family.

Liza was a wonderful character, easy to like and root for. Her father died tragically shortly before the story begins and her mother is in assisted-living, barely clinging to sanity. Liza is an interesting individual who performs many kind and caring acts, but I don’t know if I would actually call her ‘kind’ and ‘caring’. Her entire life she’s had trouble fitting in and socializing with people, seemingly unable to understand how people might react to what she says or does. One might even call her a psychopath or sociopath.

But over the years she’s become a pro at mimicking what other people do, acting and speaking in a manner she thinks a ‘normal’ person would. And that helps her fit in for the most part, even if socializing still sucks the life out of her.

The antagonist was an excellent character as well, but I won’t divulge any information for fear of spoilers. As for other characters, they ranged from nice supporting roles to people who probably got a little bit too much ‘page time’.

The story was a bit of a slow burn, with no major revelations or explosive confrontations early on, but it picks up quickly and when it does, you better hang on to your seat! Tension dials up to an 11 as Liza begins to push her actions in pursuit of the truth farther and farther past her original line in the sand.

I would love to talk about the ending, but obviously I can’t do that. If Carrie reads this review, I’d just like to say that it ended exactly how I’d hoped it would. The final plot twist was the chef’s kiss on top of a fantastic story!

You can find it here on Amazon for only $4.99, and I highly recommend it!