Working Stiff by Judy Melinek and T J Mitchell

Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 258

Publisher - Scribner

Source - Amazon

Blurb from Goodreads

The fearless memoir of a young forensic pathologist's rookie season as a NYC medical examiner, and the cases, hair-raising and heartbreaking and impossibly complex, that shaped her as both a physician and a mother.

Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist. With her husband T.J. and their toddler Daniel holding down the home front, Judy threw herself into the fascinating world of death investigation, performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy's two years of training, taking readers behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple, including a firsthand account of the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax bio-terrorism attack, and the disastrous crash of American Airlines flight 587.

Lively, action-packed, and loaded with mordant wit, Working Stiff offers a firsthand account of daily life in one of America's most arduous professions, and the unexpected challenges of shuttling between the domains of the living and the dead. The body never lies, and through the murders, accidents, and suicides that land on her table, Dr. Melinek lays bare the truth behind the glamorized depictions of autopsy work on shows like CSI and Law and Order to reveal the secret story of the real morgue.



My Review

Books like this I do enjoy reading, if enjoy is the correct word, you learn things about the human body usually picking up terms, diseases and conditions which I then go off and read up on. This isn't heavily packed with that kind of stuff but there are dotterings throughout. You learn about their job but for the most part you get the chunk of what rolls through the mortuary doors.

Some of the book may be quite emotive for some as she examines many different types of deaths, September 11th is also covered and whilst I am UK I remember how I felt/feel reading that so just a headsup. It is gorey and gruesome in parts, heartbreaking, sad and if you have lost someone to suicide you will either agree with her thoughts of be absolutely livid, again just a heads up.

It is an interesting book I could have read this in one sitting had things not got in the way. Easily enough to follow, gripping and grueling accounts of truth deaths so it is sad in parts but really interesting. Some parts may shock you as you know this is real life and not conjured up in the authors brain. This was my first read by this author, I will certainly be checking to see if she has written anything else, books or other publications. 4/5 for me this time, I wouldn't read it just before or after a meal though!

View all my reviews

Willnot by James Sallis

Willnot by James Sallis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 192

Publisher - No Exit Press

Blurb from Goodreads

In the woods outside the town of Willnot, the remains of several people have suddenly been discovered, unnerving the community and unsettling Hale, the town's all-purpose general practitioner, surgeon, and town conscience. At the same time, Bobby Lowndes--his military records disappeared, being followed by the FBI--mysteriously reappears in his hometown, at Hale's door. Over the ensuing months, the daily dramas Hale faces as he tends to his town and to his partner, Richard, collide with the inexplicable vagaries of life in Willnot. And when a gunshot aimed at Lowndes critically wounds Richard, Hale's world is truly upended.


My Review

By reading the blurb, I took this book to be a crime/murder/who done it with the effects it has on the small town. It isn't that kind of book at all really, whilst there are bodies found and shootings, the book is not primarily about that. It is more centered on the ripples the bodies found has on the town and the main character, who he is, what he does for the town, flashbacks to things that happened in his life.

I have found this to be the case before, reading the blurb sets a bar and raises expectations of what said book will be about, as a result I didn't enjoy this book. I think had I picked it up and just read it I would have liked it far more as most readers loved it and it has high praise indeed. Instead I found there was a lot of characters that I couldn't quite see what part they would play in the crime aspect of the book and looked for plots and skulduggery where there weren't any.

A book that focuses on relationships, how events from the past can shape us as people and how a small town accepts folk quirks and all. It has quite a bit of medical talk in it being as the main character is the town doctor/surgeon I actually quite enjoyed these bits and it kept me reading. Not badly written at all however when you go into a book thinking it is one thing and it ends up being something entirely different it does dampen the enjoyment and raise expectations. Sadly 2/5 for me, I would read this author again however I would skip the blurb next time. Well written and enjoyed by many so give it a bash, it just wasn't for me.

View all my reviews