Tess Gerritsen "Harvest"/"The Giver"

Review 1. (Dominik Wojtczak) Author: Tess Gerritsen Original title: Harvest First edition: 1996 Medical topics: transplantology, hospital hierarchy, organ trafficking Description: Abby DiMatteo, the book’s main character, is a second-year resident who is offered a position on the elite transplant team at Bayside Hospital. A team that cares only about the best—in theory and in practice. Abby doesn’t make a final decision, but soon the support of the transplant team will be necessary—strange things are starting to happen at the hospital. It all begins with a 17-year-old patient who needs a heart transplant. It turns out, however, that the heart is meant for a 46-year-old woman—the wife of the famous millionaire Viktor Voss. Abby persuades Joe Terio, the husband of a woman who is brain dead and a heart donor, to sign a document authorizing the direct transfer of the organ to the boy. This is exactly what happens: Abby and Vivian Chao—the intern directly overseeing the teenager’s case—transfer him to another hospital, harvest the heart at Bayside Hospital, and transport it to the second hospital, where the boy receives the long-awaited heart at the last moment. The hospital is in an uproar after their return. The millionaire’s anger leads to Vivian’s dismissal; Abby keeps her job only thanks to the intercession of the transplant team. Soon, new lawsuits for medical malpractice are filed against her—from her former patients, the first one from Joe Terio. Another heart transplant takes place at the hospital—three days after the events surrounding the previous transplant, the millionaire’s wife receives a heart brought in under mysterious circumstances—nothing is known about the donor. However, she develops a postoperative fever of unknown origin. The picture is completed by the death of one of the most prominent cardiac surgeons—an apparent suicide by hanging. A very gripping book by Gerritessen, an author who isn’t among my favorites, but you have to admit she knows how to build suspense. Review 2. (Dominik Haus) Author: Tess Gerritsen Title: The Donor Original title: Harvest Genre: Medical thriller Description: The dilemma of transplant medicine. Two patients waiting for a heart and only one organ available for transplant. Dr. Abby DiMatteo decides that the heart will be transplanted into a dying 17-year-old, but she is unaware of the consequences of this decision. According to her superiors, the organ was supposed to go to a mysterious, wealthy middle-aged woman. Under unexplained circumstances, a second heart is found. Dr. DiMatteo notices that something is wrong and begins a private investigation. Where do transplant organs come from? Where are the boundaries of medical ethics?