Sometimes People Die: A SUNDAY TIMES Crime Book of the Month and NEW YORK TIMES Editor Pick

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Which of the medical professionals our protagonist has encountered is behind the murders? And can our unnamed narrator’s version of the events be trusted? This book was expertly written and had the perfect pace. I loved all the details and how accurate the medical knowledge was . The twist was one I could not see coming and was quite floored.

When suspicious and unexplained deaths start to plague the hospital, who is responsible? Can we even trust our main character? What The Fluffer Butter Nutter?! Flappin' Turkeys! You all already know that thrillers are genre to read, but when it comes to medical thrillers / suspense - that's my absolute favourite kryptonite! And this book completely & totally nailed it! Think the 90's show, ER, but with a suspenseful thriller twist in a book. I cannot believe how I sailed through this divinely yummy medical conundrum! Spine-tingling with an injection of fear.There is a grit to this novel as well as a thread of dark humour as these doctors and medical professionals try to get through their shifts in a profession I know I could never be in and have utter respect for. The ‘Doctor’ is an interesting, flawed and complicated character who is well developed and relatable in many ways. He’s trying to turn his life around but, like real life, issues such as trauma, his fear of being found out and the stress of work is making his recovery hard to keep up. As a reader, I felt empathy for him but it also made me wonder whether there were things he wasn’t telling me.

I was instantly intrigued and consumed by this book. I will be honest with you, I could not sleep this morning and 4am isn't exactly the right time to put the TV on and wake my household. So I grabbed my ipad and BAM! , Im late for work. The notion that a healthcare worker might intentionally harm a patient is therefore a profoundly troubling one."

Customer reviews

Dark and haunting, powerful and propulsive, Sometimes People Die is a smart, cinematic, tour de force written by an exceptional talent. Simon Stephenson's debut novel is simply unputdownable' Lara Prescott, New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept It also puts you through all the emotions a little. One moment there is tension and then, especially at one scene in particular, I was fighting tears. The Sunday Times - Crime and Thriller Book of the Month ‘Stephenson was a doctor before he was a writer, and the best part of this moody thriller, a slow-burning investigation into a spate of unexplained deaths at an underfunded London hospital, is its authoritative, unsparing account of what it’s like to work in such a place.’ What I enjoyed was Stephenson’s wit. The narrator provides snarky observations. I enjoyed the pacing and suspense. Stephenson throws in some interludes providing accounts of real-life healthcare professional murderers through the ages. I could list about 10 quotes, but I won't. Just one which gives you some idea of the pointedness of his phrasing. He doesn't need to tell and tell. For instance you get his first roommate within 3 paragraphs PERFECTLY. But here's a quote about structure surrounds:

Why do I adore this kind of novel? It is intelligent, very witty in a very dark way, and does not flinch from serious and difficult questions.’ Drawing on his experiences as a physician, Simon Stephenson takes readers into the dark heart of life as a hospitalist to ask the question: Who are the people we gift the power of life and death, and what does it do to them? It looked like an asylum that a distracted child had constructed from a half dozen unmatched Lego sets." (St. Luke's- the hospital where he is hired.)

Simon Stephenson Press Reviews

I especially liked the inclusion of short chapters that dealt with real-life medical murderers, these are an interesting addition and goes to prove that whilst the story is fictional, it's by no way unbelievable. Let Not the Waves Of the Sea’, my memoir about losing my brother came out in 2012. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards, and was serialized on BBC Radio 4.