Cover Image: The Doctor

The Doctor

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

In principle this should be an excellent book because all the elements are there. New Mum Emily on extended maternity leave living next door to a rather odd couple – Dr Burman and his very sick wife. Emily attempts to socialise with Mrs Burman but is rejected repeatedly by the Dr. Something else strange – when not out doctoring, he is closeted in his shed at the end of the garden. Add in the CCTV cameras, the high level security and hedges and the absence of any life or light from the house. Then stir in missing animals – Emily’s cat for starters.

So I was set up for a fantastic read, but I must admit I was a little disappointed and I could not relate to any of the characters – perhaps with the exception of Emily’s dad, David. For the rest, really didn’t care one way or another.

Sorry Ms Stone, this one just did not engage me as much as I had expected. Forgive me if I just add – it’s not you it’s me, I am sure and other readers are sure to love it.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Lisa Stone has brought out the perverse nature of human beings in this book about cryogenics and domestic abuse. The story is a little slow going to begin with but within a few pages the demonic nature of one of the main characters becomes clear. I would recommend this book to those that do not get upset about the shortcomings of man. Enjoy! 📚

Was this review helpful?

EXCERPT: It was pitch black outside except for the small light coming from the outbuilding at the very end of their neighbour's garden. Emily could just make out the slither of light through the tall shrubs and trees that flanked their boundary fence. No moon or stars shone in the cloudladen sky and no wind stirred the foliage. She liked their secluded garden, it had been one of the reasons she and Ben had bought the house, but sometimes it felt just a bit creepy. Especially at night.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: How much do you know about the couple next door?

When Emily and Ben move in next door to Dr Burman and his wife Alisha, they are keen to get to know their new neighbours. Outgoing and sociable, Emily tries to befriend the doctor’s wife, but Alisha is strangely subdued, barely leaving the house, and terrified of answering the phone.

When Emily goes missing a few weeks later, Ben is plunged into a panic. His wife has left him a note, but can she really have abandoned him for another man? Or has Emily’s curiosity about the couple next door led her straight into danger?

MY THOUGHTS: If you have a creepy neighbour, I don't know if I should recommend you read this book, or not read this book.....

We all want to live forever, don't we? Well, I don't, but Dr Burman does. In fact he is fanatical in his quest. It rules his life......

I was prepared not to like this book. There were a few things in the first few pages that kind of annoyed me and I actually put the book down and walked away from it for a couple of days. Then I picked it up again....and found it difficult to put down.

The writing, in places, felt a little unweildly, but the plot is excellent, and for once the blurb was right...there was a twist that I just didn't see coming. I don't know that it was entirely necessary, but I didn't see it coming. Personally I would have ended the book a little earlier than the author does, but that is just me....

All in all an interesting read. And love the cover!

🙂🙂🙂.5 stars

THE AUTHOR: I live in England and have three children. I have always been a writer - from when I was at school, with poems and articles in the school magazine. In my teens I began writing short stories, a few radio plays and novels. I finally made it into the bestseller charts with Damaged in 2007 which I wrote under the pseudonym Cathy Glass. Since then I have had 28 books published, many of which have become international bestsellers.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to publishers Avon via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of The Doctor by Lisa Stone for review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system, please refer to my profile page on Goodreads.com or the about page on my webpage, sandysbookaday/wordpess.com This review and others also appear on my webpage.

Was this review helpful?

This was a very readable book which, although not as well written as some books I have read lately, produced enough tension to keep one turning the pages and willing the bad things to stop happening.
Em (Emily) befriends her next door neighbour Alisha but between them they have to cover the tracks of their friendship. Alisha's husband Dr Amit Burman wouldn't like it. He is too busy making sure no-one gets close enough to discover some very disturbing secrets.
Cryogenics can suspend animation and potentially keep an organ, an animal or a person in a state that some believe can be reversed to bring back life, conquering death by replacing organs and curing health conditions at a time when medical science has progressed sufficiently to do so. Dr Burman is a huge fan and with his medical background his character (and his actions) in this psycological drama helps us to look at our beliefs about life, death, health, genetic conditions, disbility and immortality.
At times plain disturbing, the characters in both houses in this book really add a very human element to this story and the fourth star I gave this book is based purely on the ending which I thought was very good. Leaves you not quite knowing...I was also willing David (Em's father) on, desperate for him not to give up.
Give up what? Read The Doctor and find out!

Was this review helpful?

Oh man this book, I just couldn’t put it down! I found myself involved along with the characters and at times getting upset and wanting to yell. It’s so compelling and pulls you in. Just when you think you know when somethings going to happen *bam* a twist. And I love a good twist you don’t see coming! There’s so many emotions and a roller payer ride.

Was this review helpful?

This book took me by surprise as it’s really not like any other book of this genre. It is very dark, creepy and is also fairly gruesome at points. The story will draw you in and keep you wondering how it’s going to end.
Overall, it’s a very good thriller that I’d recommend.

Was this review helpful?

I loved this book from start to the amazing finish, I read it in two sittings.
Well written and the characters believable with a subject matter very different to the norm and I really liked that the author has worked hard with research and it shows.
Genuinely didn't see the twist coming and actually gasped out loud!!!
Loved it all !!!

Was this review helpful?

This isn’t my usual type of book but it gripped me from the start!
Emily and Ben live happily with their toddler son - Em is in extended maternity leave and tries to make friends with the couple next door. The husband is very abrupt and his wife Alisha has a terminal illness and seems to shun Emily’s attempts at friendship.
Having heard strange noises and what sounds like a child next door, Emily knocks on the door and finds herself drawn into a very odd situation.
Meanwhile Alisha’s husband Amit is conducting research in his bottom of the garden lab -research into how to keep his wife preserved until a cure is found for her condition!
The situation takes a terrifying turn when Emily disappears having left Ben a note to say she’d met someone else, he doesn’t believe it and it’s only through his perseverance that the police believe there is more to the situation.
This is such a bizarre story but it’s brilliant and I genuinely couldn’t put the book down until I’d finished it. The final twist was horrifying and amazing all in one go.

Was this review helpful?

The Doctor by Lisa Stone was one of those books that I kept my nose buried in and even read while cooking dinner at night. That's one of the things that I love about reading on a kindle, compared to reading a 3D, "real," book. I like not having to hold the pages open. I've even lately been so engrossed that I read while drying my hair. Hey, I have a very long "to read," list.

This book gets 5 stars from me for a lot of reasons. It was so different from past thrillers and mysteries I've read and was mixed with futuristic topics. When a crazy doctor (no spoilers, promise) becomes obsessed with freezing his wife's body to preserve it, he'll stop at nothing. The book takes you to dark corners, closets, and hiding places that will leave you feeling desperate for someone to put all of the pieces together in time to save Alisha. It's pretty scary to think that scary situations like this can and probably do exist.

Thanks to @avon_books for the opportunity to get my hands on this one before the rest of the world and as always, thanks to @netgalley for arranging the introduction! Lisa Stone, I can't find you on instagram but, great job catching and describing details in such a way that I couldn't escape your pages! #avonbooks #thedoctor #netgalley #scaryneighbors #lisastone #mustread #summerreading #bibliophile #bookguru #bookblog #blogabook #sendmebooks #readtolive #suspense #cryogenics #crazytrain @oakcitybooks #oakcitybooks

The above review was posted on my blog: oakcitybooks.blogspot.com and on my instagram @oakcitybooks.

Was this review helpful?

The Doctor
A gripping crime thriller from the international bestseller

by Lisa Stone

Avon Books UK

Avon

General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 24 Jun 2019

I am reviewing a copy of The Doctor through Avon Books UK and Netgalley:

How well can you really know the couple that lives next door to you?

When Emily and Ben move in next to Dr Birman and his wife Anita they are excited to get to know their neighbors. Emily who is both outgoing and sociable tries to befriend the doctors wife Anita but Anita is strangely quiet and hardly ever even leaves the house, she’s even terrified to answer her phone.

Why does Anita act so strangely? What secrets lay inside that marriage?

After Emily goes missing a few weeks later, Ben is sent into a panic! His wife left a note saying she was with another man, but the note seems off. Could Emily’s curiosity about the couple next door have plunged her into a dangerous situation, leading to her kidnapping or worse?

I found The Doctor to be well written and on the edge of your seat Suspense, therefore worthy of five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Was this review helpful?

I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the rest of the authors books. It had an ending that I didn’t see coming at all, and interesting characters. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

4/5

Was this review helpful?

Emma and her husband ben move in next door to Dr. Burnam and his wife, she obviously wants to become friends, but they aren't as neighborly as she would have hoped. She has some suspicions about Dr. Burnham, but is there any truth in them?

The storyline in this thriller is one that I have never read before! That instantly gripped me, wanting to know more about the issues surrounding it. There were plenty of twists and turns, and even when I thought I had guessed the twist other things kept happening.

Will definitely be reading things by Lisa Stone again!

Was this review helpful?

Emily and Ben have moved next door to Dr. Burman and his wife, Alisha. Alisha never seems to leave the house .. she doesn't talk on the phone. Her husband spends a lot of his time in a building out back that he keeps padlocked. What's he hiding?

Their cat, Tibs, goes missing. Dr. Burman brings to Emily the cat's collar ... supposedly he found it in his yard.

And then Emily goes missing ... leaving a note stating she was leaving Ben ..and their small son.. for another man. Really?

There is so much more to this story than the few lines above. There are secrets and lies and just plain evil involved. This was a fast read for me .. I just had to know what was coming next. It definitely will make you wonder who your neighbors really are.

The reader learns early on exactly what is happening, but that only whets the appetite to discover what comes next. It kept me gripped until the final unpredictable ending.

Many thanks to the author / Avon Books UK / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily. opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Was this review helpful?

The Doctor is a very different type of read and I think you will I either love it or hate it, I really enjoyed this thriller but it is a chilling thriller.
Emily and Ben and their young son move into their new home, life is good and they are very happy until Emily goes missing. Next door Dr Burman lives in a very secure house with lots of security cameras and a man cave that he is always in. Dr Burmans wife is ill so is never seen as she doesn’t go out anywhere. Emily is a friendly person so reaches out to the doctors wife but is curtly given the cold shoulder but that doesn’t mean she’ll give in, here the story starts twisting and turning and at parts is quite chilling.
The book I found to be a steady pace from start to finish, there were no parts where it didn’t shock me or send me down a different twist. The doctor was completely unlikeable but Emily and Ben more than made up for that.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Oh my goodness, what can I say ! This book is gripping from the very first page with a creepy sinister theme running through, and it isn't until the very last paragraph that the ends get tied up. Don't take my word for it...................read it !! It is too good to miss

Was this review helpful?

Neighborhoods and thrillers seem to be a trend here lately, not that I'm complaining. I'm actually devouring them every chance I get and this one was no disappointment. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about reading.

Was this review helpful?

This book kept me guessing nearly all the way through. I wasn't sure I was going to like it tat first, but then I reached a point where I couldn't put it down.
Lisa Stone has mastered the suspense in this story.

Was this review helpful?

An interesting thriller that is quite dark in parts..
Emily is on maternity leave and wants to know more about her neighbours that keep themselves to themselves
Looking into cryonics it’s a little bit like a modern day Dr Frankenstein.
Not always a comfortable read.
Lots of twists and turns

Was this review helpful?

This was a an edge of your seat, creepy fantastic omg what’s going to happen next kind of read.
When the new neighbours move in they bring keep themselves to themselves to a whole new level. The husband, a doctor of anesthesia is stand offish and cold. His wife is ill and housebound and afraid of her own shadow. Emily who lives next door makes repeated attempts to befriend at least the wife Alisha, but to no avail. And what is with all the extra security measures around their home? And outdoor shed in which the Dr. spends all his free time in?
Until one day, after thinking she hears a child cry next door and goes to investigate Emily soon learns that the couple has a child after all. A severely disabled one at that, hidden in the confines of one room with Alisha as the sole caregiver. After Emily helps Elisha with Elisha’s daughter Eva, she swears her secrecy that she will keep what she saw a secret. And a friendship between the two develops. But the Dr. wouldn’t like that so it is very much a secret friendship. It’s a secret with consequences that doesn’t bear thinking about. A great read!

Was this review helpful?

Wow! Kept me gripped from start to end, was the first book I have read by Lisa and it surely won't be the last. Highly recommended if you love books that keep you on the edge of your seat

Was this review helpful?