First, Do No Harm

September 27, 2004
Taking a break from his Thomas Purdue mysteries (The Midnight Special
, etc.), Karp moves from antiques to medicine in this sharp, well-written crime novel. Martin Firestone, a computer technician, has decided to change his life by attending medical school. When he tells his father, renowned artist Leo Firestone, the elder Firestone reacts with tremendous anger. Shocked at his father's reaction, Martin nevertheless stands his ground. Leo then asks his son to meet him for lunch and proceeds to tell him about his paternal grandfather. Dr. Samuel Firestone, Leo's father, was a legend in Hobart, N.J., a doctor whom everyone—rich or poor—could count on in an emergency. He had a sixth sense about medicine and made house calls at any time of the day or night. Samuel Firestone also knew the darkest secrets of everyone in his community, and when he took his young son (Leo) on as an assistant, he inadvertently set a tragic series of events in motion. Karp's story, steeped in descriptions of 1940s smalltown life, builds to a shattering climax that will haunt readers as much as the book's characters. Fans of Robin Cook or Patricia Cornwell will find this mystery strikingly different, for it deals not in medical science but in the frailty of human love and devotion.

Starred review from September 15, 2004
A well-told story is nearly irresistible, and Karp has two phenomenal stories to recount here. The first concerns Martin Firestone, whose father, famous New York artist Leo Firestone, angrily demands a lunch meeting after finding out that Martin has been accepted to medical school. Karp's second story is narrated by Leo over lunch, as he recounts shadowing his doctor father, Samuel, in Hobart, New Jersey, during the summer of 1943. Much as teenage Leo admires his dad, he is bothered by some of his behavior--such as performing abortions, buying black-market drugs, and looking the other way after a murder. With help from his musician girlfriend, Harmony, Leo begins to investigate his father's actions-- and isn't pleased with what he finds out. Playing a key role in the story is Fleischmann Scrapyard, where Leo attempts to discover why his father and Oscar, the cruel scrap-yard owner, are such bitter enemies. After Leo finishes his story, Martin is not satisfied and goes back to Hobart to find out what Leo is not telling him. A triumph of storytelling--the juggling of the two narratives is flawless--that will hold readers as spellbound as a terrifying tale told round the campfire.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)