Do No Harm is the third book in the Lucas Page thriller series, and in this one Lucas is still recovering from the events of the previous book. An astrophysicist by profession, he has this interesting way of looking at the world, almost disdainful and condescending, but something I though was hilarious, as people struggled to keep up with a mind so sharp as they struggled to see the patterns and thoughts that flitted through his mind so easily. Missing an eye, arm, and leg meant that people who didn't know him often misunderstood him or underestimated him and I loved those interactions, as exasperating as they could be for a reader.

While Lucas has no interest in getting involved in another case, it inevitably find him when he attends a medical bash and discovers that a high amount of doctors have committed suicide or have died through natural causes the previous months. As he begins to delve deeper, he begins to see patterns that no one else sees and this is where the action takes off. Once it gets going, the author certainly knows how to keep up the tension and suspense and I had a hard time putting this one down. Plus, I worried for Erin, being part of the medical community, and that something terrible was going to happen to her. Having read the previous books, I know the author is not afraid to have terrible things happen to his main characters.

The writing style was riveting as well, as the author blends action with humour and family life, but this actually adds to the tension as you develop empathy for the characters and start to worry that something might happen to one of them. It was fast-paced, and as soon as I began to relax a little bit, something happened and sent the action flying along again. To be honest, this was a mixture of thriller, suspense, police procedural, and family life all rolled into one great story.

Lucas is a bit difficult to get to know and I don't think I would have felt as much empathy for him if I hadn't read the previous books as he comes across as aloof and a bit snotty. He doesn't connect very well with others and you only see the genuine person when he is with his adopted kids and his friend who watches them when he is working. He and Erin work very well together as she is kind and compassionate and often tells him to play nicely with others; their interactions constantly make me smile and I believe are used as comedic relief from the high tension of the other scenes in this book. We do get to see those rare moments when Lucas lets down his guard, and I have to appreciate the author's skill when he lets us get a glimpse of the real Lucas.

Verdict
Do No Harm was a clever, action-packed suspense book with much needed levity thrown in through family interactions. Personally, I can see this series on Netflix or Amazon Prime one day, and I was visualizing who would play the main characters as I read. The plot was interesting and the character development was good, and I am happy to say the twists and turns led me down a merry path so I had difficulty figuring out the answer to this one, although I had my suspicions. I really enjoy Lucas Page as a main character as he has such a unique personality, and I am curious as to what will happen to him next. Hopefully, there will be a book four in this series.

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Do No Harm by Robert Pobi is a medical thriller that completely captured my interest. This is the third instalment in the Lucas Page series but it reads well as a stand-alone. However, you probably will want to read the first two novels after reading this one. I know I will be feasting on the two previous mysteries as soon as possible. What a treat. Lucas Page is ex-FBI and a multiple amputee. He is a polymath, a husband and a father of five children. Page becomes aware that more doctors have died recently than the norm. It is becoming obvious to Page that many could have died under suspicious circumstances. When his spouse, who is also an MD, has her life threatened, he avidly investigates and will not stop until there are answers. The characters are well-drawn and make this thriller stand out. The plot moves at breakneck speed and is a pure pleasure for the reader. If you like your books with intense suspense and with a great story, this one is for you. You will be hooked from page one. Robert Pobi has proven himself to be an exceptional author. Highly recommended. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This page-turning crime thriller, #3 in the Lucas Page series, is set in New York City in the present day. Lucas Page left the FBI ten years earlier after an incident which cost him a leg, an arm, and an eye. Now fitted with prosthetics, he teaches astrophysics at Columbia University, and shares a home with his wife Erin, who is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Will Cornell Hospital, five adopted children, and a tenant named Dingo - a double amputee like Lucas.

Although Lucas is an astrophysicist by profession, he has an uncanny facility with numbers which makes him very useful to the FBI. He can see patterns that others can’t, and can do almost instantaneous calculations based on those patterns to make sense of events that would seem like just random data to almost everyone else.

In this installment, Lucas accompanies his wife to a charity event for doctors which included an in-memoriam presentation of doctors lost during the past year. There were a lot - too many to be natural, and Lucas saw a pattern.

He went to Brett Kehoe, the FBI Special Agent in charge of Manhattan, presenting his theory that all of these “accidents” and “suicides” were in fact murders. He pointed out to Kehoe and Special Agent Otto Hoffner that the fact that there was no pattern to the deaths was a dead giveaway. He explained that in any series of true random events, there will be repeats, overlaps, and coincidences. But in this group of deaths, there were no patterns, except one: no one died on a Tuesday.

Lucas is paired once again with Special Agent Alice Whitaker, a fierce and fearless Black woman who in many ways is a perfect match for Page, especially since she can get along with him despite his gruff demeanor. They in turn are helped by a NYPD detective, Johnny “Jackets” Russo, on whose beat many of the deaths occurred.

Meanwhile, more doctors are dying, and before long, Erin is targeted as well. It has now become extremely personal for Lucas, and he refuses to rest until he can figure out what is going on, and how to stop the killer or killers.

As the action builds to a terrifying denouement, we can’t be sure who will make it out alive, because Pobi seems to have no qualms about killing off major characters in the interest of realism.

Evaluation: Lucas Page is a fascinating character unlike the usual law enforcement stereotypes in fiction. Whitaker has some special talents herself, and adds a welcome aspect of humor to the mix, in addition to revealing more about Page through their interactions. ( )

The second in this thrilling series finds Lucas once again helping the FBI as New York City is rocked by a series of horrific explosions.

The first hint that NYC is under siege occurs when a detonation and conflagration at the Guggenheim Museum results in over 700 casualties. Further explosions rock the city and every available resource is needed to analyze the situation. The SAIC of Manhattan, Brett Kehoe, knows that Lucas Page is the man he needs. So many deaths in such intricately planned bombs. Who is behind this and what is the motive?

Lucas Page is quite the protagonist and is uniquely positioned to be able to sift through massive amounts of data with his gifted mathematical mind. He's a survivor -- a near death event cost him a leg, an arm, and one eye. Evidence points to a very diabolical plot, but the public is quite quick to want to attach blame to conspiracy theorists and lunatic fringe factions. Lucas puts himself right in the middle of the action and the danger as he pits himself against a vast amount of unknown entities.

Again, this is masterful plotting with lots of action and a high body count. Lucas is a very interesting character and there is a lot going on his head. He's antisocial, does not suffer fools, and thinks rings around everyone else as he's always the smartest person in the room. Every other character in the books is basically a foil for him and not typically fleshed out beyond the basic details, but it works in this series. I've read all 3 of them not, not in the correct order, but I am really looking forward to the fourth installment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend. I had hoped that eventually this would manifest as as film or series adaptation, but it seems the author is not interested in the movie business. ( )

Dr. Lucas Page is held together with wire, prosthetics, and sarcasm. He has a fake eye, a mechanical hand, an aluminum finger and a few other artificial non-organic pieces - probably better to explore the previous books in the series as to how all that came about. He is not interested in engaging in polite conversation nor is he interested in most people’s opinions. He doesn’t forget things but he does intentionally refuse to remember them. An astrophysicist, with an amazing facility with numbers, he sometimes works for the FBI and that association has caused him irreparable physical damage. He doesn’t have friends, although there are a few people with whom he likes to spend time. What he does have is a family and he is a fierce defender of all of the members. I like Dr. Lucas Page a lot.

In this installment of the Lucas Page crime/thriller series he is faced with the daunting challenge of understanding why Doctors are being killed and who is doing the killing and why. What appears to be random when examined through probabilities and mathematics become something much more. There is a great description of the difference between randomness, probability and patterns - it doesn’t bog down the story just makes for a great “AHA” moment. Pay careful attention because some of the clues are almost hidden obscurities. But this book is much more than examining probabilities and figuring out who are the bad guys and why people are dying. This is also a story about family and how far one man will go to protect those he loves.

The integration of all the main characters was a work of art and you had to question all of them and then none of them and then all of them again. The dialog was challenging as it shifted from laws of probability to cop-speak, to the language of teenagers and children, to everyday conversation - each fit the character and scene perfectly. The descriptions were clear and drew me into each chapter, into the mindset and the action. This is becoming one of my favorite series and I really enjoyed this installment.

Many thanks to the Publisher, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for a copy. ( )