Genre:

The Fourth of July weekend is fast approaching, and Dr. Hank Lawson and his friends have been invited to the only party that matters. But when local kids start exhibit strange symptoms, Hank fears that the fireworks aren't the only things that are about to burn out...

Series: Royal Pains (Book 2)

Review

When Dr. Hank Lawson is fired from his position running a hospital emergency room in New York City, he moves to the Hamptons to become a concierge doctor. He and physician assistant Divya Katdare are constantly on call for their patients, and the latest one is a high school student who has taken a dangerous amphetamine. Unfortunately, Kevin Moxley is only one of the many local teenagers who have begun taking this potentially deadly designer drug. Can “HankMed” do anything to help the youth in crisis in the Hamptons?

I love movie tie-in books and have read many of them ranging from CSI to Psych. Not limited by the availability of actors, many of the written series, such as Murder She Wrote and Monk continue even after the television series itself has ended. What I like best about these types of books is the author takes familiar characters and puts them in new situations that may not be possible on the television show. Watching the television show allows you to clearly visualize the characters, and then the novels can provide a more in depth look at your favorite characters. I am a very casual reader of the television series “Royal Pains”, but I enjoyed this mystery and actually plan to tune into the television show more often now.

This book focuses on HankMed and medical mysteries as opposed to a more traditional murder mystery. It follows several typical days in the life of Hank, Divya, and Hank’s brother Evan, who manages the financial side of the medical practice, as well as Hanks’s girlfriend Jill, who is the administrator of the local hospital. We see Hank and Divya make house calls, treat a variety of patients, and then attend charity events to serve their community and attract new patients. This doesn’t mean the book doesn’t have action, though. While Hank sticks to investigating medical mysteries and leaves the crime-solving to the police, the book is still interesting from beginning to end. Evan does do a little crime-fighting and that adds to the excitement of the story.

Hank is a likeable main character. He is kind and compassionate to all of his patients and is both hard-working and easy-going. He and Jill make a nice couple, although not a lot of chemistry between the two comes through. Divya is also a hard worker and an intelligent woman, and Evan is smart and very charming. However, when Divya and Evan are together, they come across as goofy and immature, bickering like junior high-schoolers. Their exchanges range from highly entertaining, to mildly amusing, to a bit irritating. This is one of the few downsides to this fun novel. Fans of the Royal Pains television show or Lee Goldberg’s Diagnosis Murder mystery series or anyone looking for a light mystery without a lot of violence will want to spend some time in the Hamptons with Hank and his friends.

Reviewed by Christine K.

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