Book review : Gestalt Hospital – O O Olayinka

I've already read and reviewed two books by Olufunmi Olayinka – The Dragon Society, which focused on an occultist group which promised its members everything they wanted but at what price ? - and The Terrorists, which looked at an evil group of criminals planting chips in unwitting victims to turn them into terrorists. I even recreated jollof rice, a Nigerian dish which was mentioned in The Dragon Society, for the #readcookeat challenge. Gestalt Hospital has some echoes of these previous books – evil organisations masterminding murders – but I also found it the most realistic so far.

The media always love presenting rogue doctors or medical staff as "Doctor Deaths" when they decide to start bumping off their patients, for whatever reasons. Gestalt Hospital takes the notion one step further, with a secret organisation allowing people, most often men on the verge of divorce who want to get rid of their inconvenient spouses, to order a hitman doctor to get rid of their problem with an untraceable injection or an unfortunate medical accident.

The concept is chilling and the author's medical background injects realism into the plot. The sexual stereotyping did make me smile at times - the women are either lovestruck nurses swooning and becoming totally incompetent every time a dishy doctor looks their way or one of the trio of Charlie's Angels-like leading ladies, taking no prisoners and determined to get the bottom of the mysterious death of their friend, whatever the dangers. The men fall into two distint camps too - they are either total and utter cads, or they are part of a very select group of good guys that the girls have managed to snag as their romantic interests.

Overall it's an enjoyable read with an exciting plot, although it lacked any real tension because it was clear to me from the start that the girls would come out on top and bring down the evil-doers. It's definitely worth a read though.

star rating : 4/5

RRP: £7.99

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers (30 Nov. 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1785545922
• ISBN-13: 978-1785545924
• Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 2.5 x 13.2 cm

Disclosure : I received the book in order to write an honest review.