INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER In this riveting novel from international bestselling author Daniel Kalla, a Vancouver doctor and a detective face the deadly consequences of the opioid crisis as they track down the supplier of fentanyl that landed a group of teens in the ER with critical overdoses. Deliberately or not, they must’ve been poisoned…And if it happened to them… There will be others. happened to them…
There will be others.
Dr. Julie Rees, a toxicologist and ER doctor, is stunned when her emergency room is flooded with teenagers from the same party, all on the verge of death. Julie knows the world of opioids inside and out, and she recognizes that there’s nothing typical about these cases. She suspects the teens took–or were given–fentanyl. But why did they succumb so quickly?
Detective Anson Chen is determined to find out. He and Julie race to track down the supplier of the deadly drugs. But the trail of suspects leads everywhere, from unscrupulous street dealers to ruthless gang leaders who hide behind legitimate business fronts and the walls of their mansions.
As Anson and Julie follow clues through the drug underworld, Julie finds herself haunted by memories of her troubled past–and the lover she lost to addiction. When other overdoses fill the ER–and the morgue–Julie realizes that something even more sinister than the ongoing fentanyl crisis is devastating the streets. And the body count is rapidly rising.
A gripping thriller, The Last High explores the perfect storm of greed, addiction, and crime behind the malignant spread of fentanyl, a deadly drug that is killing people faster than any known epidemic.
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What a timely thriller for such a tragic crisis that is plaguing all of us. Opioids are such a devastating epidemic that is at the top of this book which makes it even more of a sad story. It’s a great read! Thank you for writing such a great book!
This is the third medical thriller that I have read by Daniel Kalla who is also an ER doctor in charge of two city hospitals. As a resident of Vancouver, British Columbia (where the author lives and where the story is set? I found the idea of what could conceivably happen if the opioid crisis gets completely out of control to be both realistic and thought-provoking. Even though the subject matter is horrifying and the setting dark, it is the well developed characters and relationships between them that enhance the story and make this a page-turner.
A haunting portrayal of the emotional toll an ER doctor and police detective face and confront during an alarming opioid crisis.
The innerworkings of drug trafficking and the affect on users are examined when people begin dying from poisonous fentanyl. This novel shows how one wrong choice affects not only the users but people around them, as well. Not often seen is the way the doctors who treat victims and those investigating ODs are personally affected. The feelings of frustration and despair are often too real. The author captured the general sense of immediacy, anxiety and elation so often experienced in drug cases when users are dying at an alarming rate.
While having the ER doc/toxicologist directly involved with overdose deaths ride along with the detectives seems a tad unreal, it helps the story along. The story flows better by having questions or explanations about opioids come in the form of conversation as they arise.
This is a good book to read for information about the drug trade and its intricacies. It is also a good mystery. The reader cannot help being moved by the death of teenagers and the callousness of suppliers. The story is heartbreaking, eye-opening and even humorous, at times. Suffice to say the reader will be changed by reading it and glad they did.
I received an ARC from Simon and Shuster Canada through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no
I love medical thrillers and Dr Daniel Kalla does not disappoint. Since he is actually an ER physician, the book shows first hand knowledge and doesn’t pontificate against today’s healthcare like Robin Cook’s books have been doing in recent years. This book is about the emergence of an extremely deadly drug making an appearance on the scene in Vancouver. TLH (The Last High) as it becomes known, is so potent that a mere finger stick of a used needle can cause an overdose that is fatal in minutes. It can killer no matter whether it is injected, snorted, taken orally or even inhaled. Dr Julie Rees, ER doctor, toxicologist and recovered addict works with Detective Anson Chen to discover what the drug is and where it is coming from. The book explores the drug culture of Vancouver from importation to manufacture to the distribution chain. All these characters including Persians and Chinese got a little confusing at times and hard to keep straight. The main characters were well developed and complex. The medical cases and terminology seemed accurate and were well explained. There was a little romance but not a soap opera like TV medical dramas with everyone hooking up in a supply closet. The drug problem and the overdoses took center stage. The book was very timely and shows the dangers of today’s street drugs. I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy of this book. I look forward to more of Dr Kalla’s books.
Deadly Drugs
Deadly Drugs
This is a medical mystery which will keep you reading. It is realistic, it could happen at any time in any city. The drugs being sold on the streets become more and more deadly, especially after the dealers have started lacing them with Fentanyl. What happens when the drug is even more powerful than Fentanyl.
Dr.Julie Rees is a toxicologist and ER Doctor, Anson Chen is a homicide detective. When 6 teenagers come into the emergency room with opioid overdoses and all but one dies Dr. Rees knows something is wrong. When there are more deaths she teams up with Anson Chen to find the source of the dangerous drugs and get them off the streets before more people die.
This proves to be a dangerous problem for many people. It appears they will never find the source of the drug each person leads them somewhere else and none of them have the blue tinted pills which kill upon ingestion.
This book is a thriller, this drug is more deadly than any virus and someone is hiding the truth. Can they find the source and get the drugs off the market before more people die?
This book was frightening to read because it was so real to the current life situation. Teenagers are so naive and easily manipulated. A bit of drug in their drink, a pill to help them relax or to stay awake and study. A bit in their cocaine is immediate death for the unsuspecting addict or the teenager experimenting or the unsuspecting friend at a party. We have an epidemic of drugs in our country and this fiction book could very well be a live situation.
It was a thrilling book to read, I think the parents of teenagers should read it. I recommend it for everyone so they can be aware of the dangers out there.
Thanks to Daniel Kalla, Simon and Schuster Canada, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Exciting medical thriller set in Vancouver, British Columbia
This was an excellent medical thriller focused on the opioid crisis in Vancouver, British Columbia. The author is also an ER doctor in Vancouver so the story rang very true.
Dr. Julie Rees is a clinical toxologist and an ER physician in a Vancouver hospital. She’s working the night that a large group of teens are brought in apparently overdosing on fentanyl. This strikes close to home to her bringing up memories of a troubled past.
She finds herself working with homicide Detective Constable Anson Chen of the Vancouver Police Department in trying to figure how this group of teens was exposed to a deadly form of fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is about a hundred times more potent than heroin. But carfentanil? It’s a hundred times more powerful than fentanyl . . .”“So we’re talking ten thousand times as strong as heroin?”“Exactly. The stuff was developed for tranquilizing elephants. Literally. A single grain of it can kill a person.”
There are all kinds of bad guys in the story, from dealers on the street up the line to major distributors of all kinds of drugs.
This was a fast-paced story with a lot of scary info about the opioid crisis. I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy medical thrillers or mysteries, for that matter.
I received this book from Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
THE LAST HIGH by Daniel Kalla is a medical thriller and a romantic suspense story set in Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Julie Rees is a toxicologist and emergency room doctor. One night the ER is filled with overdosed teenagers from the same party. While she initially suspects fentanyl, she doesn’t yet understand why it affected them so quickly. With deaths mounting up, she teams up with Detective Anson Chen to track down the supplier of the deadly drugs.
The author is an ER physician in a teaching hospital in Vancouver and his expertise gave this novel a realistic feel. As a reader, I felt like I was in the ER with the doctors and nurses trying to save lives. The characters were compelling and well developed. They felt real and had distinct voices, flaws and virtues. Their motivations seemed believable and well-drawn. The internal and external conflicts were well defined for each main character. The main characters were bold, spirited, and unswerving in their pursuit of the opioids and their supplier. The stakes and tension were high and made this book a page turner. The descriptions were vivid and gave a clear sense of urgency and place.
Overall, this was a complex, compelling, thought-provoking and suspenseful read. Themes include emergency medicine, drug use, drug overdose, second chances, torture, murder and much more. This is only the second book that I have read by this author, but I am looking forward to reading more of his books.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada and Daniel Kalla for a complimentary ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
This book will grab you at the beginning. It’s a book that is very practical for this day and time. It deals with the opoid crisis. It takes place in Vancouver, Canada, but could easily take place in any U.S. city. The research that went into this book was awesome.
We have to delve into the ER of a hospital. Teens show up in the ER, all overdosed from a drug. The homicide detectives get involved as some die, I am not spoiling this happens at the beginning, along with the ER Doctor, Julia. She’s also a toxicologist and helps the detective with this case. They have to figure out why this has happened and who is responsible.
The case will take them from the dregs of society to millionaires. From petty drug dealers to major gangs in the drug trade. I highly recommend this book if you like medical thrillers with police procedural.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the Kindle copy, as well as the author. All options are my own.