Review of Deadly Vision
Posted: 25 Apr 2025, 05:50
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Deadly Vision" by T.D. Severin.]
Deadly Vision by T.D. Severin, follows a talented and ambitious resident doctor, Taylor Abrahms, who, along with his team—Malcomb and Helen—has created a Virtual Heart Project (VHP). This project combines virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and surgery. Taylor is the doctor and leader presenting this magnificent project to the world, while Malcomb and Helen are responsible for programming and robotics creation. Together, the optimistic team hoped to help the general public with a better solution to angioplasties and change cardiac care. Unfortunately, Taylor’s project headlines in the media during the electoral period. Senator McIntyre has run his campaign on how healthcare is crippling the country financially but remains ineffective. Senator McIntyre blames biotechnology for this and plans to stop it once elected. The potential success of the revolutionary Virtual Health Project threatens Senator McIntyre’s campaign. Not only do Taylor and his team become targets politically, but Taylor also becomes targeted by experienced doctors. The young team of intellectual idealists enters a world of deception, manipulation, and murder. Will they succeed with their project or see everything destroyed?
The book is written in the third person. The author depicts a vivid scene at the beginning of every chapter, which keeps the reader captivated. What I absolutely loved about the author’s prose is that it is never pedantic. Everything written is either to evoke emotions in the reader or contribute to the plot and character development. This is just one of the reasons that marked this book as an almost flawless execution in the thriller genre. The author enlightens the reader on the motives and backgrounds of every character, including the antagonists, Preston and Crawford. The author does not always state explicitly what motives the characters have, but perceptive readers will solve the deeper meaning. For example, when Crawford looks at old medical books or when he spots the Hippocratic Oath, those give the reader knowledge as to why he got tangled in the web and why he eventually tried to do the right thing.
Every character was written with great detail, and it is apparent that the author tried to create them to mimic realistic people. For instance, the reader will easily be able to see Senator McIntyre embodies deceit, selfishness, power hunger, narcissism, and narrow-mindedness—which are in real-life politicians. In contrast, Taylor was also created to excellently depict young doctors and intellectuals who have committed to long hours of hard work to change the world but also because academia fulfills them. Taylor is even written to display how oblivious doctors can be to their own emotional intelligence.
What I loved about the book was that real issues were being highlighted by the author. For instance, one of the reasons the experienced doctors (Preston, Crawford, and Browne) acted badly was that they feared biotechnology, of which they had little knowledge and training. This, to me, says those who fear knowledge can be easily exploited. Again, there is something else highlighted in the medical world that affects talented young doctors and patients. The characters’ generational conflicts appear to be an accurate reflection of reality. In the book, older generations of medical professionals tended to see younger professionals and new technology as the enemy. Whilst they stated it was because of “budgets,” the characters would reminisce on the “good old days” of medicine. This indicated that older generations preferred orthodox routes. The author illuminates how idyllic academics are crushed by the cruel world. It's even stated by Dr. Browne that “blind idealism is a death sentence.” As an introvert who has spent a lot of time in academics, this is an accurate representation. Sometimes introverts tend to ignore the outside world and focus on academics, only to be crushed when the work is shared and not received well. The last important issue that I think the author highlighted is that the rich wage war while the poor suffer. Everyone opposing the VHP had been rich and unconcerned about how the general public would benefit.
In terms of any criticism (what I would change), I would state that the pace of the book slows down because the author is concerned with introducing many details of the project and characters into the story so you forget that there are targets. It is not pedantic, but this, in my opinion, should not be done in thrillers. As a thriller reader, I want to feel a sense of urgency. It's the only reason the book has lost one star. I cannot speak to the accuracy of medicine, AI, and robotics, but since it is fiction, I do not think the accuracy matters greatly. The book does contain some profanity. I think this is an excellent read and recommend it to anyone who likes science-fiction, thrillers, AI development, and fiction on medical technology. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and rate it four out of five stars.
******
Deadly Vision
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Deadly Vision by T.D. Severin, follows a talented and ambitious resident doctor, Taylor Abrahms, who, along with his team—Malcomb and Helen—has created a Virtual Heart Project (VHP). This project combines virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and surgery. Taylor is the doctor and leader presenting this magnificent project to the world, while Malcomb and Helen are responsible for programming and robotics creation. Together, the optimistic team hoped to help the general public with a better solution to angioplasties and change cardiac care. Unfortunately, Taylor’s project headlines in the media during the electoral period. Senator McIntyre has run his campaign on how healthcare is crippling the country financially but remains ineffective. Senator McIntyre blames biotechnology for this and plans to stop it once elected. The potential success of the revolutionary Virtual Health Project threatens Senator McIntyre’s campaign. Not only do Taylor and his team become targets politically, but Taylor also becomes targeted by experienced doctors. The young team of intellectual idealists enters a world of deception, manipulation, and murder. Will they succeed with their project or see everything destroyed?
The book is written in the third person. The author depicts a vivid scene at the beginning of every chapter, which keeps the reader captivated. What I absolutely loved about the author’s prose is that it is never pedantic. Everything written is either to evoke emotions in the reader or contribute to the plot and character development. This is just one of the reasons that marked this book as an almost flawless execution in the thriller genre. The author enlightens the reader on the motives and backgrounds of every character, including the antagonists, Preston and Crawford. The author does not always state explicitly what motives the characters have, but perceptive readers will solve the deeper meaning. For example, when Crawford looks at old medical books or when he spots the Hippocratic Oath, those give the reader knowledge as to why he got tangled in the web and why he eventually tried to do the right thing.
Every character was written with great detail, and it is apparent that the author tried to create them to mimic realistic people. For instance, the reader will easily be able to see Senator McIntyre embodies deceit, selfishness, power hunger, narcissism, and narrow-mindedness—which are in real-life politicians. In contrast, Taylor was also created to excellently depict young doctors and intellectuals who have committed to long hours of hard work to change the world but also because academia fulfills them. Taylor is even written to display how oblivious doctors can be to their own emotional intelligence.
What I loved about the book was that real issues were being highlighted by the author. For instance, one of the reasons the experienced doctors (Preston, Crawford, and Browne) acted badly was that they feared biotechnology, of which they had little knowledge and training. This, to me, says those who fear knowledge can be easily exploited. Again, there is something else highlighted in the medical world that affects talented young doctors and patients. The characters’ generational conflicts appear to be an accurate reflection of reality. In the book, older generations of medical professionals tended to see younger professionals and new technology as the enemy. Whilst they stated it was because of “budgets,” the characters would reminisce on the “good old days” of medicine. This indicated that older generations preferred orthodox routes. The author illuminates how idyllic academics are crushed by the cruel world. It's even stated by Dr. Browne that “blind idealism is a death sentence.” As an introvert who has spent a lot of time in academics, this is an accurate representation. Sometimes introverts tend to ignore the outside world and focus on academics, only to be crushed when the work is shared and not received well. The last important issue that I think the author highlighted is that the rich wage war while the poor suffer. Everyone opposing the VHP had been rich and unconcerned about how the general public would benefit.
In terms of any criticism (what I would change), I would state that the pace of the book slows down because the author is concerned with introducing many details of the project and characters into the story so you forget that there are targets. It is not pedantic, but this, in my opinion, should not be done in thrillers. As a thriller reader, I want to feel a sense of urgency. It's the only reason the book has lost one star. I cannot speak to the accuracy of medicine, AI, and robotics, but since it is fiction, I do not think the accuracy matters greatly. The book does contain some profanity. I think this is an excellent read and recommend it to anyone who likes science-fiction, thrillers, AI development, and fiction on medical technology. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and rate it four out of five stars.
******
Deadly Vision
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon