Book Review: Downfall

 Title: Downfall

Author: Mark Rubinstein

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Arc: Kindle

Pages: 352

Publisher: Oceanview Publishing

Published: April 4, 2023

My Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:

    When Rick Shepherd, a physician, approaches his office on a busy Manhattan street, he finds police cars, an ambulance, and crime scene technicians.  He soons learns a passerby was shot three times in the back, murdered at the front door to Rick's office.  

    Later that evening while watching the local news, Rick and his fiancee, Jackie see a photo of the victim--to their horror, the deceased looks identical to Rick.

    Two nights later, while making a house call in Brooklyn apartment building, Rick's 64 year old father is shot and killed in the exact same way.  Detective Art Nager and Liz Callaghan are assigned the case, and they launch an investigation.  There are no clues leading to the perpetrator.

    Even more ominoously, someone has been calling Rick and Jackie's apartment and hanging up.  Whoever is targeting Rick must have murdered his father, and they now have Rick in their crosshairs.  Nager and Callaghan seem to be making no progress with their investigation.  Rick's quest for the truth draws him into a labyrinth of secrets, past tragedies, and the agonizing pain of lives shattered by a single event.  Can he make it out before he meets the same fate as his father?

My Thoughts:

      This started out with two murders and that looked to be unrelated, but are they?  This was a fast paced-book, that set the stage for a whodunit.  This takes place in New York City.  Rick is working with NYPD, and he is struggling with secrets, and things that happened in the past.   This book was a really fast read, and the author did an excellent job, with the characters and the plot.  I couldn't put the book down.   This book is definitely one of the books that I would recommend over and over.  I give this book five stars. 

About the Author:

    Mark Rubinstein MD was born in Brooklyn, New Yor.  He dreamed of playing baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers since his all time hero was the Dodgers' first baseman Gil Hodges.  Rubinstein played high school baseball and ran track.  His love of sports led him to read sports fiction, and soon he became a voracious reader, developing an enduring love for all kids of novels.

    He graduted from New York University with a degree in business administraton.  He then served in the army and ended up as a field medic tending to paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division.  He was so take with these experiences that after his discharge, he re-enterd NYU as a premed student.

    In addition to running his private practice he developed an interest in forensic psychiatry because of the drama and conflict of the cases and courtroom, tapped into his personality style.