“I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard” (Col. Slide’s speech in ‘Scent of a Woman’). Matters of choice, in general. But there are also matters of a rather specific choice, and there are armies out there, “Pro-life” armies, to take it away from us (yes, from all of us, my ladies, because often it is a matter of our joint choice, not only our partners’). Now, in the last book of the Coles’ trilogy, we are back to our own time.Yet another descendent of Robe Cole and the last owner of Avicenna’s lancet is Roberta Jeanne d’Arc Cole, M.D., a successful Bostonian doctor. Roberta shares persistence and perseverance with Robe, as well as the medical gift, and another gift, the gift to make the right choices, with Robert “Shaman” Cole of the Illinois Territory in the 1850s. So when she makes the choice to stand up for the lives and well-being of other women, and remains one of the last abortion providers in Boston, it will cost her dearly.
As a piece of literature, it is less well written than the previous two. But its relevance and humanistic message ensure the 4 out of 5 grade for this book.

Paskutinė, pati silpniausia trilogijos dalis. Ne tai, kad prasta, bet kitos dvi buvo stipresnės.

The Cole, this time is female and the time period covered is recent. After the rich and absorbing historical content of the first two books in the trilogy, I was disappointed in this one. It is a good book, well written but lacks the depth and the passion that I had come to expect.

Zaista ne znam šta se Gordonu dogodilo da posle sjajnog "Medikusa" i "Šamana" napiše i objavi ovu brljotinu koja je u rangu "knjiga" nekih domaćih "spisateljica"-novinarki. Dok se radnja "Medikusa" odvija u 11. veku i prati razvoj mladog lekara i njegova istraživanja na polju rešavanja upale slepog creva hirurškim putem, a u "Šamanu" se bavi otkrićem i komercijalizacijom prvih kondoma od ovčijih creva u drugoj polovini 19. veka, to je radnja ovog poslednjeg dela smeštena u drugu polovinu devedesetih godina 20. veka i bavi se kontrolom rađanja tj. abortusima. No, tu škakljivu temu Gordon obrađuje na jedan vrlo površan i lakonski način (za razliku od onih u "Medikusu" i "Šamanu"), da se stiče utisak kako je čitav roman napisao pročitavši nekoliko medicinskih članaka (sa sadašnjeg aspekta - poprilično zastarelih, ali zanemario sam to, s obzirom na datum izlaska romana) i porazgovaravši, kako tvrdi, sa nekolicinom lekara. Naime, naslednica čuvene loze Kol je samosvesna žena, diplomirala na pravnom i medicinskom fakultetu, koja se zalaže za prava drugih žena da odluče žele li ili ne da izvrše abortus, i naravno, nailazi na oprečna mišljenja u sredini u kojoj živi. U jednom trenutku, Gordon preseca njenu blistavu karijeru budućeg univerzitetskog profesora naglom željom da ostavi sve i ode u obližnje selo da se bavi opštom praksom. Tada kreće da ređa apsurd za apsurdom (banalan primer je da doktorka Kol ne uspeva da izleči bubrežnu infekciju, ali uspešno leči inoperabilni tumor na mozgu; dalje - olako preporučuje mladoj devojci da abortira, navodeći površne razloge i tešeći je nonšalantno, te prevazilazeći na taj način postulate medicinske etike, da joj ona garantuje da će sve biti u redu - a devojka skonča od preobilnog krvarenja i kao vrhunac - predvidiva preplitanja smrtnih slučajeva i volšebnih izlečenja - da ne zaboravim i tradiciju Kolovih da imaju "dar" u predikciji nečije skore smrti), i da unosi bljuzgavu trećerazrednu patetiku u narativ (primer je rečenica: "imao sam seksualne snove o tebi i tada je sperma napuštala moje telo; mnogo češće sam video tvoje lice, gledao kako se smeješ.") što je dodatno uticalo da se razočaram u roman do krajnjih granica.

una mica bastant cliché tot, però m'he sentit molt a gust llegint-lo

This is the third of the trilogy and I unknowingly read it before I knew of the others. I't probably best as it is not near as good as the other two. Perhaps because it is set in moder times and the other two are the 11th and 19th century settings.

Der dritte Teil der "Medicus-Reihe" hat mit seinen Vorgängern so rein gar nichts mehr zu tun und das fand ich am Anfang des Hörbuchs auch recht befremdlich. Aber je weiter ich gehört hatte und als ich mich geistig davon verabschiedet hatte, dass dieses Buch Teil der Reihe ist, hat es mir doch sehr gut gefallen.

Es spiel in unserer Zeit und man begleitet die Ärztin RJ Cole auf ihrem Weg als Hausärztin in einem kleinen Dorf Amerikas und wie sie zu diesem Job kam. Ich fand die Dinge, die ihr dort widerfahren und die Situationen in denen sie sich befand doch recht authentisch und musste immer mal wieder schmunzeln, weil ich das ein oder andere auch selbst so erlebt habe. Es werden einfach die Höhen aber auch die Tiefen des Hausarztdaseins erzählt und natürlich darf eine kleine Liebesgeschichte dabei nicht fehlen. Diese war zwar teilweise etwas schnulzig, aber es ging grade noch

I have to agree with several other reviewers. This book does not feel like it was written by the same author as the first two in the Cole Family trilogy (which were both excellent) and just had a different style in its story. I think it actually was pretty good as a stand-alone story but not near the caliber of the others. Also since it occurs relatively recently in the second half of the 20th century, I don’t think it quite qualifies as historical fiction. The main character’s dedication to medicine and helping others is admirable but otherwise she is not that likable of a character.

Many reviews were critical of the piece but I felt unfounded. The book offers a beautiful conclusion to a beloved trilogy that confers an interesting connection of centuries of a family and their medical legacy.

Ansiado tercer volumen de la trilogía de "El médico". Tal y como le ocurre a "Chamán", la segunda parte, no tiene nada que hacer frente al primero. Se convierte además en un libro denuncia contra la situación de la medicina pública en los EE.UU. Hay libros mejores, pero este se deja leer y es entretenido. Rob J no me gusta nada como protagonista. Es una mentirosa. Es falsa. La verdad es que el autor podría haberse esforzado un poco más con el personaje protagonista del cierre de una (pretendida) gran trilogía.

Ich finde echt gut, dass die Trilogie nicht aus drei gleichen Büchern besteht, sondern sich auch bewusst in ihrer Art unterscheiden.

Leider hat mir die Hauptcharakterin R.J. nicht wirklich gefallen, die moralischen und politischen Fragen von Abtreibung und amerikanischem Gesundheitssystem werden zwar angesprochen aber mir nicht gut genug behandelt.
Auch das (in der Trilogie typische) Thema der Religionen ist hier nicht so gut umgesetzt wie im Medicus.

Die beiden ersten Teile der Trilogie waren deutlich spannender. Natürlich auch weil du zu aufregenderen Zeiten spielen. Die einzige "Bedrohung" für R.J., die Spannung bringt, sind radikale Abtreibungsgegner mit Morddrohungen. Und die Lösung für das Problem?
Keine Abtreibungen mehr machen.
Wow was eine Message

This book was a big let down after reading the first two books in the series. I felt like a was reading a Sidney Shelton paperback. Which I have read but that was not what I expected out of Noah Gordon after reading the first two books in the trilogy. And the politics! Ugh. Very annoying regardless of what side you're on.